About Water

There's a discussion going on around me about water. Both respondents appear to have substantial facts at their finger tips. I will not repeat.

There is a mis-perception however. Municipalities do not permit development to outstrip availability of hard services.

My God, you have no idea how much it costs you to keep these things under control.

Aurora has been on a strict allocation of units for years. . However many are allocated, that's how many permits can be issued. Developers wait in line. They fund the infrastructure.

The question of storage capacity is clearly not understood. It costs millions to build capacity. Millions more for treatment to keep it safe and clean.

Building sufficient capacity to allow people to pour expensively treated water on lawns to keep them artificially green in a heat wave and let it run down driveways into the sewers and keep treating when it is no longer required for use the rest of the year is insane.

If gas at over a dollar a litreis not enough to keep people from idling their carsma premium on water to stop them from wasting it, wont work either.

It doesn't take genius to realize water use was being re-cycling long before that expression became part of the lingo.We take it from the ground, use it , treat it and return it from whence it came, into streams, rivers and lakes.

Lake Simcoe is in better shape to-day than it has in years. The main problem to-day is nutrient run-off from farmers' fields. Even laundry detergent is not the problem it once was.

We spend millions on storm water ponds to remove sediments from road and roof run-off before it reaches the waterways.

The late Garfield Wright, former Reeve of East Gwillimbury told a story once.

He received a call from an irate home-owner. No water was coming from his taps.

Garfield asked him to go down to his basement. Helped him to identify an object. Asked if it was making any noise .

No, it wasn't. Well check your fuse. He did. A fuse was blown. It was replaced . And Voila! he had water.

The former city dweller purchased a home in the country with no understanding of the unlikelihood of city services. His water pump had blown a fuse and he had to make a fool of himself to learn the basics about life in the country.

How is it in this day and age, when taxes are exorbitant, so many people assume no-one in charge understands the connection between water supply, sewage treatment and development.

If it wasn't costing millions of your hard-earned tax dollars to take care of the priorities, it might be funny.

But if you own a property and you would influence others, you need to know that living in a little town high in the hills, on the headwaters of Lake Simcoe and Lake Ontario in the most richly resourced country is the best place in the world to raise your children and know that your grandchildren's legacy is safe.

We are taking water, carbon dated thousands of years old, from deep in the cold recesses of an aquifer regularly monitored without sign of supply being diminished.

Our distribution system is linked to the Town of Newmarket

All you needed was to ask.

You're welcome.