To: Stratford Mayor David Dunphy:
I appreciate your effort to explain the purpose of the water metering the town residents are about to learn to live with.
Nice spin.
Government is obliged to use reasonable justification to explain their actions. It is a reasonable proposal you make. But the tax-grab theory does a little more quacking in my opinion.
I am old enough to remember that the only ways water got into your house was by a leak in the roof or someone carrying it in after using the hand pump to fill up whatever container the carrier could manage the weight of. I also am very aware of what the consequences of a dry well are. I like to think that I understand the desire for water frugality.
But, since you consider the ability to detect leaks in the building’s water system as a driver to impose water metering, I pose a question. If a person is suffering from forgetfulness - for whatever reason - would your system be able to alert the monitor(ing system) to the fact that the water was left running in the sink/sub when the residence was vacated? Will a timely alert be forthcoming? How long would a person who has left (for what might possibly be an extended period of time) be required/expected to pay for the very severe leak?
I agree that water availability is a growing concern and should be protected for the use of people, not profit-makers, but Nestle and a town in Ontario come to mind. Speaking of Ontario, I had a cousin visit me this summer. When she saw me emptying the water from my basement dehumidifier into the watering can I use for garden purposes, she advised me that she is also charged for the amount of water that is removed from her house.
I wonder if you could explain how leaks in that process could be calculated (if needed in the future)?
Do you feel that the majority of residents who switched to town water-delivery had any thought of the charge you now wish to impose? Maybe more would still be on their own wells. And risk it going dry.
I also suggest that those who may be not able to afford the water usage they might appreciate, may end up feeling forced to use a single glass of water to wet a toothbrush, rinse a mouth and the toothbrush at the end of the task, as I did in my younger days. Or use the same bathwater for plural users.
Doesn't sound like much progress to me. It would be a shame to know that water, which falls to the earth from the sky is only going to be available to those who can afford to pay for receiving it.
Today in Ontario, the motto of, "If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down," lives on.
Because of tax grabs. Call it what it is. Please be honest, do not just justify.
- Mike Gleason is a resident of the Town of Stratford
