Several figures confirm that Bromont residents were more economical with water in 2022 than in 2021.
For example, the Bromont drinking water plant (CEP) distributed 130 million liters less water in 2022 than in 2021. This drop in absolute volume represents a 6% decrease in the volume distributed in 2021 (2 213,271 cubic meters that year).
Less water distributed, a first for Bromont
The year 2022 is the first during which the CEP distributed less water than in the previous year, according to data accessible on the City website.
The drop is even more significant when we reduce these quantities to a calculation per person per day. The Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs is asking municipalities to show their credentials on this.
Louis Villeneuve, mayor of Bromont, and Justine Baudart, infrastructure and asset management coordinator (Catherine Trudeau/La Voix de l’Est)
The quantity of water distributed per person per day thus increased from 574 liters* in 2021 to 515 liters in 2022, the latter number corresponding to the Quebec average.
“The City’s responsibility is to ensure that we do not run out of water. Then, as citizens of Bromont, we all have a responsibility, every day, to pay attention to our water consumption.”
— Louis Villeneuve, mayor of Bromont
Note that the quantity of water distributed corresponds to the sum of three components: residential consumption, non-residential consumption and water leaks. The latter are minimal in the Bromont network with a “low” leak index of 0.9, one of the best in the region according to Ministry data.
Every day, the Teledyne Dalsa plant in Bromont recovers the equivalent of three times this immense reservoir of water. (Jessy Brown/Voice of the East Archives)
The City salutes the companies in its industrial and scientific park which have recently taken measures to limit their water consumption.
Let us name for example Teledyne Dalsa, who is currently working to reduce her consumption by 30%, she who consumed more than 4 million liters of water per day until 2022 (see “Also read” earlier in this article).
Companies located in Bromont pay for their water at the rate of 85 cents per cubic meter (¢/m³) up to 80,000 m³ per year, then 90¢/m³ for consumption above 80,000 m³. In 2022, water consumption cost Teledyne Dalsa approximately $260,000 per year, according to our calculations.
Residential water consumption
The consumption of Bromont residents, per day and per person, decreased by 88 liters between 2021 and 2022. This same consumption stagnated between 2020 and 2021.
Is there any reason for ecstasy here? Not yet.
In fact, this reduction is not yet enough to achieve the water consumption objectives set by the Ministry (by September 1, 2025), i.e. less than 220 liters per person per day.
The Bromont water treatment plant was built in the early 1970s. (Alain Dion/La Voix de l’Est Archives)
Another nuance in the portrait of consumption. The sample of residential water meter readings is not entirely representative, with the 2022 data from which the statistics were drawn coming from only 49 meters, instead of the 60 identified by the Ministry as the minimum sample to be representative.
External factors fluctuating over time also temper possible excess enthusiasm.
External influences
With the “very rainy” summer of 2022, citizens resorted less to watering and filling their swimming pools. This partly reduces residential consumption, according to Justine Baudart, infrastructure and asset management coordinator, met by The Voice of the East last Thursday, with Mayor Louis Villeneuve.
“A combination of many different elements brings us to these results for residential.”
— Justine Baudart, Bromont infrastructure and asset management coordinator
Ms. Baudart also explains this decline by the increased awareness that the City has made among citizens about the importance of saving water. “We can estimate that our residents have also made efforts,” she says.
Two patrol officers have recently been assigned to these awareness-raising efforts and compliance with regulations among the population, specifies Mr. Villeneuve.
Reading errors on some water meters have also been corrected.
Watering regulations were tightened in 2023. (123RF)
Finally, a new calculation method was adopted for the production of the 2022 drinking water management report in Bromont, as requested by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
“That too changed the figures a little,” concedes Ms. Baudart.
Lawn watering limited to once a week
On the garden side, the tightening of regulations on watering since the summer of 2023 will have a positive influence on the next data.
In fact, Bromont residents can only water their lawn once a week, instead of once every two days previously.
However, manual watering of a garden, a vegetable garden, a flower box, a planter, a flower bed, a tree and/or a shrub remains permitted at all times. , indicates the City.
To return to water meters, they are now automatically installed in new residences, as stipulated in a new City regulation, for statistical purposes only.
The City also invites other Bromont residents to adopt a water meter.
“We want water meters to be installed everywhere to enlarge the sample and to have more precise results.”
— Louis Villeneuve, mayor of Bromont
The Bromont aqueduct network stretches over a little over 108 km.
* Consumption and distribution data per day and per person come from water management reports submitted by the City to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and including The Voice of the East got a copy.
