Could rainwater be used to provide ice at local arenas or to fill swimming pools? That's a question Coun. Chuck Puchmayr would like the City of New Westminster to explore.
"We purchase a lot of water from Metro Vancouver," he said. "Fifty-seven per cent of our water costs are water purchases."
Puchmayr recently toured the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, which has a rainwater reclamation system that collects water that's then used to create the arena's ice.
"They installed a system for $27,000," he said. "They are saving 800,000 litres of water per hockey season."
Puchmayr said the system is resulting in a "really high quality" of water and has contributed to a playing surface that hockey players seem to like.
Puchmayr served notice of motion on Nov. 5 to have the City of New Westminster investigate Abbotsford's rainwater collection system for the purpose of possibly implementing this system, or a similar system, for ice surfaces, greenhouse operations and swimming pools in the Royal City.
Given that the biggest cost associated with the city's water utility is the purchase of water from Metro Vancouver, Puchmayr said a water collection system has the potential of reducing the city's reliance on the Greater Vancouver Water District.
"That's all it costs," he said of the $27,000 price tag. "I looked at the system. It is an amazing system. They put all the bells and whistles in."
