26% of Hamilton drinking water doesn't make it to taps. Here's what the city is doing

The city has a new plan to detect water leaks faster, after the revelation that a quarter of its fresh drinking water never makes it to Hamilton homes.

Twenty-six per cent of the treated water destined for local taps, or 19.916 megalitres per year, escapes through broken and leaky pipes, says Dave Alberton, Hamilton's manager of water distribution. That's higher than the provincial average of 15 per cent, he said, and it's expensive and bad for the environment.

As a result, the city has launched a new leak-detection program that's right 96.2 per cent of the time, Alberton told city council's public works committee Monday. Since Sept. 1, the new logging system has detected 75 leaks — 62 on city land and 13 on private property. All of the city ones have been fixed.

The new system helps the city meet its climate change goals, he said. It takes energy to treat water, and losing 19.916 megalitres means wasted energy, not to mention wasted water.

"Reducing non-revenue water will reduce energy consumption," said Alberton. And getting to the industry standard of 15 per cent, he said, will save Hamilton $820,000 per year. 

Hamilton has a problem with leaks because much of its infrastructure is old, he said. The rocky, porous ground of the Niagara Escarpment is a problem, too.

"We know that we have a lot of rock along the part of the Mountain in Wards 6, 7, or 8 where we have leaks that could go for years," Alberton said. "And we do see a lot of water in our sewers. When we start to see clean water into that sewer, we know there's a break somewhere. We just have the find it."

The new system, which comes after two years of trials, will cost $288,000 and require two more full-time staff, says Nick Winters, acting head of Hamilton Water.

Many of the water leaks happen on private property. But when they happen before the area detected by water metres, homeowners don't even know they're there, said John-Paul Danko, Ward 8 (west Mountain) councillor. Fixing a leak costs as much as $4,000.

Alberton said the city can technically force a homeowner to spend that money through Hamilton's property standards bylaw. The city can also turn off the water to a building when there are safety concerns, such as a leak causing ice on a sidewalk.

But Danko and others say they're not willing to do that. 

"I hope there's nothing punitive in this toward any of the rate payers, any of the land owners or home owners," said Tom Jackson, Ward 6 (east Mountain) councillor.

"I hope there's nothing punitive moving forward because I would find that very unfortunate, and I would find that unacceptable."