Water Conservation Guidelines recommended May 1 – October 31
Water Conservation Guidelines are recommended for all Municipal water systems. Please see the Water Conservation Page for the Stage recommended for each water system.
Stage 1: Cove Bay, Bowen Bay, Bluewater Park, Eagle Cliff, Hood Point, King Edward Bay, Tunstall Bay.
Stage 2: None at this time.
Stage 3: None at this time.
Stage 4: None at this time.
The Cove Bay water system services about 650 users in Snug Cove, Deep Bay, Miller’s Landing, Scarborough, Cates Hill, Valhalla and Queen Charlotte Heights. About 100 users in Snug Cove are also served by the Snug Cove Sewer System.
Water for the Cove Bay system is supplied by Grafton Lake. It is drawn from the lake through an intake about 10 metres deep and is then chlorinated prior to distribution to water users. It is tested for chlorine residuals every day and samples are sent to Vancouver Coastal Health once a week.
Cove Bay water quality and colour
Increased turbidity after heavy rainfalls, and leaves and branches falling into Grafton Lake can increase water quality problems and can cause the water to turn yellow-brownish in the fall. If you have concerns about the water quality, we recommend you boil drinking water at a rapid boil for at least one minute. This will, however, not change its colour.
Chlorine and chlorinated disinfection by-products in drinking water
For questions and answers regarding chlorine and chlorinated disinfection by-products in the Cove Bay drinking water please click here.
Improving Cove Bay water
On March 11, 2017 the Federal and Provincial governments announced successful applications for Building Canada grants. Bowen Island Municipality’s application for $3,890,367 to help us build a new Cove Bay Water treatment plant has been approved. Read more about the Cove Bay Water Treatment Plant.
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Help us contact you quickly if we discover a leak
Bowen Island Municipality is currently dealing with leaks at some properties in Municipal water systems. We make every effort to contact the property owners, however in many cases we only have mailing addresses.
Please provide your contact information so that we can contact you by phone or e-mail if we discover high water usage on your water meter.
If BIM identifies a leak, every effort will be taken to contact the property owner. If the property owner cannot be contacted, water will be turned off at the property.
Water rates are charged as per the water rates bylaw.
Water meters are read three times through the year: April, August and December, with invoices following soon after. The invoice reflects the billing for the four month period between meter readings.
The flat rate of $294 covers the cost of maintenance and renewal of the water infrastructure as well as baseline operations. In addition, there’s a monthly metered rate of $0.10 per cubic metre up to 92m3. The average household uses less than 1 cubic metre of water per day, so this would be less than $3 per month. All cubic metres in excess of 92m3 will be charged at $1.75.
The Cove Bay Water System Local Advisory Committee has advisory powers to Council regarding water system issues, and also reviews the operating and capital budgets for the utility. The Committee meets two to three times a year, including an annual information meeting where any users of the Cove Bay Water System are welcome to attend.