$1,000/year for water in West Kelowna?

[UhHuhYeahSure]

Am I reading this right?

https://www.castanet.net/news/West-Kelo ... s-approved

I read that I will be paying a flat rate of $227 per quarter in 2021.

New math tells me that that's just over $1,000 per year in 3 years from now.

Now, I'm looking at my summer West Kelowna Quarterly Utilities Invoice and see a "WKE Flat Water Rate" of $75.38 + $9.62 for the metered usage. New math here tells me that's about $300 per year flat rate for water.

Now...more math...$50 million new treatment plant on a population of +/- 30,000 people in WK is about $1,700 per person to cover the capital cost.

Then we will all pay $1,000 a year + metered usage forever?

So my efforts to save water with thousands of dollars of xeriscaping and all the trinkets of water conservation (low flow toilets and showerheads...) will result in me still being charged the same $1,000 per year as my water glutton neighbours with only a few dollars difference in meterage charges?

And this new treatment plant is needed to turn good water into great water that we can use to water lawns, bath, flush toilets, wash cars, fill swimming pools, do our laundry but keep less than 7% as actual food preparation and drinking water?

Hmmmm....

[lightspeed]

It's about right for a water utility. Kelowna city water has been undercharged for a long time.

Water isn't "cheap". When you have people washing cars, trucks, RV's, ATV's for hours then hosing off their driveway for about four hours all for about $1 you can see that the cost is not reflective of the economics of water management in the Okanagan.

[Jflem1983]

Previous owner ran a line around the meter. Water is free off one of the taps. Good job to the previous owner. Wish all my taps were like that

[Hassel99]

•Residential, industrial, commercial and institutional customers would be charged both a fixed component (operational + capital + debt) and a variable component (consumption)


I think your going to pay $227 per Q PLUS consumption...

The article is not clear at all.

[LTD]

I'm sure golf courses and farming will be exempt from this tho, farming I can understand but golf courses should be paying the highest rates

[steve mc]

my guess is the average home with lawn or garden will pay 2500.00 per year 30% of water use is unacounted unmeter stolen 30%agriculture which pay for2% 95% of agriculture has nothing to do with food production a large percentage of ag water user dont even meet the requirement to be classed as farms, the largest user and waster is the city which uses 15% and that leaves the customers who use 25% paying 100%plus administration fees.

[techrtr]

I pay that much in the Mission. During the summer when the sprinklers are running it's about $130 a month. Even just normal household water use is expensive. Just one of the reasons why it's so expensive to live in Kelowna.

[jasond_71]

We pay more than that in the north Okanagan and all the lawns are yellow in the summer as we are metered. Drive around in Ellison area by airport. No meters, all the lawns are thick and lush.
People won't conserve unless they are metered.
As for bypassing the meter, better hope the city doesn't find out as it is illegal.

[techrtr]

I'm sure golf courses and farming will be exempt from this tho, farming I can understand but golf courses should be paying the highest rates

I think the logic is that golf courses bring tourists who spend money at other businesses in the area and generate a lot of revenue. Thus, the use of water is justified much more than green grass in residential areas.

[Jflem1983]

I'm sure golf courses and farming will be exempt from this tho, farming I can understand but golf courses should be paying the highest rates

I think the logic is that golf courses bring tourists who spend money at other businesses in the area and generate a lot of revenue. Thus, the use of water is justified much more than green grass in residential areas.

God i am so tired of Kelowna bending for people who dont live here . Tourism is pretty much the lowest form of commerce. It brings nothing but traffic. The money spent would be easily replaced by industry if we had any.

[LTD]

I'm sure golf courses and farming will be exempt from this tho, farming I can understand but golf courses should be paying the highest rates

I think the logic is that golf courses bring tourists who spend money at other businesses in the area and generate a lot of revenue. Thus, the use of water is justified much more than green grass in residential areas.

Kelowna is no different than Arizona and they don't have big lush green courses you have grass to tee off a bit of fairway to land on and a green the rest is brown and rugged seems to work just fine there

[UhHuhYeahSure]

So I guess I did read it right.

So here is my bent logic.

My xeriscape efforts and hyper conscious awareness of water use will still cost me $1000 year as a basic charge. My metered usage that is about 1/4 of that of my neighbour's is the only difference. OK. I get it.

Screw it! Cedar hedging all around and a rice paddy in the backyard for 2021. And it will be such pure, clean water from the new $50 million plant. Hell. I'm even going to wash my car and do the laundry every 2 days.

For the cost and effort of installing all the meters, you'd think they'd simply keep the basic use charge low and jack the meterage charges as incentive to conserve water.

Oh...wait a second. It's not about conservation. It' about revenue. Sorry. My bad.

[gman313]

So I guess I did read it right.

So here is my bent logic.

My xeriscape efforts and hyper conscious awareness of water use will still cost me $1000 year as a basic charge. My metered usage that is about 1/4 of that of my neighbour's is the only difference. OK. I get it.

Screw it! Cedar hedging all around and a rice paddy in the backyard for 2021. And it will be such pure, clean water from the new $50 million plant. Hell. I'm even going to wash my car and do the laundry every 2 days.

For the cost and effort of installing all the meters, you'd think they'd simply keep the basic use charge low and jack the meterage charges as incentive to conserve water.

Oh...wait a second. It's not about conservation. It' about revenue. Sorry. My bad.

if you really don't use much you can install your own system and purchase the water elsewhere or treat it yourself.

[LTD]

and where exactly do you purchase this water you can treat yourself last time I checked there was only one water line running to homes

[gman313]

and where exactly do you purchase this water you can treat yourself last time I checked there was only one water line running to homes

http://purelivingforlife.com/off-grid-water-systems/