Cape Breton Regional Municipality disputes critical report
CBRM argues 40 per cent water loss figure is misleading
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is disputing a report which says it is losing 40 per cent of its treated water to a crumbling water system.
The figure comes from a study by the Ecology Action Centre that looked into water loss in Nova Scotia municipalities, and the energy used to produce it.
The Centre's geoscience coordinator, Jennifer West, told CBC she used Environment Canada figures from 2011 to see how municipalities managed their water and how much energy was used in the process.
CBRM's utilities administration manager Mike MacKeigan confirmed the statistics appear to show the municipality is losing water.
But he said in reality, the 40 per cent figure actually refers to what's called unaccounted-for water, or water used for a variety of purposes beyond the everyday.
"Things like fire suppression, a main line break that occurs somewhere down the line," said MacKeigan. "It could be as a result of flushing fire hydrants to help us keep the water system clean and pure, but it is not what people would consider a leak."
MacKeigan said there are certainly old pipes running under the municipality, but he said there's a long-range replacement plan in place for those.
He said in the last few years, CBRM has actually been saving thousands of litres a water a year — and the energy used to produce them — because of a new treatment facility in Glace Bay and metering in North Sydney and surrounding communities.