Developments held up due to water-meter shortage

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This article was published 21/07/2022 (1367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A water meter shortage threatens to delay the completion of some Winnipeg apartment buildings.

City officials say a shortage of small-diameter water meters has interfered with its practice of providing the devices to developers. Developers install them to monitor water use within individual apartments or condo units.

Coun. John Orlikow said the issue appears to have delayed some projects, though the precise number is not known.

“The bottom line (is) there’s not enough of (the devices)… supply-chain issues have occurred and I suspect now (some developers will) have to either take a pause (or switch to another part),” said Orlikow.

“If you can’t get a meter in, that means you don’t have any way to record the water (use)” which is needed to get an occupancy permit, he said.

The councillor said he learned Wednesday that developers could install a single meter at their projects to move in tenants on time, though these would only track overall water use, which could make it difficult to determine how much each tenant should pay for the utility.

He said one of the new multi-family buildings under construction in the Refinery District, a Fort Garry residential area north of Bishop Grandin Boulevard, is on hold due to the shortage.

Orlikow said he’s hopeful the matter will be sorted out in a couple of months, yet fears some folks who sold their homes or ended housing leases will be delayed from moving into new dwellings.

“That’s going to cause a lot of stress for people who were expecting to be in their new apartment or condo,” he said.

In a written statement, a city spokesperson said the city expects multi-family developments will be able to proceed because the city is now allowing them more meter options, including the choice to install a single large diameter city meter, with or without multiple privately owned meters.

“There will be an opportunity to change the meter set up to the multiple small diameter city-owned meters option, once small-diameter meters are readily available. We continue to work with various suppliers to source small diameter meters,” wrote water and waste spokesperson Lisa Marquardson, in an emailed statement.

In a follow-up email, she noted developers who choose to buy meters for tenants could also face supply chain delays.

Marquardson said small meter installation has decreased about 50 per cent due to the shortage.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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