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Residents need to stifle water use, says council

June 7, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Orangeville is in danger of drying up.

Council discussed June 3 new restrictions in its summer Lawn Watering Bylaw that could aid in the conservation of the municipal water supply.

Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor said it’s important for the public to understand what’s being asked of them regarding water conservation.

“Nobody wants to do this,” Taylor said. “The reality is the town is struggling with its water supply and if we don’t do something there’s going to be a catastrophe.”

Tim Kocialek, the town’s general manager of infrastructure services, said nobody wants to restrict water consumption. But the capacity of aged municipal drinking water is reducing.

It’s just as simple as that.

“We have a couple of the wells that are out of service right now, needing maintenance,” Kocialek said. “But we also have a water tower on the west sector that needs to be taken out of service for repairs.

“The next two to three years, we’re probably going to have a limited supply and limited storage.”

There have been instances when residents’ daily water demands exceeded what could be pumped from the wells. It was pure luck, Kocialek said, that it didn’t occur over consecutive days and that the water towers had enough stored water to compensate.

“But if we do have a water tower go out of service, we can’t meet those peak demands,” he said. “Potable drinking water that’s used for lawn watering, it’s one of the biggest single use items that is optional.”

Everybody wants their lawns to be green. But running dangerously low on water means shutting down industry in town, the car washes. That would be restrictions far worse than those deemed necessary for conservation, he said.

Watering lawns may have to be restricted for as long as three years, he said, for water capacity to build.

Basically, residents are allowed to only water their lawns one day a week, according to the changes to the bylaw. There’s an exception if water is used from a source other than the municipal system. Something like the water collected by way of rain barrels and dispersed with a watering can.

Properties that have been issued a permit, such as nurseries, farms, turf or tree farms, and other areas such as parks are also accepted.

Lawn watering exceptions were removed on even and odd number days of the month, for even and odd number ending properties, and has been replaced with an exception to water one day a week based on the last numeral of the property’s municipal address.

Councillor Andy Macintosh said the restrictions are needed and Orangeville is in trouble.

“We don’t have enough water, basically,” Macintosh said.

He suggested impending large residential developments should be suspended or delayed until water system capacity will be able to accommodate those builds.

“The provincial government wants us to build, build, build, but they’re not helping us with the water situation that we’ve got,” said Macintosh. “Should we go as far as declare a water emergency to get their attention?”

“A lot of the issue we have is the peak demand,” Kocialek said. “Generally for development, housing, it’s not too bad because it’s a consistent use. The big problem is in the summer.”

“We really want the community to understand that we don’t want to take these measures,” Mayor Lisa Post said. “We want to do water conservation and we want to do it in an appropriate way. When we have things like lawn watering, that’s one of the easiest things to get rid of.”

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