WC129 MarApr2023 - Flipbook - Page 27
WATER CANADA WEBINARS
A Drop in the Bucket
Looking at the value and
cost of water in Canada BY JEN SMITH
N CANADA WE’RE SURROUNDED by water,
which makes it feel like water is free. But the reality is
the water we use–taps to toilets to storm sewers–cost
money. From ensuring clean, safe drinking water to the
treatment of wastewater before being discharged, the
clear stuff that we take for granted comes at a high cost.
(Spoiler alert: the cost is much higher than your monthly
water bill).
In our most recent webinar, Water Canada talked to
experts to better understand why we don’t value water as
much as we should, what is being done to remedy this, and
how we can ensure that water infrastructure is able to meet
our increasing demands.
I
Getty Images
Water everywhere
Kathy Vassilakos, a former councillor for the City of
Stratford points out that while people want to have access
to safe, clean drinking water, she doesn’t feel that the
average resident understands the amount of work and
moving parts involved in making this happen. Part of it is
due to the fact that much of the infrastructure involved isn’t
on public display, which makes understanding its workings
more difficult. “It isn’t so much that people don’t know the
value of water,” she says. “They just simply don’t understand
the complexity that goes into getting water to your tap.
Also, the complexity of the regulatory pieces and the
paperwork and auditing that goes into ensuring that.”
Robert Haller, executive director of the Canadian Water
and Wastewater Association agrees. For him, this lack of understanding comes at a cost: The undervaluing and underpricing of water. “In the small municipalities,” he says, “we
always joke about something being as cheap as dirt. Well,
dirt is so much more expensive than water. You should say
cheap as water. Imagine a truckload of dirt and how much
it costs to get to your house versus that much water treated,
delivered, taken away.”
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
WATER C AN ADA • M ARCH/APRIL 2023
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