Water Conservation

Brenda Hogg, Regional and Local Councillor
Town of Richmond Hill

Water restrictions are necessary to protect our water resources for essential services. Most of our water comes from Lake Ontario, with 20% from wells on the Oak Ridges Moraine and 5% from Lake Simcoe. The supply is not limitless. Fresh water is borrowed from nature and needs to be treated before we can use it and then return it to the water cycle. Water treatment plants cost approximately $40 million dollars each and so, conserving water and not dumping hazardous waste in our sewers will reduce the need for more treatment plants. This makes good economic and environmental sense.

Recently, I attended the York Children’s Water Festival at Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area and met with hundreds of grades 4 and 5 students who enthusiastically embrace the notion of respect and responsibility for our natural environment.

Michael Brooks, Project Manager for the York Region Water Conservation Program tells me that through our conservation efforts, York Region saves enough water daily for 70,000 people. That is 19 million litres per day of water or $10 million worth of water saved by installing low flow toilets, sink aerators, and shower heads, turning off taps when washing your face or brushing your teeth, keeping cold water in the fridge rather than running the tap and waiting to do full loads of laundry or dishes before running the appliance all contributes to water conservation. Older toilets and shower heads use twice as much water as the newer model and 64% of the water used by the average person in York region is used in the shower or flushed down the toilet. We only use 1% of our 250–300 litres per day, per person, for drinking! Think about it. Small efforts result in big rewards. Ask your children.

Brenda