Water Conservation Program Making An Impact 

For Immediate Release
4/20/2011 
Contact: Leanne Knuckle, Environmental Engineering Technologist, City of Brantford 
Phone: 519-759-1350 

The City of Brantford's Water Conservation Program has come a long way since first being passed in May of 2003.

This program was started in response to a particularly bad time of drought throughout previous years. Many people are not aware that, in times of severe drought, our river would practically run dry if it weren't for the reservoirs controlled by the Grand River Conservation Area. These reservoirs store up excess snowmelt and rainwater that can be released in times of need, however, even these reserves can become strained during periods of severe drought that are brought on by climate change.

With the introduction of the Water Conservation Bylaw came watering restrictions. Since that time, residents have been required to ensure that watering during summer months is limited to every other day between the hours of 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Additionally, residents could no longer waste water by watering while raining, watering paved surfaces or washing vehicles without a shut-off spray valve on the end of their hose.

Many residents have been careful to observe these restrictions and some have gone even further. At the time our program started in 2003, our total annual water consumption was 15,815 million litres, (ML). The amount consumed annually since then has dropped fairly steadily to 12,239 ML in 2010.

At the same time, the city's population has been steadily increasing. Although temperature and rainfall amounts can impact water usage in the summer months, this downward trend in water consumption is considered significant enough to be attributed to conservation efforts in our community, especially given the rise in population.

To further support this claim, one needs to look no further than our residents who have turned out in droves every year, rain or shine, to purchase rainbarrels. Our Rainbarrel Sales Program began in 2004 and has successfully grown every year alongside growing interest in finding alternative watering sources. The next truckload sales event will take place on the last Saturday of May from 9:00 a.m. – 12 noon at the Brantford & District Civic Centre.

In addition to rainbarrel sales, another water conservation initiative is the Brantford-Brant Children's Water Festival, which takes place annually at Mohawk Park in May over a period of three days.

As they have in the past, up to 2,000 Grade 4 students from Brantford, Brant County and Six Nations schools will attend the festival this year, free of charge. Additionally, four schools from Norfolk County hope to be in attendance.

Students will participate in 37 different, hands-on, interactive activity centers, which will teach the importance of water conservation, the role of water in the ecosystem and water quality and protecting our water resources, just to name a few. Activity centers are run by volunteers who are, for the most part, high school students. Educating our younger generation on the true value of water is a valuable investment in the future security of our precious water resources.

The City has also initiated the creation of a Waterwise Demonstration Garden in partnership with the Brantford Garden Club and the Branlyn Optimists. The garden is located at Tranquility Hall, on the corner of Powerline Road and Francis St. It started as three different gardens in the fall of 2006, and has, over the years, been expanded to capacity as of the summer of 2010 - there are now a total of seven different waterwise garden styles to suit a variety of planting environments and personal tastes.

When it comes to reducing our peak water flows in the summer months, the City of Brantford encourages residents to embrace waterwise gardening - it is one of the most progressive proven forms of outdoor water conservation.

It is estimated that lawn watering accounts for increased summer water flows by almost 50% above winter water consumption. This not only stresses our water supply (the Grand River), but may eventually impact the capacity of the Water Treatment Plant as population increases in the future. On this basis, our campaign to promote waterwise gardening to the community culminated in 2010 with the introduction of a Waterwise Landscape Recognition Program and our first, highly successful Waterwise Gardening Workshop Series which was held this past March.

These workshops were presented to inspire and challenge our residents to consider alternatives to lawns where they are not needed. Based on attendance at these workshops, it appears that Brantford's residents have keenly taken up our challenge to conserve!

The benefits of conserving water extend beyond the environment to your pocket book. Not only are there cost savings in water, but for every cubic meter of water saved, there is one less cubic meter of wastewater to treat.

The biggest surprise to many is the energy savings that also result as a direct consequence of using less water. Pumping water to all of our homes is an energy intense activity; the cost of which is downloaded to the ratepayer. Your water conservation efforts are a smart investment, as they actually have the "triple whammy" effect of saving you not only on water but also on wastewater and energy.

Despite the gains we have made as a community in our water conservation efforts, there is much yet to do. Old habits die hard - such as it is with watering and maintaining that perfect lawn. It can take years to change well-established behaviours that are simply habits for many who, understandably, aren't familiar with doing it any other way. Let's celebrate our successes this Earth Day, but remember that the need to conserve is as urgent as ever as we move into the future and open our hearts and minds to change.

Click for further tips on how you can conserve water.