Water Intergration

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What are the benifits of intergrating the water systems citywide? I am on Rutland Waterworks and we never have issues and our water is great. Why would I want change

[Catri]

What are the benifits of intergrating the water systems citywide? I am on Rutland Waterworks and we never have issues and our water is great. Why would I want change

There is no benefit to it for Rutlanders. The problem is that Rutland Water Works is the best run water utility in town and has been...well, all along really. So out here in Rutland (and I believe the BMID is in the same situation) we have great water from a good, well run supplier, brought to us at very reasonable rates. There is no incentive at all for us to join the rest of the water providers only to see our water quality go down and our rates skyrocket.

[musicman]

Im on blk mtn water and it has a boil water advisory ..they pay these guys how much and they cant fix it for 3weeks..?

[AtticSalt]

Bah ha..let's wiat see how well the current so called water integration goes with with SEKID. .sure looks good on paper..

[vinnied]

Im on blk mtn water and it has a boil water advisory ..they pay these guys how much and they cant fix it for 3weeks..?

3 weeks? what the heck..I didn't even know there was a boil water notice for BMI till I went into the local watering hole the other day and they had the notice posted.

[Anonymous123]

What are the benifits of intergrating the water systems citywide? I am on Rutland Waterworks and we never have issues and our water is great. Why would I want change

It's not the water that will be integrated, it's the workers and management. Right now Kelowna has 5 waterworks managers, 5 assistant managers, and way too many workers. Most of the employees drive around in company trucks waiting for something to go wrong. They all take their work vehicles home. Imagine the cost of the fleet for each district, the wages and pensions. Your water rates are paying for all of this. It will be cheaper when it's all under one management and worker team.

[Bsuds]

A little research goes a long way.

https://www.kelowna.ca/city-services/wa ... on-phase-1

There are many benefits of the integration with one being that the irrigation water will be separate from the drinking water. So it won't be processed the same way and waste money. It could also mean less boil water advisories. (I suspect)

[logicrules]

I recommend taking a quick read through this. Even the summary web page provides some good info for people wondering why. https://www.kelowna.ca/city-services/wa ... upply-plan

The idea isn't to give everyone the same water, but to provide a second source for everyone in the Kelowna area in the case that there is an issue with their current water source. It's about system robustness and redundancy, while providing good quality drinking water for the lowest cost.

[workingclasshero]

The other irrigation districts do not want to intergrate, they are doing an excellent job and
have shown excellent financial management. They will have to wait until the governments
change to have the rule changed that is forcing them to intergrate.
it should be an election issue in the upcoming elections, city, provincial,and national.
it is like withholding transfer payments to Quebec.

[johnrae]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... tion-close

Basran will do whatever it takes to get his greasy hands on Rutland's water. Our water is the best in the valley. BMID has so much water, that we are not metered. Rutand well water is absolutely delicious. He is going as far as bringing up climate change. Kelowna can use the water from the lake. I don't want my water lines mixed up with that sewage water. I urinate at least 12 times a day in that lake during the summer months. I would like to see Basran will drink the water directly from the treated sewage outlet on camera. I hope he is voted out.
Thanks for reading my rant.

[AtticSalt]

A little research goes a long way.

https://www.kelowna.ca/city-services/wa ... on-phase-1

There are many benefits of the integration with one being that the irrigation water will be separate from the drinking water. So it won't be processed the same way and waste money. It could also mean less boil water advisories. (I suspect)

Irrigation water will still need to be treated just the same way as it is now with Chlorine if it isn't farmers will not be able to sell the fruit. The city still doesn't know what they are doing except for SOMID.

[Catri]

A little research goes a long way.

https://www.kelowna.ca/city-services/wa ... on-phase-1

There are many benefits of the integration with one being that the irrigation water will be separate from the drinking water. So it won't be processed the same way and waste money. It could also mean less boil water advisories. (I suspect)

The point of the thread is there is no benefit to integration for RWW customers. There really isn't. Our area is urban, with little agricultural irrigation (compared to other water suppliers). My monthly flat rate for water here is less than $20/month ($57 quarterly). I have a yard with gardens and usually go over in the summer months to the tune of about ten dollars a month (we've been on water meters and had year round watering restrictions for as long as I can remember). Our water comes from wells and we never have advisories because our water isn't exposed to contamination from bacteria or turbidity the way surface water is. The trade off is that it's quite hard and will leave calcium deposits in your kettle because that's what well water does.

It would be foolish to believe that any cost savings through integration would lower RWW customers' bills, as it would mean rates would be equalized across the entire city. It would be naive in the extreme to think that would mean that the rest of the city would be lowered to the rates we pay and not vice versa.

I think it's clear to anyone who cares to know that the integration of the water systems has been driven by SEKID users, who decided long ago to put off needed, but expensive, upgrades to their system until they were forced to do them by government...now we're all going to bail them out through our civic taxes. Meanwhile, in Rutland, our water utilities have kept their infrastructure sound and their rates reasonable through good management and we're still expected to pay for SEKID's mistakes.

[Bsuds]

Irrigation water will still need to be treated just the same way as it is now with Chlorine if it isn't farmers will not be able to sell the fruit.

Do you have a link/proof of that statement?

There are several ways to treat water and chlorine is only one of them.

[wanderer]

It's not the water that will be integrated, it's the workers and management. Right now Kelowna has 5 waterworks managers, 5 assistant managers, and way too many workers. Most of the employees drive around in company trucks waiting for something to go wrong. They all take their work vehicles home. Imagine the cost of the fleet for each district, the wages and pensions. Your water rates are paying for all of this. It will be cheaper when it's all under one management and worker team.

I'm on RWW too. I think the board, the management, and workers deserve every cent we pay them. They have maintained our water system and been forward looking for longer than the city. We have been on meters forever, but at a reasonable price and volume. I don't trust the CofK to manage our water even 1/2 as well as is already being done. I hope RWW fight this integration tooth and nail and continue to do their good works for the users.

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Can anything be done about this?