Whether it’s residential at home or for commercial business use, not a lot of thought is put into where our water comes from and what that can mean for utility costs related to location and transportation. This article will explain the differences between private and public utility, and what you need to know as a business in Canada, while taking you through multiple reasons why you may prefer one over the other, pros and cons, and what to be prepared for as far as infrastructure and other costs when it comes to choosing water utilities for your business.
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Public vs Private Water Utilities
At its core, public vs private water is the difference between using public city/municipal water sources, while private means along the lines of well water, which is mainly for residential use. Businesses most likely would use a private water utility, which are usually created by developers to serve rural land development where community water service is required for subdivision approval and where there is no other water purveyor in the area that can provide service.
Private water utilities are regulated to protect the public interest and are there to ensure that adequate and safe water service is provided at a fair and reasonable price. Water rates are approved based on collecting sufficient revenues to pay for the operating costs, including a provision for management fees and a contribution for future replacement of infrastructure. The responsibilities of the Utility Regulation Section fall into two major categories:
- To ensure that any water systems installed by land developers are properly designed and constructed prior to the sale of lots.
- To ensure water utilities provide safe and adequate water service at rates that are fair, reasonable and sufficient to operate their water systems sustainably.
Approvals required by regional health authorities under the Drinking Water Protection Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulation, along with the licensing of surface water or groundwater sources under the Water Sustainability Act and/or any other legislation is important to keep things grounded and up to code.
Regardless of whether you choose privately owned versus public water utility for your business, it’s always a good idea to have it tested for peace of mind and to ensure that whatever your business deals with that requires water, that you’re receiving clean, safe water. Some think that privately owned may be ‘riskier’ in terms of being treated and tested by the municipal authorities, while others think the opposite is true in that sourcing your own water or using private water providers is more trustworthy. Either way, the important thing is to do your research and understand contaminants and the importance of getting water tested and investing in a good filtration system, which this applies more to rural locations more often than an urban business location.
For businesses, city water through municipal systems can make sense, and the private supplies are typically routed in from lakes or rivers, with private water usage being higher overall due to industrial consumption – as most utilize lakes and rivers more so than tapping into city water supplies. Since 2020, industry used around 91.5% of total water across the country, while commercial and institutional sectors used around 21% of municipal water as they’re more centrally located. Most of the population relies on city water as well, and it is more strictly regulated.
Which is better to use?
Which is better to use is subjective, as it will depend on what your business needs are for water consumption and use in general. A restaurant or car wash for example, would need different water setups and the location also is a major factor, if not the main one, on choosing public or private water utilities.
A business located within a major city area would more than likely use public water supply versus a privately owned water supplier. As stated previously though, it would depend on infrastructure, costs, and overall costs that makes sense for your business type. One isn’t overall better than the other, as differences in location and size matter. Pros and cons of public and private water systems can be summarized mainly by these factors:
Pros of City Water
- There are multiple agencies and workers that ensure public water for residential and business are maintained, safe, and free from contamination. If there is a problem, it is noticed and quickly taken care of.
- The water is supplied through municipal water pipes, access will always be available even if electricity goes out due to storms or other issues that may arise.
- You don’t have to pay to maintain water lines or pipes that supply water to your home or business, as the city does it themselves to ensure everything stays up to code.
Cons of City Water
- Some don’t like the taste of city water if it’s residential, as the fluoride and chlorine can come through rather strongly, especially when certain things need to be knocked out such as extra contaminants that may have gotten into the system after a bad storm or a chemical spill, etc. That can happen, or even certain times of year where the water may need some extra help with maintaining its balance.
- City water supplies can become contaminated in cases of natural disasters
- Some areas of Canada that rely on city water may have boil advisories because the tap water is not meeting provincial standards for safety, either due to disasters or other issues.
Water and energy
Private versus public water and energy systems are important, as well as energy as a whole and where it comes from. Private energy can benefit large industries and businesses as it doesn’t take large amounts from municipal water resources, private water utilities are also regulated to protect the public interest to ensure that water resources are adequate and set at a fair price. Water rates are approved on the basis of collecting sufficient revenues to pay for operating costs, including a provision for management fees and a contribution for future replacement of infrastructure.
How and where water is used in Canada by industry and sector, locations also affect what kind of water gets used more often, whether it’s private or public municipal.
Water withdrawn by sector, Canada, 2005 to 2021
Since 2005, the thermal power generation sector has withdrawn the most water. The thermal power generation industry includes nuclear and fossil-fuel power plants. These types of power plants use large quantities of water for cooling and to produce steam that drives the turbines generating electricity. In general, when compared water use with electricity produced, coal and nuclear plants use more water than natural gas plants. This sector experienced a 17.7% decrease in water withdraw, from 27, 825 million m3 in 2005 to 22, 903 million m3 in 2021. In part it can be explained by the transition from coal plants to natural gas plants and mostly by the gradual increase in the share of solar and wind energy which, unlike other energy sources, do not use water.
The manufacturing section uses the second largest share of water withdrawals. It accounted for between 10% to 14% of the national total during this period. Between 2005 and 2021, national withdrawals fell by 29.3%, which can be explained by market fluctuations for manufactured goods. In the same span of years, the residential sector was third across the country, fluctuating between 5.5% and 9.5% of the national water withdrawals. Water withdrawals from this sector decreased by 30.9% despite a population increase of 14.0%, which is probably associated with an improvement in public awareness of water conservation practices such as widespread implementation of household water meters.
The commercial and institutional sector includes schools, office buildings, hospitals, restaurants, and hotels. In 2021, 4.5% of the national water withdrawn was taken from this sector. From 2005 to 2021 again, water withdrawals showed an overall increasing trend from 1,082 million m3 in 2005 to 1,539 million m3 in 2021, though there was a decrease of 22.4% between 2019 and 2021. Within the agricultural sector, water is used predominantly (86%) for irrigation. In 2021, irrigation accounted for 6.4% of the total national withdrawals. Once again, between 2005 to 2021, the sector showed the second highest proportional rise with a 45.1% increase, which can be attributed to drought, particularily in the prairies provinces where irrigation compensate the water shortages. In 2021, southern regions between BC’s lower mainland and interior, to the eastern prairies where agriculture is prevalent, they faced one of their driest summers in 75 years – which affected and does affect water available, from both public and private systems.
The oil and gas sectors withdrew the lowest water volume in 2021, only 1.2% of the national withdrawal, but has had the largest proportional, with a 111.9% increase since 2005. In the oil and gas sector, water is mostly used for hydraulic fracturing, in which high-pressure water is injected into the ground. A large portion of the water that is withdrawn is consumed, which cannot be recovered or reused, but around 45% of it, depending on the sector, the region, and year, is recycled and recirculated to be reused. Water that has been withdrawn can be used (whether consumed or recirculated for reuse) or put back into the water body (returned). Recirculation and reuse will occur mainly in the thermal power generation, manufacturing, and mining sectors. The water consumption and return by sector indicator considers water to be consumed if it isn’t returned to its source.
In 2021,
- the thermal power generation sector returned more than 65.5% of the water volume used
- the mining and the manufacturing sectors returned each 52.1% of the water volume used
- the irrigation and the oil & gas sector consumed more water than they returned
- the residential and commercial & institutional sectors return an estimated 90% of the water volume withdrawn
Water consumed and returned by sector, Canada, 2021
Essentially, since 2021, five sectors returned more water than they consumed. The highest return rates were from the residential, commercial, and institutional sectors – and it’s estimated that they return 90% of the water volume withdrawn. Thermal power generation sector, who has withdrawn the most water, returned the most with 21,807 million m3 of water, followed by manufacturing and mining sectors with respectively 3,396 million m3 and 532 million m3.
What all of this information means and what it has to do with water utility costs and what private versus public water use means, is that some sectors and industries require large amounts of water use, and public water typically gets used from industries.
In Canada, the responsibilty of how water gets used and for water management in general, is shared by the federal, provincial, and municipal governments, and in some instances, by the territories and by Aboriginal governments under self-government agreements. This shared responsibility necessitates close cooperation and collaboration among all levels of government and the public – which also includes how business and industry is allowed to use water resources. In practice, all orders of government, communities, the private sector, and all individual Canadians have responsibilities and decisions every day that influence the health and sustainability of freshwater sources.
When it comes to water, energy, and other utility related costs, queries, and more – EnergyRates.ca can help with anything you need to know about industries, businesses of any size, and even individual residential questions, our team of professional energy consultants can answer anything you may need to know about energy. We cover nearly every energy option available in your location, and can help with big energy bills or any questions if you think you may be paying too much for water or power, regardless, as previously mentioned, if it’s for your single home, residential owned buildings, businesses, and industries.
