Category Archives: Water Conservation

Your lawn only needs 2.5 cm (1 inch) of water a week.  Guelph, Ont., July 30, 2019 – The City is enforcing watering restrictions for level 1 yellow of the outside water use program because a sustained period of no steady rain and little relief is anticipated in the forecast ahead.   At level 1 yellow, lawn watering is restricted to 7-9 a.m. and 7-9 p.m. on odd or even calendar dates by address number—odd-numbered houses can water on odd-numbered dates and even-numbered houses on even dates. “Despite last night’s rain, the hot, dry summer weather has caught up with us,” said Heather Yates, Supervisor of Water Efficiency. “Early morning and late day watering happens to be the best time of day to keep plants… Continue reading Summer is heating up: Level yellow outside watering restrictions now in effect

Upgrades will help Sleeman save $266,000 a year Guelph, Ont., June 25, 2019 —Sleeman Breweries is now saving about 298,000 litres or over 5,000 kegs’ worth of water every day thanks to the results of their Water Smart Business audit from the City of Guelph. Those daily water savings add up to about $266,000 in annual savings on Sleeman’s water bill, and enough water to fill 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools every year. “Our community understands the importance of using water wisely,” says Steven Snopkowski, Water Smart Business program coordinator at the City. “It’s great to see local businesses, like Sleeman Breweries, playing their part in being water efficient. Sleeman has shown great leadership that’s a real win-win situation for our whole community.” Through the Water… Continue reading Sleeman Breweries’ Water Smart Business upgrades save over 5,000 kegs’ worth of water a day

Today the City of Guelph welcomes Jennifer Rose as the general manager of Environmental Services. Rose comes to the City with 15 years’ experience in the municipal sector, most recently as director of Environmental Services for the City of Vaughan. Continue reading Things looking rosy with City of Guelph’s new GM of Environmental Services

Guelph has won an Exemplary Source Water Protection Award from the American Water Works Association Continue reading Guelph wins award for protecting local drinking water sources

Guelph, Ont., January 21, 2019 —The City has received silver level recognition from the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) for its water efficiency programs. Guelph is the first Canadian municipality to achieve such recognition. “We’re thrilled to be recognized again for our water-saving programs,” says Heather Yates, the City’s supervisor for water efficiency. “The dedication of our staff and the ongoing participation of the community have helped us consistently meet, and often outdo, our water conservation and efficiency targets.” “We are pleased to recognize the City of Guelph’s innovative and successful water efficiency and conservation efforts through their addition to the AWE G480 Leaderboard,” notes Bill Christiansen, Director of Programs at AWE. Recognition on AWE’s G480 Leaderboard is based on how a municipality, or water… Continue reading Guelph first Canadian city recognized by the Alliance for Water Efficiency

Helping more Guelphites save water and money at home Guelph, Ont., May 15, 2018—The City has updated its Blue Built Home water efficiency certification program to include retrofits in existing homes and multi-residential building units in Guelph. The original program, launched in 2011, focused on certification of new homes built to  include home fixtures and appliances designed and tested to save water and reduce utility bills. “By expanding Blue Built Home to include existing homes and multi-residential buildings more people in our community can participate in this water–saving program,” says Stephanie Cote, water conservation programs coordinator. To get a Blue Built Home certification, a homeowner must complete one of the following three actions: Install a greywater reuse system Install an all-season rainwater harvesting system Complete… Continue reading City launches updated Blue Built Home program

Guelph among select municipalities to oversee and apply greater rigour to development in vulnerable source water areas Guelph, Ont., August 1, 2017 –The City of Guelph has improved its review process for sanitary sewer infrastructure projects to better protect our community’s vulnerable source water. The revised process allows the City of Guelph to complete the review process for the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s (MOECC) environmental compliance approval (ECA) applications internally. The MOECC makes the decision to grant the ECAs based on the City’s review. “We’re pleased to take this work on at the local level to provide faster service to our development community,” said Peter Rider, the City’s Risk Management Official. “This also allows us to participate more directly in the oversight… Continue reading City to play greater role in protecting Guelph’s source water

Provincially funded project helps City save thousands of litres of water each year Guelph, Ont., June 23, 2017—The City has won a Water’s Next award for its innovative rainwater harvesting bus wash system. The award, won in the category of Projects and Technology—Stormwater, was presented last night at a gala in Toronto. The rainwater harvesting bus wash project was initiated in 2012 by the City’s Water Services and Guelph Transit departments, in partnership with Enviro-Stewards Inc., following an award of funding from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change’s Showcasing Water Innovation program. Since 2014, the City has saved more than 1 million litres of drinking water in the process of washing it’s buses—enough to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools. “We rely on a groundwater… Continue reading City’s rainwater harvesting bus wash wins national award

Guelph’s water efficiency strategy and youth programming recognized Guelph, Ont., May 10, 2017—The Ontario Water Works Association (OWWA) has recognized Guelph’s leadership in water conservation with a 2017 Award of Excellence in Water Efficiency for its updated water efficiency strategy in the Public Sector & Utilities Award category. The City was also recognized for its water-based youth education programming with the H2Awesome event that won in the category of Public Education & Awareness. Both awards were presented earlier today at the OWWA Awards Luncheon. “The City of Guelph is honoured to receive these awards from the Ontario Water Works Association’s Water Efficiency Committee,” said Heather Yates, Supervisor of Water Efficiency at the City. “This recognition means a great deal to us—it honours the hard work… Continue reading City wins two Ontario Water Works Association awards

City’s Water Services and Planning departments to test new tools Guelph, Ont., February 23, 2017 – The City of Guelph’s Civic Accelerator, which turns the City into a research, development and commercialization lab for civic technology, closed its first round with a Demo Day held yesterday at the University of Guelph. The event hosted representatives of the federal and provincial government, other municipal governments, angel investors, corporate leaders, Accelerator participants and partners, academics and students. Civic Accelerator Demo Day hosted on February 22, 2017 at the University of Guelph Alert Labs and Milieu Technologies showcased products that won each a spot in the Civic Accelerator for their unique ability to solve challenging City issues. “The Civic Accelerator turns local government into the first customer, and… Continue reading Pilot programs announced as Guelph wraps first round of Civic Accelerator

2017 Non-tax-supported budget receives Council approval Guelph, Ont., November 3, 2016—Earlier this evening, Council approved the City’s Water, Wastewater Services and Stormwater Services, Ontario Building Code Administration and Court Services budgets for 2017. This is the first year that Stormwater Services is included in the non-tax-supported budget. “We have seen what the strong financial policies of Water and Wastewater Services can do to close the infrastructure gap and ensure healthy reserves,” says James Krauter, acting city treasurer. “The approval of the stormwater service fee will provide stable and dedicated funding for this critical service much like we have for water and wastewater.” Approved 2017 water and wastewater rates, effective January 1, 2017 Recommended rates and fees 2016 2017 change Water volume – $/cubic metre (m3)… Continue reading Council approves four dollar monthly residential stormwater service fee

Changes will make saving water easier Guelph, Ont., September 27, 2016—Last night Council unanimously approved the updated Water Efficiency Strategy presented by City staff at the September 6 Committee of the Whole meeting. “We are excited to move ahead with this updated strategy,” remarked Emily Stahl, acting manager of technical services for the City’s Water Services department. “Our community told us they want to do more to save water at home. The additions and improvements in the updated Water Efficiency Strategy offer fresh opportunities to take business and at-home water conservation efforts to the next level, and allow more of our community to participate.” Report highlights program improvements Program and service changes from the Water Efficiency Strategy include: Changing the Royal Flush rebate program to… Continue reading Council approves updated Water Efficiency Strategy