One year after installing water meters, Peachland appears to have some disgruntled residents stealing water. "About 50 million gallons is unaccounted for," says Peachland Mayor Keith Fielding. "A criteria for the amount that was missing has been established and we've factored in leakage and use by municipal services like the fire department." Fielding says that the unaccounted water is worth approximately $120,000.00. Water sleuths have been searching for the missing water, and so far, one person has been caught bypassing the water meter. Anyone caught stealing water in Peachland can face a $1,000 fine. "It really is like stealing form your neighbours who are paying for it, so stop it." The reason behind the thefts may simply be disgruntled customers who have trouble adjusting to the new water meter system, says Kelowna Utilities Services Manager Don Degen. "You might get the odd person that says, 'I don't like the fact that someone is metering my water and I'm going to make some changes,'"says Degen. Degen says water theft is not something he is aware of in Kelowna. "We monitor water consumption very closely. It's not a problem for us." Tom Marstaller, the Utilities Services Manager for the City of Kamloops, says the City hopes they will not have similar problems as Peachland when they move to the metered system. "We're just trying to get to the point of awarding a contract. It's difficult for us to know whether water theft is a problem or not, until we have it metered fully," says Marstaller. Marstaller says installing meters would allow the City to monitor water usage more closely. "We don't have a good answer yet and that is part of the reason we want to get water meters put in here."
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Don Quixote Note:
50 million gallons (imperial) = 227,304 m3. If theft is valued at $120,000 then the water consumption charge per m3 = (120,000/227,304 = .5279 /m3).
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