No opt-out program for new Winnipeg water meters, report recommends

Cameron MacLean · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 23, 2025 9:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Winnipeg homeowners whitethorn person nary prime but to judge caller integer h2o meters from the City of Winnipeg, whether they privation them oregon not. 

The caller meters volition automatically transmit encrypted water-usage information to the city. The metropolis had been considering offering an opt-out program, aft immoderate residents raised concerns astir imaginable wellness impacts from the signals utilized to transmit the data, portion others disquieted the information would not beryllium secure.

In a study to beryllium considered astatine the h2o and discarded committee's gathering connected Friday, however, metropolis unit urge against the thought of an opt-out program, aft studying the experiences of different jurisdictions, arsenic good arsenic the wellness safety, privateness issues related to the caller technology.

"Opt-out programs successful different cities person shown debased information rates," Lucy Szkwarek, manager of concern and medication with the h2o and discarded department, wrote successful the report.

"These programs person besides been shown to little the ratio of AMI technology, by adding costs to customers who opt-out, maintaining bequest systems, and by requiring further unit to execute the related works."

Health Canada states determination are nary wellness risks from vulnerability to the radiofrequency from the astute meters, the study says.

An opt-out programme would outgo betwixt $235,000 and $252,000 a twelvemonth to support the aged analog meters and prosecute a full-time metre scholar to physically work the meters.

The metropolis estimates an opt-out programme would person a information complaint of 0.1-0.2 per cent, with customers who take to opt retired paying betwixt $569 and $1,059 per year, not including the one-time opt-out fee.

Water and discarded committee seat Coun. Ross Eadie says immoderate cities let homeowners to take wherever connected the spot the antennas are installed, and the times of time they transmit the signal.

"What different cities person done is, they tin instal the antenna conscionable connected the extracurricular of the instauration oregon gathering wherever it's located," Eadie said.

"Or, if an idiosyncratic wants, the antenna could beryllium acceptable up astatine the spot line. The different cities, they don't bash that for escaped though."

The city's program to regenerate 221,000 analog h2o meters with the caller "smart" meters is acceptable to commencement adjacent twelvemonth and instrumentality 5 years to complete, astatine a outgo of $135 million. 

The caller meters are expected to beryllium much close — aged meters thin to underestimate h2o usage — and observe leaks much rapidly than the analog meters.

Abandoned discarded complaints drop

The fig of complaints astir abandoned garbage successful inner-city Winnipeg neighbourhoods dropped by astir fractional past year, aft the metropolis accrued the fig of proactive "sweeps" it does done targeted neighbourhoods, according to a caller report.

Reports of abandoned bulky discarded fell by 47 per cent from 2023 to 2024, aft the city doubled the fig of hours its bulky discarded expanse programme operates from 1,000 to 2,000 hours a year, and making the programme year-round alternatively than seasonal.

The metropolis besides centralized the process for taking successful complaints astir bulky waste, with each 311 calls being forwarded to the h2o and discarded department, starring to each complaints being reviewed wrong 48 hours, and cleanups completed wrong 5 days aft the review. 

The city's discarded diversion complaint ticked up somewhat past year, from 27.6 per cent to 28.3 per cent. City assembly acceptable a extremity successful 2011 to summation the magnitude of discarded diverted from metropolis landfills to much than 50 per cent by 2022. 

Total residential discarded collected accrued by 4.8 per cent to 274,080 tonnes, with the mean Winnipegger tossing retired 244 kilograms per year. 

A full of 63.3 tonnes of integrated discarded was collected from 16 City of Winnipeg sites betwixt Oct. 15 and Dec. 31, aft the metropolis launched its interim organics drop-off program. More sites are expected to beryllium added this year.

A citywide organics pick-up programme is expected to beryllium acceptable by 2030. 

Combined sewer overflows much than doubled

The measurement of diluted sewage that spilled into Winnipeg waterways past twelvemonth much than doubled from the twelvemonth before. 

The city's combined sewers dumped 12.2 cardinal litres of diluted sewage into rivers successful 2024, compared to 5.4 cardinal successful 2023.

A metropolis report, to beryllium presented to the h2o and discarded committee connected Friday, blames bedewed upwind for the increase. 

Combined sewers transportation some sewage and tempest water. About one-third of the city, mostly successful older areas, person combined sewers. A program to regenerate each the combined sewers successful the city is expected to outgo betwixt $1.15 and $2.3 billion, and could instrumentality until 2095.