Montreal mayor says no to water meters as city looks to reduce consumption

As the city of Montreal looks for solutions for its aging, leaky water infrastructure, Mayor Valérie Plante has made it clear that residential water meters are not an option.

In theory, meters could be used to charge each household for consumption, thus encouraging people to use less and reduce the strain on a system that is essentially hemorrhaging drinking water.

And that drinking water is not nearly as infinite as it might seem in a province that has three per cent of the world's fresh water. A growing population, high consumption and increasingly dry summers are putting a strain on the water supply throughout southern Quebec.

"We're looking at eco-tax measures, but there's no question of having a water meter for everyone," Plante told reporters last week. "We agree: it's impossible. It's not going to happen."

Talk of water meters in Montreal can certainly evoke up not-so-fond memories of a controversial $355-million contract that was cancelled by former mayor Gérald Tremblay in 2009.

That contract fiasco helped reveal a rash of municipal corruption and was featured heavily in the Charbonneau Commission, a provincial inquiry that examined the process of awarding public contracts to construction and engineering firms from 2001 to 2009. 

While it may have been a flop in Montreal, water meters have been used in Beaconsfield, Que., for as long as the mayor there can remember and he questions Plante's stance on the issue.

"I don't understand why Montreal does not want to have meters to measure consumption," said Georges Bourelle, mayor of the on-island suburb in the West Island.

Beaconsfield uses less water than Montreal

Montrealers consume 367 litres per person per day for residential purposes, according to 2020 data. The average consumption for the rest of Canada is 220 litres.

In Beaconsfield, the average was about 230 litres per person in 2022, Bourelle said. That number can vary depending on how heavy the rain is during the summer, but he checked records going back five years and said it hovered around 250 to 260 litres.

Bourelle said Beaconsfield buys its water from Montreal, and the meters allow for people to simply pay for what they use.

Household water bills average about $245 per year, but someone with a sprinkler system and pool is paying considerably more, said Bourelle, who admitted his own bill can be as high as $700.

But now, even if he wanted to, he can't run his sprinklers every day because a bylaw limits lawn watering to three days per week.

These types of measures, combined with meters, play a role in why Beaconsfield has a considerably lower consumption rate than Montreal, the mayor said. 

Meters would be complex to manage: professor

However, Montreal is a different demographic with dense housing and no shortage of poverty, not to mention lead pipes in some areas that require people to flush their water lines for several minutes before use — even then, a filter is recommended.

Danielle Pilette, an associate professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal specializing in municipal management, pointed out that Beaconsfield, being a small town with a majority of homeowners, benefits from greater administrative simplicity.

This sets it apart from Montreal, where the potential implementation and management of water meters would be challenging due to the large number of housing units, especially rentals.

Pilette emphasized the need for strong social cohesion and a shared belief in eco-taxation to effectively implement costly processes like water-meter installations.

She cited Beaconsfield as a model for successful eco-taxation, particularly in waste management charged by weight. 

"Beaconsfield deserves all the credit, but it's challenging to replicate this on a larger scale elsewhere," she said.

In Montreal, rather than water meters, Pilette suggested a potential solution similar to Ottawa's. This would involve a flat rate per housing unit to raise awareness about water resources instead of focusing solely on financial returns.

She highlighted that such a shift would involve a transfer of the water-tax burden, and this may be what prompted Montreal to announce upcoming public consultations on the issue.

Montreal needs solutions

As it stands, the city wastes too much drinking water, dumps too many pollutants into the St. Lawrence River, its aging infrastructure is unable to cope with the ever-increasing quantity of water spilled during torrential rains, and the city does not have enough money to update and adapt its water management infrastructure — something that would cost billions.

These are some of the findings in a report prepared by the Commission sur l'eau, l'environnement, le développement durable et les grands parcs.

Mayor Plante said one solution might be taxing those who have swimming pools, as is already the case elsewhere in Quebec. She also mentioned the possibility of putting a fee on impermeable surfaces.

Every building intended in whole or in part for non-residential use, whether existing or to be constructed, must be equipped with a water meter. This is so the city can monitor use. The Plante administration has also begun taxing water consumed in non-residential buildings. 

But were Plante to chose to impose new tax measures, she would have to reduce other charges in order to balance the expenses incurred by residents and businesses, said Alan DeSousa, opposition councillor and mayor of the Saint-Laurent borough.

"The administration must avoid falling into the trap of systematically passing the bill on to citizens and instead prioritize alternative approaches, such as better management of public finances and prioritizing expenditures," he said.