As the water crisis continues on the Coast, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) is putting significant effort into reducing leaks in the system.
The SCRD has issued 12 water shut off notices, which has in turn saved 348,000 litres a day – about four per cent of the current water demand – according to SCRD general manager of Infrastructure Services, Remko Rosenboom. “Just by issuing shut-off notices to large properties with large leaks," he told the SCRD board Oct. 27.
In the case of the two campgrounds that had their water shut off Oct. 21, water service has resumed in some capacity.
For Creekside Campground in ts'ukw'um, there's equipment being installed to reduce the flow pressure to the property, therefore reducing leakage, said Rosenboom. That’s their first phase, with more work to address the leaks by the end of winter. In the case of Bayside Campground & RV Park, the SCRD is waiting on them to submit a final plan, “But it looks like their intent is to have all the required upgrades there completed by the end of next week," said Rosenboom.
400 leak notifications in September
Overall, the SCRD sent out close to 400 leak notification letters to residential properties in September, according to Rosenboom and the average residential property with a leak was using four times the amount of water than the average home without a leak.
Rosenboom added that there are some leaks that are using 10 times that of a regular household. “Hence our strong urge to everybody that receives the leak letter from us to take action,” he said. “Your fixing of your leak helps us significantly.
“It's the most effective water conservation measure we have in place.”
Following up on complaints
SCRD staff are following up on complaints and non-compliance according to Rosenboom and staff have issued 74 warnings and 24 fines in 2022. Last year they issued eight fines. Fines for water violations run at $500.
Overall, community water use in the Chapman system has been hovering between 8 and 8.5 million litres of water a day, said Rosenboom. “Which is amazing to see. But also a good indicator that the community’s fully aware of the situation we're in.”
At its usage height in July, Chapman system users were using 20 million litres of water a day.
