- Sunday, October 28. 1990 - North Shore News

City raises water rates
to fund reservoir upgrades

'

ARDAGH HUNTER TURNER”

IMPAIRED DRIVING

[986-4366 |

NORTH VANCOUVER, BC.

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NORTH VANCOLIVER Who asked . wot
City Council has directed! NORTH VANCOUVER fecommrerstine Hr tie pa
CITY COUNCIL wetter bates be aduustad to am tee ef
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~ ore oe ineer t Mmeore
the city engineer to incor phplementation at the wots
porate Increased water rates My aMipresenient pian,

in ats 199] provisional
budget to cover the city’s
share oof the proposed
$480-million upgrade to
Capilano and Seymour. res-
ervoirs and the rest of the
Greater Vancouver Water
District's (GVW) water
system,

By Pamela Lang
Contributing Writer

The move followed a pres:
entation Monday night to council
from the GVWD's Doug Neden.

Council was toid that local
water quality will be near perfect
if the GVRD approves the chree-
phase water improvement pro-
gram, which owas) released in
September.

The plan wis put together after
health officials demanded that
something be done about poor
drinking water quality in’ the
Lower Mainland.

Approximate annual water rates
for city property owners would
increase to $103 from the current
$88 per year for phase one of the
plan, $126 for phase two, or $137
if all three pha:es of the plan are
implemenied.

City engineer Hugh MehKay said
the rates were based on current
cost sharing and projected project
costs.

The $92.5 million first phase of
the water system overhaul would
include upgrading of regional
water distribution systems to allow
closure of the Capilano. or
Seymour watersheds when turbidi-
ty (water cloudiness) is high and
diversion of Coquitlam reservoir
water to those areas served by the
North Shore reservoirs.

Neden said the Coquitlam water
source has the fewest cases of high
turbidity, and is consistently better
than the North Shore sources.

Phase one would also include:
efarger capacity chlorination sta-

tlOMs af The reservoirs; virmect Chink Gath

ethe addition oot sine te
local water.

end corrosion Sonmtrob to reduce
atl deny

Addinonal exposure to) chforine
would Rill mote bacteria oictidtiag
wrardia, which can result an such
Tinesses ats diatchea and a warner
borne disease commontys Risin es
“beaver fever’.

ANtamonta woukd tedium othe
smelb and taste or the chlorine.
and corrosron  comtrod wool
teduce wear oon pipes and
discaloradion ob Paring: Cate Os
the naturally aordie North Shere
water.

Nedew poutted out that any
cases oof gdardit oa othe Power
Matdland didi not onginaie mm the
focal water system, which ots
monitored and hasnt contamed
amy live giardia evsts.

Ano outbreak. he said. would
result in hundreds ef cases near
the water source.

Fight sears ago about 990 cases
of giardia were documented in an
area of Edmonton.

In the plan's second and third
phases filtration plants would be
constructed at the Seymour and
Capilano reservoirs.

Elaborating on the need to con-
trol corrosion, Neden said that
water pipes in some focal build
ings are being replaced after only
one-third of their normal life
span.

The average annual water cost
per GVRD household is currently
$90. Phase one would raise that
amount to $125, phase two to
$150, and phase three to $190.

Neden said the highest figure
still compares favorably with
other large urban centres such as
Edmonton (approximately $350
per household); Calgary and
Toranto (at about $250) and Seat-
tle (whose system is unfiltered, at
$125).

Neden said he expects his water
system upgrade presentation to go
before the Greater Vancouver
Regional District board Nov. 15.

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