Region attempting to curb water theft

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

The region is attempting to curb water theft in Durham, and is asking residents for help.

To report suspected water theft, residents can e-mail WaterTheft@durham.ca, or call 905-668-7711 or 1-800-372-1102 ext. 3488 with details including the location, company name, license plate, and a photograph if possible.

Residents will be able to tell if the hydrant is a permitted water filling station due to the plastic rings placed on them by regional staff.

Each ring contains the region’s logo, identifies the hydrant as a permitted filling station, and also provides a contact number.

Oshawa Ward 1 regional councillor John Neal expects by reaching out to the public, the region will be able to do a better job of stopping such thefts.

“I think it got away from us through the years,” he told The Oshawa Express.

He says it is about time the region began looking at how people were taking bulk water from hydrants around Durham.

Neal points out staff are aware thousands of litres of water are illegally taken from fire hydrants all around Durham Region.

He has seen the repercussions of water theft himself after an incident in north Oshawa left the intersection of Conlin Road and Wilson Road covered in ice.

“So someone had been in there illegally, and didn’t bother turning the hydrant off,” he says.

Neal says water can also be illegally taken from streams and rivers as well, and this is not good for the environment.

“I don’t know if they’re going to try and take it out of the streams and ponds illegally if they know that they’re being watched and they’re used to getting their free water,” he says. “If residents do see some kind of pump attached to a bridge, they can advise the region, or the City of Oshawa as well.”

He believes having the pump hanging off of the bridge can be dangerous as it doesn’t simply take just the water, but also “fish eggs, and all the life out of those creek waters.”

He points out if a member of the public thinks water is being taken illegally, they can just snap a photo and send it to the region.

Neal isn’t the only councillor to have strong feelings about water theft in Durham, as his brother Joe, a regional councillor for Clarington, has been concerned about this issue for a some time.

What angers him is unmonitored drawing of water from regional metres.

“Nobody’s measuring it, it’s totally based on an honour system, there’s hydrants that are so frequently accessed by these water truck companies that there’s hoses that are permanently hooked up to the hydrants, and I feel that the municipal water rate payers are subsidizing these water truck companies, and I don’t think that’s fair,” he says.

There have been complaints from senior citizens regarding the amount they are paying for water despite using less, he adds.

“These water truck companies are supposed to self-invoice, and I just think human nature being what it is, it’s not going to happen all the time,” he says. “So I’ve been trying to put a stop to that, and I’ve been met with nothing but resistance.”

For more information on water theft in Durham Region, visit https://www.durham.ca/en/living-here/water-theft.aspx