Skip to content

EDITORIAL: Enderby right to invest

People turn on the tap or flush the toilet without ever really considering the process required to get the water there.
web1_170512-VMS-M-170511-VMS-Enderby-temporary-line

People turn on the tap or flush the toilet without ever really considering the process required to get the water there.

That’s why a new report from the City of Enderby is so enlightening.

The 2016 drinking water annual report for 2016 indicates that the total water distributed from the treatment plant last year was 500,896 cubic metres. The maximum one-day demand was May 16, 2016 at 3,261 cubic metres.

The report also shows that the city spent $982,160 on providing drinking water compared to $679,144 in 2015.

“Capital investment was the main driver of the higher costs,” said Tate Bengtson, chief administrative administrator, in the report.

The major projects completed in 2016 included Vernon Street and Cliff Avenue distribution system upgrades and a new chlorine analyzer for the treatment plant.

Now obviously know one likes paying more taxes, but consider that money is required to maintain infrastructure or meet new guidelines from the Interior Health Authority. And while senior government grants are available, there is considerable pressure from all communities to access those, so jurisdictions like Enderby are largely left to their own financial devices.

Enderby residents experienced a wake-up call earlier this year when the city almost ran out of water due to a water main break and high turbidity on the river.

If the community is to avoid such emergencies in the future, further investments in capital works will be required, and that means the leadership shown by council and administration will also have to continue.