Below you will find a comparison of water rates between the City of Vancouver (CoV) and the UEL.
UEL has two water rates: one is a peak rate for Jun-Sep period - $1.3185 per cubic meter, the other is an off-peak rate for the rest of year - $1.0544 per cubic meter (CM). (source: UEL Admin, 2010 rates)
This translates to a "blended" rate of $1.14 per 1 CM of water in UEL.
A four person household living in a bungalow in UEL uses 555.5 cubic meters of water per year according to UEL water bills.
Therefore, such household pays $374.21 per year for the water, or $1.03 per day.
Compare that against the CoV.
CoV charges $2.01 per 100 cubic feet of water (2010 figures). 1 cu.ft. = 0.028317 CM so the CoV charges $0.71 per 1 CM of water.
At a first glance it looks like UEL residents pay 61% more for their water - $1.14 vs. $0.71 per cubic meter.
BUT, do not despair ...
.... CoV is also charging a "meter charge" per quarter. Meter charges depend on the diameter of the water pipe and were set as follows in 2010 (they are higher now):
17mm = $26
20mm = $26
25mm = $31
Typical household is connected to a 25mm pipe.
Thus a compareable household in CoV would pay $232.51 for water and $124 for "meter charge".
A grand total of $356.51 in CoV vs. $374.21 in UEL, a 5% difference.
