When the City of Armstrong asked for people to volunteer to put water meters in last year, I volunteered right away. I was curious to see how much water our two-bathroom, 2.5-person, no dishwasher, limited outside lawn watering family actually uses. We do bathe the dog, but not often.
We used 137 cubic metres last year, which is 38 per cent of the Canadian average family of 360 cubic metres. Under option two of Armstrong’s proposed system, my total cost would have been $188.37. I just received my property taxes for this year — where my cost is $255.20. I would have saved $66. Nice and it’s worth writing this letter for.
Water is one of our most under-appreciated resources in Armstrong; our water tastes good, 51 weeks of the year. It’s crystal clear, we can safely drink it right out of the tap and it’s cheap.
If you want to have a swimming pool, fish pond or perpetually green lawn, there might be financial implications for you with the water metre system.
The municipality works hard to assure that everyone starts out with a level playing field. We all have enough to drink and wash in. As to the rest, those are financial choices that we each make on a daily basis. And I regularly see people watering the road, washing cars at home, washing down sidewalks. Maybe we all will become more aware of protecting the fantastic resources we have, especially if there is money at stake.
I love living in Armstrong and I’m very glad that council is supporting the installation of water meters.
Joanne Feenstra
Armstrong
