OLDS — Town of Olds staff are experiencing pushback from some residents as they continue with the municipality's project to repair or replace old water meters to try to curb water loss.
Those residents simply will not allow workers on their property to undertake that work, say town staff.
The project was announced in January. In total, the plan is to repair or replace 640 water meters, primarily in the southwest part of town, where water loss appears to be the most significant.
During town council’s July 14 meeting, chief administrative officer Brent Williams said 86 to 100 of those 640 water meters remain to be repaired or replaced.
He said initial data confirms what municipal officials had thought – there is water loss, ranging between five and 10 per cent.
“We're seeing around a five to 10 per cent loss ratio between the old meters and new meters, meaning that the new meters are recording a higher consumption volume -- on average, between five and 10 per cent -- and that is very common of meters,” Williams said.
“After they reach the 15ish years of age, they just start to slow down, that’s the mechanical nature of their components. Just like a car or a fridge or anything else, they get old and stop working.
“So that is going to help with our water loss significantly, but the 10 per cent is a lot of cubic meter volume.”
The program has also detected one significant leak on 61st Avenue, along with concerns in other locations.
Williams called that leak “a significant break in a service connection we were unaware of and would not have been aware of, had we not installed one of these new meters at that location.”
Williams said town staff are encouraging remaining residents to book appointments to get those meters dealt with as soon as possible.
“We'll be putting yellow door knockers on people's doors, starting probably this week, as a second to final reminder,” he said.
Coun. James Cummings said he’s had some residents contact him expressing concern about the program.
“Their fear (is) that they're going to get some sort of illness from our meters,” he said.
Williams and Infrastructure director Adrian Pedro confirmed they’ve been running into some resistance from some homeowners.
“Yeah, I think a significant portion of the 86 to 100 outstanding appointments have that fear,” Williams said. “Adrian, I know, has spoken personally to a number of people who have been reluctant to book appointments.
“There's not a great way to get around that right now with conversations, the people involved tend to have their own beliefs. They offer evidence, and they have their own beliefs. So we're hoping this next phase, yellow door knockers, followed by red door knockers, will draw people to book in.”
“It's basically 50/50, when you have that conversation,” Pedro said. “We do our best to provide them with the information that they're looking for, trying to make them understand that the information that they're generally listening to isn't necessarily correct. That doesn't always work, though.”
Williams agreed.
“Opinions are hard to turn sometimes,” he said.
Mayor Judy Dahl asked if perhaps at least some of those reluctant homeowners don’t want staff to see what they have in their basements or just see the interior of the home in general.
“Yeah, quite a few,” said Pedro. “A few just don't want you on their property at all. I relate to them that technically, the meters in your home are already smart meters, so we do see your consumption.”
“Plus there's other things in their home that they don't want you to see,” Dahl said.
“Perhaps,” said Pedro.
