Arbutus Mountain Estates Water System

Arbutus Mountain Estates-water treatment facility

Arbutus Mountain Estates Water System is located south of Shawnigan Lake in Area B.  The system services the 'Estates of Shawnigan Station' residential development with 172 service connections, with more growth anticipated.

Source, Treatment and Distribution

Water from the system is supplied from two groundwater wells, chlorinated at the treatment building and pumped to a 751,000 L steel-bolted, above-grade reservoir. The water is gravity fed on demand from the reservoir to the distribution system and to each water service.

Critical equipment is monitored 24 hours a day for malfunctions, such as high or low chlorine levels or pump failures; if such an abnormality occurs, an alarm is immediately sent to the on-duty pager to alert CVRD staff for quick response.

Water Quality Tests

Arbutus Mountain Estates water system is sampled, at a minimum, once a week. The following table shows the sampling frequency and parameters tested for the water system:

FrequencyParameter TestedLaboratory
WeeklyBacterial (E. Coli and Total Coliforms)Samples are submitted to Island Health for testing by a provincial laboratory
AnnualFull spectrum analysis based on the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines. Sampling of the source and distribution is alternated each year. Bureau Veritas

Testing results can be found in the Annual Water Report completed each year.

Fee Structure

Arbutus Mountain Estates water is a fully metered water system and each connection has a water meter that records water consumption. Water meters are read every six months and customers are charged according to their consumption and based on the rates set out in the inclined block rate table (see below for details). Current year budget information can be found here.

Annual Charges

Billing PeriodMeter Reading DateUser Fees*
minimum payment (up to 200 m3)

Parcel Tax**
Minimum Annual Fee
(User Fee and Parcel)
March 15 -  September 14September 15$140

$321


$601
September 15 -  March 14March 15$140

*User Fees are mailed out to each customers on the billing date stated above.

**Parcel Tax is charged once a year and is incorporated into the property tax for each customer.

Inclined Block Rate Table

User Fees
Water Use (per billing period)Charge
0 - 200 m3$140.00
201 - 300 m3$140.00 + $1.10 per m3 over 200 m3
301 - 400 m3$240.00 + $1.50 per m3 over 300 m3
over 400 m3$390.00 + $2.25 per m3 over 400 m3

Undetected Leaks

Undetected Leaks will be considered in any buried service water line or water line in the building's walls. Plumbing fixtures are taps, toilets and hose bibs. 

User Charges may be adjusted where an undetected leak on the consumer’s property has resulted in water usage greatly exceeding typical usage of water, according to the applicable classification(s) and there is no indication that water was knowingly allowed to run to waste. A request for a leak adjustment may be granted if all the following conditions are met or in extraordinary circumstances approval of the Corporate Financial Officer or the Manager.

  1. The property owner has not been granted a leak adjustment in the last 5 years. 
  2. The leak was repaired within 30 days of billing or discovery of the leak;
  3. Written verification describing the nature of the leakage and the action taken to rectify the problem must be received by the Manager before a leak adjustment will be granted.

Where a leak adjustment is approved, User Charge adjustments will be determined as follows:

  1. If the leak is found in the service line, volumes from the 2 previous years, of the same billing cycle, will be averaged and charged. i.e. Average of 2 previous summers, if leak occurs in the summer.
  2. If the leak is associated with an in-home plumbing fixture or irrigation system, volumes from the 2 previous years, of the same billing cycle will be averaged plus 50% of the incremental water usage (between the average and the overage) will be charged to a maximum added value of $500.
  3. Subsequent leaks occurring within 5 years of the previous leak adjustment request will be eligible for the cap of $1,500 per single family dwelling equivalent, up to a maximum of $5,000. Where the average of the 2 previous years of the same billing cycle is greater than $5,000, the eligible cap will be 1.5 times the average.

 $140.00 + $1.10 per m3 over 200m3