Water Access Regina -- Access to city water is now conditional on the surrender of your privacy. 

The response of the Office of the Directory, Water, Waste and Environment

The letter I received included a disclaimer prohibiting its unauthorized distribution, so rather than reproducing here, I am listing significant points.

Salient points from Office of the Director, Water, Waste and Environment

March 28, 2023

  • Current fleet of water meters reaching end of lifecycle

  • Opportunity to upgrade to a more efficient system

  • Current systems require city employees to drive through neighborhoods, gathering digital reads from outside all properties

  • New system will transmit data directly from the outside of the house to the city

  • Same privacy protection standards as the metering system that has been running since 2004

  • City complies with Saskatchewan’s privacy legislation

  • “near real time” means hourly meter reads that are collected and sent by the new system to the city.

  • Customers can access their data online

  • Potential for better management of water use, and detection of leaks

  • Mandatory for all water utility customers

  • Critical for operational efficiency

  • Less than desired adoption rate will result in duplicate systems for longer than necessary, driving up costs.

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