By Greg Nikkel
Weyburn city council dealt with water-related issues at their meeting on Nov. 13, including a letter of complaint about recent water bills, and discussions about additional upcoming projects for which the city has made funding applications.
Council discussed a letter from resident Claire Kuhn about the level of her most recent water bill, who also commented on the city’s decision not to ration water use by residents and not to offer “summer rates” to enable people to water their lawns and gardens cheaply.
“With the severely dry season, this put the onus on the citizens of Weyburn, the taxpayers, to keep the city from looking like a parched desert,” she said in part, going on to complain that she was over-charged for sewer usage for water that essentially went into the ground.
City manager Roy Hardy told council he looked into what happened with the water bills, and found that there were two bills where the water use was estimated, and then for the October bill a reading was taken of water meters, accounting for the sudden spike in charges for water use.
“The use of potable water for lawn watering is not the best use of water. Water conservation is something we should be supporting,” he commented.
Currently the City is in the midst of having all water meters replaced with new digital ones that will accurately read actual water use, which Hardy said should help residents conserve their water use.
“Generally, treated potable water is not the best solution for watering lawns and gardens, even in a dry year. At the end of the day, it’s not the purpose of setting rates, to ensure there is potable water for watering lawns,” he said.
Coun. Dick Michel pointed out there was water rationing in 2016, but this year there was none, and summer rates were not applied.
“This was the first summer we didn’t have that (summer rates), and that’s some of the confusion,” he said.
Coun. Mel Van Betuw suggested as a council they might want to look at water conservation in the spring, but added, “I don’t know we need to put summer rates back on, especially where you have people watering sidewalks and roads.”
He added of the increase in water bills, “I don’t think it’s been as dramatic as people think.”
Coun. Jeff Richards also indicated he would not support a return to summer rates, and said as stewards of the city’s water supply, “it’s inefficient to treat water for human consumption and then to put on our lawns.”
The city adheres to the “basic health standard” by treating their water supply, said Mayor Marcel Roy, suggesting residents should use “common sense” about how much water they put on their lawns and gardens.
Coun. Winston Bailey suggested it might not be a bad idea to go back to having summer rates, but Mayor Roy replied, “I will have to disagree with you. There will be people who will not follow the rules, then you have to have enforcement of it.”
This issue will be looked into further by staff.
Later in the meeting, council was told that a number of additional projects related to the water and sewer system were approved by the province, and now require federal government approval. These projects will utilize about $2.1 million still available to the City through the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund for infrastructure projects.
These projects include water standpipe upgrades for the water pump at 16th Street and Railway Avenue, upgrades to the water treatment plant filtration system, security upgrades for the treatment plant, and water main replacement on Government Road from First Avenue North to Souris Avenue, a distance of 670 metres.
These projects are in addition to the new reservoir, new water meters and replacement of lead water lines that were already approved and are underway in the city for completion by next year.
In addition, city council approved buying a replacement pump for emergency use at the First Avenue pump station, which is due to have upgrades made once the reservoir project is completed. An engineering firm, MPE Engineering, recommended having the pump on hand in case of a failure or other difficulty at the pump station before the upgrades can take place.
The plan is for work to take place over the winter months when the demand on the water treatment plant is at its lowest. Hardy told council that if the pump failed, it would take about eight weeks to get a replacement in.
The pump was purchased from Mid Continental Pump Supply for $23,405 plus taxes, and valves from Summit Valve and Controls for $1,304 plus taxes.
