As the first in this community to have a water meter installed by Neptune Technologies Group, I believe it behooves the community to embrace the initiative and get down to a more thrifty use of water.
With the ramifications of global climate change increasingly apparent, a regular metering of—and bill for—personal household consumption is a welcome tool in individual responsibility for the resource.
We will be in good company. Richmond, West Vancouver, Kamloops, Gibsons, Oliver, Summerland and Lakeview Irrigation District have all been served by Neptune. Other companies have installed meters for other communities.
Readers are invited to access Environment Canada’s 2011 Municipal Water Use report to find the advantages of metering.
My meter, installed punctually, efficiently, courteously and cleanly by the Neptune crew, is not the malevolent tool we have been led to believe it is; it doesn’t emit noxious vapours, does not record and transmit any and all of the goings-on inside my home to the Conservative Party of Canada, does not give off brain-addling emanations and doesn’t tamper with enjoyment of other electronic gadgets in my home.
It only records water flow into my home and transmits that information when commanded to do so, and then only for a fraction of a second when the meters are distance read.
The fuss about these meters falters when no such palaver is made for other meters on our houses— hydro and natural gas meters, for example; same techniques, different commodities.
I am disturbed by much of what I’ve heard about the calibre of the installers; far from being axe murderers, child molesters, sexual deviants or foreign agents, it was a pleasure to welcome the two-person team to my home.
A credit to their corporation, they had the meter in place in less than an hour, which time allowed for the tea and cookies I offered and some casual chat about other things. (I had previously shut off the supply at the main and drained the system and ensured a roomy, well-lighted work space, all of which was appreciated).
Those of us, by far the majority I am sure, who are offended by the ruckus caused by the bellicose, braying and booing cadre of malcontents will, I trust, do our best to repair the damage to our reputation as a friendly, hospitable and mannerly community by welcoming these teams into our homes as we join enlightened communities electing water metering as an element of resource management.
Dave Milton, Grand Forks.