Honeymoon Bay Water System

Honeymoon Bay Water System

Honeymoon Bay water system is located on Cowichan Lake west of Mesachie Lake in Area F. The water system services primarily residential properties, RV parks and commercial developments.

Source, Treatment and Distribution

Honeymoon Bay water system receives its water from two groundwater wells. A second well was constructed in 2019 in Lily Park following a successful petition process, when the community approved borrowing to fund this project. The water receives chlorine disinfection before being pumped up to a 454 m3 water reservoir and is gravity fed back down to the distribution system as required from the customers.

Critical equipment is monitored 24-hours a day for malfunctions, such as high or low chlorine levels or pump failures; if such an abnormality occurs, an alarm is immediately sent to the on-duty pager to alert CVRD staff.

Annual Water Testing

Honeymoon Bay water system is sampled, at a minimum, once a week. The following table shows the sampling frequency and parameters tested for the water system:

Frequency
Parameter Tested
Laboratory
Weekly
Bacterial (E. Coli and Total Coliforms)
Samples are submitted to the Island Health Authority for testing by a provincial laboratory
Annual

Full spectrum analysis based on the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines. Sampling of the source and distribution is alternated each year.

Bureau Veritas

Testing results can be found in the Annual Water Report completed each year.

Fee Structure

Honeymoon Bay water system is a metered water system meaning each connection has a water meter that records water consumption. Water meters are read every six months and customers are charged according to their consumption and based on the rates set out in the inclined block rate table (see below for details). Current year budget information can be viewed here.

Annual Charges

Billing PeriodMeter Reading DateUser Fees*
minimum payment (up to 200 m3)
Parcel Tax**
(approx.)
Minimum Annual Fee
(User Fee and Parcel)
November 1 - April 30May 1$105.00

$305.00


$465.00
May 1 - October 31November 1$105.00

*User Fees are mailed out to each customers on the billing date stated above.

**Parcel Tax is charged once a year and is incorporated into the property tax for each customer.

Inclined Block Rate Table

User Fees 
Water Use (per billing period)Charge
0 - 200 m3$105.00
201 - 300 m3$105.00 + $1.00 per m3 over 200 m3
301 - 400 m3$205.00 + $1.50 per m3 over 300 m3
over 400 m3$355.00 + $2.25 per m3 over 400 m3


Undetected Leaks

Undetected Leaks will be considered in any buried service water line or water line in the building's walls. Plumbing fixtures are taps, toilets and hose bibs. 

User Charges may be adjusted where an undetected leak on the consumer’s property has resulted in water usage greatly exceeding typical usage of water, according to the applicable classification(s) and there is no indication that water was knowingly allowed to run to waste. A request for a leak adjustment may be granted if all the following conditions are met or in extraordinary circumstances approval of the Corporate Financial Officer or the Manager.

  1. The property owner has not been granted a leak adjustment in the last 5 years. 
  2. The leak was repaired within 30 days of billing or discovery of the leak;
  3. Written verification describing the nature of the leakage and the action taken to rectify the problem must be received by the Manager before a leak adjustment will be granted.

Where a leak adjustment is approved, User Charge adjustments will be determined as follows: 

  1. If the leak is found in the service line, volumes from the 2 previous years, of the same billing cycle, will be averaged and charged. i.e. Average of 2 previous summers, if leak occurs in the summer.
  2. If the leak is associated with an in-home plumbing fixture or irrigation system, volumes from the 2 previous years, of the same billing cycle will be averaged plus 50% of the incremental water usage (between the average and the overage) will be charged to a maximum added value of $500.
  3. Subsequent leaks occurring within 5 years of the previous leak adjustment request will be eligible for the cap of $1,500 per single family dwelling equivalent, up to a maximum of $5,000. Where the average of the 2 previous years of the same billing cycle is greater than $5,000, the eligible cap will be 1.5 times the average.