• City Parks watering: improving grass and plant watering practices
• Smart metering: Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)  technology could be used for education programs for residents and businesses to better understand their water use, and thus reduce more water and repair leaks
• City operations and facilities: Make our water use within City operations more efficient by using conservation practices such as rain harvesting. Operations and facilities that could benefit from this include vehicle and equipment washing, and spray pads and paddling pools

• Education programs for communities
• Affordable housing pilot: a program that would conduct audits and provide education to property managers and renters to increase water reduction practices and make water use more efficient. Water conservation should benefit both building owners and those who live in the building
• Distribution-system leak reduction
• Commercial water conservation program: A program for businesses to be audited to identify ways to use their water more efficiently and indoor capacity buyback
• Residential water conservation program: a program for residents to receive rebates for water efficient toilets and other plumbing fixtures as well as education reducing household water use both indoors and outdoors and how that can save money
• Naturalized areas: Increase naturalized areas in parks that require less water
• Water rates and pricing: Review the way the City charges for water and explore pricing and rates that lead to the maximum affordability and conservation

• Affordable and multi-unit housing water efficiencies: based on pilot project results
• Commercial water conservation program: Incentives for plumbing equipment and fixture upgrades that increase water conservation and reduction
• Residential water conservation program: Support program to encourage low water landscaping, community gardening, and incentives for, and training to use, irrigation systems that help conserve and reduce water
• Raw water: Using raw water (water that hasn’t been treated) where safe and possible to do so, helps reduce the use of treated water

• Grey water: The City will research how to incentivize grey water (water that has gone through the household but does not contain sewage) systems for residents and businesses as well as look at potential concerns around these systems.
• Outdoor watering restrictions: Review and possible revise how and when we currently use restrictions

Closing the Loop Public Survey - Spring 2021

Both residents and industry stakeholders were invited to provide feedback on the changes made to the Strategy and recommended programs. Further details on the input received through the survey will be provided in the near future.

Online Public and Industry Surveys - Winter 2021

Two surveys were conducted in winter 2020 to receive feedback and prioritize the proposed initiatives in the Water Conservation Strategy. The results from the surveys will help finalize the proposed initiatives and identify any additional opportunities for the program. Further details on the input received through the surveys can be found in the following Phase 2: What We Heard Report.

Stakeholder Interviews - Spring 2020

Interviews with stakeholders were held in spring 2020 to identify the benefits and potential impacts of water conservation initiatives. Stakeholders included representatives from businesses/business groups, environmental organizations, and industry professionals.

Common themes from these interviews, as well as other items discussed during these interviews, helped inform the draft initiatives being presented in the current phase of engagement.  Further detail on the input received through the stakeholder interviews is available in the Phase 1: What We Heard Report.

There are many reasons to conserve water, but three stand out:

1. Reducing City greenhouse gas emissions by 40% (below 2014 levels) by 2023.  Emissions related to treating water make up about a third of overall City emissions.
2. Possibly avoiding or postponing major and costly upgrades to add capacity to Saskatoon's water and wastewater systems.
3. Increasing our water systems' resilience to prepare for a changing climate by reducing demand and maximizing capacity.

Saskatoon residents, businesses, and institutions use about 40 billion litres of water each year—an average of 1,300 litres per second.  Treating and pumping that much water requires a lot of energy and that creates a lot of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Water conservation can help us meet our emission reduction targets.

Conservation can also reduce costs for water consumers.  Households that participate in conservation programs or take other steps to use less water will pay for less water.  And by reducing demands on the City’s water infrastructure, conservation creates the potential to better manage—and in some cases defer or avoid—costly expansion projects.

Cities across Canada have recognized the benefits of conserving water and many have been implementing successful programs.  Here are some examples the City is currently exploring regarding how residents, businesses, and the City could save water:

• Incentive programs to replace inefficient toilets and shower heads; an efficient toilet can save 450,000 litres over 20 years;
• Find and repair leaks in our homes and businesses; up to 13% of water in homes and 6% in businesses may be lost to leaks;
• Fix leaks in underground distribution systems; the City is testing new ways to find leaks;  
• Help businesses understand water use and reduce demand through site visits, assessments, and equipment-replacement incentives;  
• Water lawns and gardens more efficiently; and
• Keep parks healthy using less water; advanced irrigation control systems and weather monitoring technologies may be able to keep grass and trees healthy with less water.  

If we move ahead with the Water Conservation Strategy, the following costs will need to be considered:

• The City will have costs for programs and incentives 
• Households might have costs for water saving fixtures or appliances, such as toilets, washing machines, or shower heads
• Our utility, Saskatoon Water, will see reduced revenue as people save water