Water Use Down

Penticton's H2O consumption is down.

Water conservation officer, Carolyn Stewart, says the city's water consumption is down.

“Our water consumption for 2006 is down by eight percent over the last five years, which is a significant reduction,” says Stewart.

She says the reduction works out to about 9,000 litres saved for each Penticton resident.

“These results show our attitudes and actions towards water use are starting to change. We're adhering to the water restrictions, like turning off the hose when washing cars,” says Stewart.

She says another contributing factor was the Great Toilet Rebate, which encouraged residents to replace older toilets with newer models.

“The last of the 200 rebates available have been claimed in the last week, which tells us this was a successful initiative. The rebates were only available for eight months. We hypothesize we have reduced water use in the city by more than three million litres, simply by replacing 200 old toilets,” says Stewart.

She says based on these results, they are considering bringing the rebate back next year.