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Whistler flush with less

Low flow toilets intended to conserve water After more than a month of consultation with area stakeholders, council is on the verge of passing a bylaw which requires all new buildings to install low-flow toilets.

Low flow toilets intended to conserve water

After more than a month of consultation with area stakeholders, council is on the verge of passing a bylaw which requires all new buildings to install low-flow toilets.

The bylaw also calls for water-efficient plumbing in things like showerheads, bathroom and kitchen faucets and direct flush urinals in all new construction within the resort.

"It’s good to see this type of initiative moving forward," said Councillor Ken Melamed at the last council meeting as council gave third reading to the water-efficient plumbing fixture bylaw.

The bylaw will see more low-flow toilets in the resort. These low-flow toilets will reduce the average litres of water per flush by more than half, to six litres per flush. Currently most conventional toilets consume 13 litres per flush.

Under the bylaw showerheads will have a maximum flow rate of 9.5 litres per minute at a certain pressure rate. Likewise, kitchen and bathroom faucets will have a maximum flow rate of 8.3 litres per minute at a certain pressure rate.

"A lot of the showers and kitchen faucets are in that range now," said the RMOW’s General Manager of Engineering and Public Works Brian Barnett, who presented the bylaw for third reading.

"It’s fairly common in Whistler already (especially in hotels and restaurants). It just brings it into a requirement for everybody."

Barnett however admitted that the effectiveness of low-flow toilets have a poor perception in the larger community.

"When low-flow toilets first came out on the market years ago they weren’t well designed and they didn’t flush properly and there were a lot of operating problems with them. And so they developed a bad reputation," he said.

"In more recent years those technical problems have been sorted out and they actually work really well, and so we’ve got to overcome this perception of them right now."

Included in the staff report to council was a list of low-flow toilets and a performance rating. Barnett said this information would be available for the public at the building department.

Municipal staff presented the proposed bylaw to members of the Canadian Home Builders Association of Whistler (CHBA), the Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE), the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) and some Whistler residents over the last month. All groups supported the initiatives, which are designed to reduce water consumption on the whole and are part of the larger picture for the future of Whistler’s water.

In his letter of support for the bylaw change, CHBA President Rod Nadeau wrote:

"CHBA Whistler supports this initiative that will help the community of Whistler move towards more sustainable practices by reducing demands on the water and wastewater infrastructure, the wastewater treatment plant and the surrounding environment."

The water-efficient plumbing fixture bylaw is the first step in a series of initiatives drafted in the larger municipal water supply study , which was drawn up in a draft form in 2002.

That study looks at a number of elements involved in Whistler’s future demand for water.

"Our water quality standards are expected to increase and they are increasing elsewhere in the world in the wake of Walkerton and other high profile events," said Barnett, referring the tainted water scandal in the small Ontario town of Walkerton where six people died due to E. Coli contamination.

He added that there are tightening regulations across the world as well as potential tougher provincial legislation throughout Canada.

"So we’re just looking ahead to anticipate the requirements the municipality might be expected to meet for water quality."

The draft water supply study examines Whistler’s future water quality considerations, water storage and water distribution upgrades.

Staff also took a detailed look at water conservation. The first thing on the water conservation plan is the plumbing fixture bylaw.

Other things on the list include a public education program about our water consumption, landscaping that would require less irrigation and home water audits where the municipality could help homeowners understand where they can reduce some of their water consumption.

Barnett also said the municipality is looking into a rebate system for low-flow toilets or showerheads for homeowners who want to change their existing plumbing as the bylaw only covers all new construction.

"Those are all future plans and they’ve been listed in terms of priority," said Barnett.

"So we’re moving ahead on the highest priority items already and still looking at some of the details associated with the lower priority items."

The bylaw also falls in line with one of the goals of the Whistler Environmental Strategy, which calls for a reduction in the daily amount of potable water consumption per resident.

Currently the average rate of consumption is 531 litres a day. The strategy outlines a goal to see that average reduced to 425 litres per day for each person.

Barnett says it’s a positive step that the different municipal strategies overlap in their overall goals.

"It shows that when you look at it from different perspective the answer still comes out confirming that water conservation makes sense," said Barnett.

While conserving water makes sense from an environmental standpoint, it also makes good economic sense too, he said. The low-flow toilets may cost more initially than traditional standard toilets but in the long run they pay off.

"With increasing standards it’s going to become more expensive to supply water, so if we can save on water demand then we save a lot in terms of water treatment costs later," he said.

"The water conservation program is expected to pay for itself several times over. So for every dollar we have in water conservation, we save about $2 of not having to increase water supply costs."

The municipality has installed low-flow toilets in municipal hall. These toilets have two options on the tank – a six litre flush and a three litre flush.

Barnett said they are examples of some of the best low-flow toilets in existence.

Low-flow toilets are now readily available on the market. The plumbing codes and national plumbing standards in the United States, Scandinavia, Japan and other countries all require low-flow fixtures.