Water, water everywhere and lots and lots to drink.
So we drink it. And wash with it. And flush with it and many, many other things.
We in Campbell River have the great fortune of having cold, clean water coming right out of our taps. We all need to stop and take a moment to appreciate what a blessing that is. There are many places in the world that don’t have access to clean water. There are places in this country that don’t have water as good as the water in this province and, particularly, this community.
And yet, Campbell Riverites and British Columbians take their water for granted. The average B.C. resident uses 353 litres of water per day. But they think they use less than 200 litres.
It was reported a few years ago that Campbell Riverites are among the highest users of water in the province. It’s not hard to see why. Our water source is a hundreds of kilometres-long river, lake and reservoir system that would be the envy of any large city. We also get a lot of rain. So, as residents, we see a lot of water each and every day. So, you could forgive us for thinking, “We’ve got lots of water.”
But even though we have lots of water, it takes a lot of public resources to protect it, treat it and deliver it. We conserve water not just to reduce consumption but also to ensure we don’t need to build more expensive infrastructure.
Protecting our water will be an ever-increasing priority. Our water system is exposed to contamination because of it connection to heavily used waterways for everything from mines to motorboats. The city has taken pains in the last few years to install signage on the Campbell River water system pointing out to the public that the waterways connected to John Hart Lake – our water source – are susceptible to contamination from public negligence. So, don’t take your water for granted.