Last year, while Morden was experiencing extreme drought conditions due to low water levels at Lake Minnewasta, the City put out a Low Flow Fixture Survey. This survey was an opportunity for residents to give Council an idea of how many water fixtures were in each household.
Deputy City Manager of Operations, Santokh Randawa, said City Council has now budgeted for a Low Flow Fixture Rebate program to offset costs for those wanting to reduce their water consumption.
“There is a rebate of $75 for the toilet and there is a limit of a maximum of two toilets that you can replace per household, and then you can replace up to a maximum of two showerheads. And there is a rebate of $15 per shower head replaced.”
Randhawa said 230 surveys were filled out, and those residents will get priority when the rebate is issued. If some households missed out on filling out the survey last year and still want to participate, there is a way to apply.
“The priority is for the residents who responded to the survey in 2021 because our budget is based on those responses. If any funds are leftover and available, then those can be allocated to the people who did not fill out the survey last year, but they fill out the survey now, or they have replaced fixtures this year. All the applicants who did not fill the survey last year, but they are replacing this year, then we will budget for them next year.”
Although Morden’s drought stage has moved to Moderate levels, Randawa noted there is still good reason to make the change to low flow fixtures.
“Mainly for saving the water. The old toilets, they use almost 10 to 12 litres of water per flush and the new low flow toilets, they use about 4.5 liters to six litres per flush. There is a lot of saving in water and saving in the water bill as well.”
To fill out the Low Flow Water Fixture Survey and get your name on the list for the rebate program go to the City of Morden website.
(submitted from City of Morden social media)