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Water Smart
Kelowna residents served by the City of Kelowna water utility are fortunate to have the iconic Okanagan Lake as a high quality water source.
However, not everybody living, working and vacationing in Kelowna gets drinking water from Okanagan Lake. In fact, unless you are a customer of the City of Kelowna water utility, you are getting your water from another source – either an aquifer or mountain lakes and streams, which are not as plentiful as the lake.
What is Peak Demand?
The City of Kelowna water utility and Water Smart program strive to reduce peak demand. This is the time when water use is at its highest. Peak demand generally occurs at the end of July and the beginning of August. The water distribution system has to be sized to meet this demand even though it occurs for only a few weeks in the summer.
Since the introduction of water meters in 1996 and a user-pay water rate in 1998, Kelowna residents have reduced per-capita water use by over 20 per cent. The 2007 Water Sustainability Action Plan calls for a further 15 per cent reduction by 2012.
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