Water restrictions: Abbotsford uses high-tech meters to catch illegal sprinklers
Radio transmitters tell city exactly how much water each house is using and when
The City of Abbotsford, B.C., is using some high-tech equipment to detect people ignoring watering restrictions, along with some summer co-op university students to enforce the rules.
Earlier this month the city rolled out Stage 3 water restrictions banning all lawn sprinkling and non-re circulating fountains.
Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun says his city's system eliminates the need for guess work and sleuthing to figure out who is ignoring the restrictions.
"We have a very sophisticated radio-read water metering system in place, so we can tell hour-by-hour what any house in Abbotsford is using for consumption of water," Braun told CBC News.
"We know exactly where to go. We don't have to drive around looking for people."
"We see the computer readouts in the morning. When the staff … see that somebody has been using water all night long, there is either one of two things happening: they either have a serious leak or they are sprinkling lawns, and so then they would be paid a visit."
Braun says the city's reservoirs are at about 75 per cent capacity, and the city has hired a team of university co-op students to enforce the restrictions.
"We've put 262 door hanger notices up since the ban went in effect July 3, and we've sent 12 warning letters, but we've issued no fines yet."
Braun says the technology has been in place for several years and it's not the first time the city has taken this approach.
West Vancouver has a similar system in place, but most other Metro Vancouver municipalities do not have the radio-transmitting water meters.
Several communities on Vancouver Island have banned lawn sprinklers completely, but Metro Vancouver remains at Stage 2 water restrictions, that limit lawn sprinkling to one day per week, with fines of up to $250 for violations.