The most stunning thing about Cornwall Politics is that the sheep are stunningly silent until it’s too late.
Facing an anticipated 7% tax rate hike, city management and council have been flirting and floating having “Smart Water Meters” for the approximately 16,000 buildings in Cornwall.
The basic argument for such meters is usually conservation. Numbers like Cornwall residents use twice as much water as the norm get bandied around by favored media; but that’s a canard.
People in Cornwall are not wasting water. We do have an above average of water main breaks due to poor management. We do have older pipes running through the city which are leaking water because a lack of leadership and infrastructure spending.
We do have Cristal Rock water which essentially is bottling city tap water after treating it.
That’s a lot of excess water.
The latest drivel coming from council is that the city wants to spend $120K on a consultant report about getting an extra water intake for Cornwall as there’s a slight risk of freezing.
This writer could swear that we pay some lovely salaries to management and staff who should be able to report on such a subject to council without needing a consultant. If they can’t they shouldn’t be in their jobs. I mean, GOOGLE it. It’s not rocket science.
There’s also something called a risk to benefit ratio. Do you spend $120K on a consultant and then a bag of money on a low risk scenario which hasn’t impacted the city, ever while facing a 7% tax hike?
At a cost of nearly $1000 per home to install these meters there simply is no benefit to you and I. None. So why do it? Simply because other cities do?
Cornwall has no water shortage issue. We have excess capacity and send some water to our neighbors even. There is no short or medium, or even long term prognosis of a future water shortage.
In fact legal proceedings are occurring because of area flooding due to water being dammed up and kept from flowing East.
There’s also the dark side of these meters which can include suggestions of possible radiation impacting public health, and other health issues.
A quick google search of these meters shows multiple stories which should give any reasonable person or city manager pause to inflict that cost on tax payer in Cornwall.
Do people in Cornwall; already dealing with near record cancer rates and other conditions need more health issues? LINK
“In nearly every community around the world where wireless smart meters have been installed, a percentage of residents complain of health effects that started after installation. The residents often did not know that smart meters had been installed. The most common symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Tinnitus
- Heart arrhythmia/palpitations
- Decreased immune function
- Irritability
- Decreased cognitive function”
A few more quick links:
American Cancer Society USA TODAY
Smart meters disadvantages
We love to play devil’s advocate, here is a list of problems you might not be protected from if you choose to install a smart meter.
- Data sharing and third party information: suppliers and third parties can use your data to offer you new products and services unless you object. Energy companies can use your data for marketing purposes if you give them permission. It’s not always clear who you’re sharing your data with, so read the small print.
- Smart meters cause errors: Errors with meters also mean that wrong information is being sent and acted upon by suppliers.
- Your bills still might be estimated: despite installing smart meters, energy providers encourage their customers to pay annually based on a yearly estimate. Meaning that you pay based on an “estimated” use, even if you have a smart meter.
- Smart meters and switching suppliers LINK
Smart Meter Failing LINK
While the problem is bad management, a weak confused council, and sex fiend hugging Mayor, the bigger problem is a public kept in the near dark and then not doing much about such a glaring act of #taxrape.
In fact, like many newspapers we need viewer donations to keep running and it has taken nearly a month for us to move forward on this story because of a lack of concern and support by the public. Now that’s crazy!
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Unbelievable
Although am against the totalitarian water meter idea, all one has to do is get some illegal weed killer to make ones lawn perfect (less water) and a few rain barrels for gardening. And chickens. We all need chickens.
This one I do not agree with. If you use it you should pay for it. My house, I had 2 bathrooms and one person. I paid more. You could have 2 bathrooms and 10 people and pay the same. Then there are pool owners. My home in Brampton with a pool was metered. I paid less for water than in Cornwall. Brampton does not have a river. Of course leave it to Cornwall politicians to screw it up.