Surrey is looking at setting up an 18-month voluntary water meter installation pilot rebate program for 2025 and 2026, with council voting on it Monday night.
The City of Surrey in 1999 launched a program requiring water meter installations in all new residential, industrial, commercial and institutional developments, Surrey's general manager of engineering Scott Neuman noted in a corporate report coming before council. Since then, the City of Surrey has invested roughly $25 million in funding voluntary installations at a cost of about $857 per single-family residence.
"A pilot volunteer metering initiative was also introduced for existing non-metered residential properties, both single-family or multi-family, and it was envisioned that by 2015 all existing residents would voluntarily join the metering program," Neuman said. "The City’s Voluntary Water Meter Installation Program has made substantial progress over the last 20 years. Nevertheless, expanding metering coverage remains a key priority as Surrey grows and faces increasing water demands and increasing bulk water purchase costs and sanitary levy from Metro Vancouver."
Single-family households that enrolled in the program got a free meter installed on Surrey's water utility tab while multi-family properties received free meters with installation funded by the strata because of the "high costs and potential for meter installations within the strata maintenance room.
Neuman said Surrey's volunteer metering program has been "quite successful" with an estimated 78 per cent of single-family dwellings metered, "one of the highest rates in Metro Vancouver.
"Voluntary uptake of the meters was initially slow for the first few years and became more successful between 2007 to 2017," Neuman reported, "but the intake trend has slowed over the past couple years."
According to Neuman, water metering improves detection of leaks and provides for "fair and accurate billing based on actual consumption.
"The average residential water consumption for cities with extensive water meter installations is typically lower than the regional average," he added. "Properties with water meters have a financial incentive/benefit of having both their water and sewer bill being calculated based on actual consumption."
Meantime, single-family dwellings without a water meter are charged an annual $1,139 “flat rate” for water and pay a $1,638 sewer utility bill for a combined $2,777 based on 2025 rates. Single-family dwellings with a water meter, in comparison, are charged based on the actual volume of water used and in Surrey it works out to $572.65 per year with an annual sewer utility bill of $737.32 for a combined $1,309.97 per year.
"This is approximately 47 per cent of the water and sewer bills for 'flat rate' customers," Neuman said.
Based on today's rates, the cost to install a meter for a single-family household is $1,000 when only a meter is required, $3,000 for a new meter and meter box in grass boulevard, and $6,000 for a new meter and meter box in paved driveway.
Neuman notes in his report that in the case of multi-family stratas the installation cost can be between $6,000 to $60,000 depending on the size of the complex, be it a small townhouse complex or a four-storey building and where the water service connection is located.
"A typical single-family dwelling is estimated to save $1,467.03 per year on their combined water and sewer utility bills if they have a metered connection versus a non-metered connection," Neuman explained. "This means, residents who fund the replacement of a water meter could realize a return on investment ranging from one to four years."
However, some residents – particularly seniors and those who are "marginalized" – who would likely benefit the most from having lower utility charges don't have the cash to get a water meter installed. So an 18-month "incentive" program for volunteer water meters extended to the end of 2026 would support an estimated 16,750 single-family properties without meters, Neuman pointed out.
Because most residents save money by converting, he maintains it's "prudent" residents share in the cost of installation. For single-family houses and duplexes there'd be a free meter and setup valued at $450 with a $400 rebate with a combined value of $850 for the first 500 participants to hire a contractor to install a meter box and setter.
For multi-family complexes, a $1,500 maximum would be set for stratas, with more than 15 units, applicable to the first 15 stratas that retain a contractor to get the job done.
Delta, Mission and Township of Langley have volunteer water meter installation programs where the installation costs are borne by the water utility and Vancouver launched a fully-funded mandatory program in 2024 to "accelerate and complete" metering by 2040, Neuman reported. "In Richmond, all detached homes are already metered, and the municipality is fully funding the remaining installation of multi-family buildings" he added.
A Surrey rebate program would be piloted for 2025 and 2026 "based on the existing annual budget not to exceed $500,000 per year," Neuman explained.
Meantime, Surrey residents can continue to drink to their good health.
A recent corporate from Scott Neuman, Surrey's general manager of engineering, indicates the city's 2024 Water System Annual Report "confirms and demonstrates that the City continues to deliver drinking water that meets high standards, with no concerns regarding bacterial contamination."
Neuman stated in his report that 3,003 water samples were taken in 2024 and no E-coli bacteria was found. "While nine samples initially indicated the presence of total coliform bacteria, further testing conducted after system flushing returned negative results. Chlorine levels were consistently monitored throughout the water distribution network," he reported.
The Greater Vancouver Water District supplies Surrey's drinking water, under Metro Vancouver's jurisdiction. Neuman noted Surrey's water distribution system is the "most extensive" network in B.C., spanning 1,891 kilometres with 30 pressure zones supported by nine pump stations.
"To preserve water quality within the distribution network, the City implements a unidirectional flushing strategy, aiming to clean the entire municipal water system every five years," Neuman explained.
Weekly samples are collected and analyzed by Metro Vancouver to evaluate the presence of bacteria,chlorine residuals, pH levels, water temperature, and turbidity.
The City of Surrey also tests quarterly for disinfection by-products like Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) and Trihalomethanes (THMs) and twice per year tests for pH and metal content with results continuing to align with the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (2022).
"No incidents of tampering or vandalism were reported in 2024. Security measures across the water system include lighting, locking mechanisms, alarm systems at pump stations, and backflow preventers installed on service connections."
The City of Surrey, Neuman concluded, "remains committed to high standards in water distribution maintenance, ensuring that residents and businesses continue to receive safe, clean, and high-quality drinking water."
Councillor Doug Elford sang city staff's praises. "Once again our drinking water is excellent, according to this report," he remarked. "It is very high quality, once again, and I'm proud of that and I just want to say I'm proud of you too, staff, for that.
"It looks like there was no upsets or anything like that, and that's really, really quite an accomplishment."
Councillor Mike Bose echoed that. "Hats off to our staff, city waterworks people," he said.
"Our water is fantastic and it's safe. Not everybody can say that."
Mayor Brenda Locke also weighed in.
"There's certainly nothing more important than water. I do want to also though recognize and thank Metro Vancouver because they're the ones that do the testing for us so that has been a really great service that we have to thank Metro Vancouver for."
