The city is cutting lawn watering at residential homes down from three days a week to two.
City council approved a new Drinking Water Conservation By-Law today (April 18) to align with the Metro Vancouver Drinking Water Conservation Plan.
Under the new by-law, watering restrictions will start on May 1 and allow watering two days a week, instead of three.
“There is increasing pressure on our regional water supply from growing population and climate change,” Daniel Roberge, director of water, sewer and green Infrastructure said in a news release. “Seasonal watering restrictions help us ensure we prioritize our treated drinking water for where it is needed most — cooking, cleaning and drinking,”
Roberge said fewer watering days still allow for healthy landscapes while ensuring Vancouver has enough water to last through the dry summer months. “As we reduce our per-person use of treated drinking water, we can potentially defer the need for expensive infrastructure expansion.”
Permitted watering times (stage one)
Even with watering restrictions, Vancouver’s water use doubles in the summer due to lawn and garden watering. Lawns in Vancouver generally need only one inch of water for one hour a week, including rainfall, to stay healthy and green. Residents can check their permitted watering through the VanConnect app or online at vancouver.ca/water-restrictions.
Lawn watering days for residential addresses:
Even-numbered addresses: 4 to 9 a.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays
Odd-numbered addresses: 4 to 9 a.m. on Thursdays and Sundays
Lawn watering days for non-residential addresses:
Even-numbered addresses: 1 to 6 a.m. on Mondays
Odd-numbered addresses: 1 to 6 on Tuesdays
All addresses: 4 to 9 a.m. on Fridays
Watering outside of the permitted times is a by-law offence. City staff will be on patrol and violations will result in a fine of $250 to $1,000.
The city and park board are also taking initiatives to further reduce the use of treated drinking water in public spaces and at recreational and civic facilities. Initiatives include installing high-efficiency fixtures and controls, proactive leak detection and repair, increasing rain capture, and reuse and improving irrigation efficiency.
Three easy ways to be water wise this summer
Minimizing outdoor water use is the single biggest step residents can take in the summer to ensure treated drinking water isn’t wasted.
- Check your irrigation system: To help residents adjust their irrigation systems, the city is running the Irrigation Assessment program again this year to walk residents through their watering system and make sure it’s set to match water regulations free of charge. To learn more, visit vancouver.ca/irrigation-check
- Buy a rain barrel: Save treated drinking water this summer and pick up a rain barrel at the annual rain barrel sale May 6. To learn more, visit vancouver.ca/rainbarrel
- Let your lawn go gold: Do the simplest thing of all and let your lawn go gold — or dormant — through the summer. Even just one hour of lawn watering can use as much water as 25 toilet flushes, five loads of laundry and five dishwasher loads combined.
For more information on how to be water wise all year, visit vancouver.ca/waterwise.
