The CBC reports that, “Ontario taxpayers are shelling out $700 million a year for drinking water that never reaches their taps, according to a study released Wednesday by a group representing management and labour groups in the construction industry.”
The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario conservatively estimates that, “about one-quarter of the drinking water in Ontario is pumped into the ground… Annually, it says, the province loses 327 million cubic metres of water, enough to fill about 131,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.”
BLUE COMMUNITIES PROJECT
The Blue Communities Project guide highlights that decades of infrastructure funding cuts have resulted in a ‘municipal. infrastructure deficit.’
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimates that Canadian communities need $31 billion to upgrade and develop new water and wastewater infrastructure.
The Council of Canadians and CUPE are calling on the federal government to provide funding to support publicly-owned and operated infrastructure through a national water infrastructure fund.
The CBC report is at http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/06/10/leaking-water-pipes.html.
The Blue Communities Project guide is at www.canadians.org/water/documents/WWD/2009/bcpguide-draft-web.pdf.
