The importance of water metering and its uses in Canada : Importance de mesurer la consommation de l'eau avec des compteurs et son application au Canada

In and policy decisions, the INFC Research and Analysis arch on water infrastructure and published a report that issues, the importance of water metering research-recherche/infraresearch/reports/wirppd_e.shtml). [...] Its objective is to explain g and some of its advantages and disadvantages, and to g practices and recent developments related to water ted States. [...] From 1999 to 2001, residential average daily water consumption decreased from 343 litres/person to 335 litres/person, the second lowest rate since 1991.7 According to T. Duncan Ellison, Executive Director of the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, the use of water metering continues to increase gradually in Canada, mainly in new housing developments. [...] The difficulty of retrofitting buildings for this type of metering limits its implementation.8 The Pros and Cons of Metering A survey of 65 Canadian municipalities that had undertaken water conservation initiatives showed that “metering has proven to be a primary component of an effective water conservation program.”9. [...] Decreasing the demand for water also decreases the energy required for pumping and heating water and conveying and treating wastewater, thereby reducing energy infrastructure costs.10 Metering also helps to quantify unaccounted water demand such as leakage of potable water from the system, fire hydrant use, water main flushing and other system uses as well as unauthorized uses.11 One of the most i