What do you know about our drinking water?
Prince George's tap water is fresh and drinkable straight from the source since it's continually extracted. Compare this to bottled water can be weeks - or even months - old, depending on the source. Our water comes from a series of wells within the city and along the Nechako River that draw 18 billion litres of water each year from underground aquifers.
We work hard to make sure our local water's safe to drink by:
- Using underground aquifers so we're protected against bacteria and other pollutants.
- Chlorinating raw water according to Northern Health Authority Guidelines. The amount of chlorine is monitored daily to maintain balance and to ensure high safety levels.
- Routinely sampling the water supply and sending the samples to accredited laboratories for analysis.
Volunteer residential water meter
What is a water meter and why should you volunteer to have one installed at your house?
A water meter helps you track your water use more accurately and, in many cases, results in savings. Water utility bills are typically lower for homes with meters versus houses that use a flat rate. Using less water with a meter installed means even lower water bills.
On top of more accurate tracking of your household's water use, a meter can also help detect leaks in the system that can waste thousands of litres of water per year.
How to read your water meter
Learning how to read your water meter can help you understand your water consumption, give you a better understanding of your water bill, and it could also help you identify a water leak in your home.
The technology the City of Prince George uses for water metering is very simple while still being reliably accurate. The City uses Neptune "positive displacement" flow meters, which means that the water flowing into the meter displaces mechanical components inside to measure the water that passes through.
In the rare case a water meter is malfunctioning, it will not overcharge the customer. Malfunctioning meters either come to a complete stop or slowly start to underreport the amount of water as they get older. Since a water meter can only measure when water is flowing, it will never register more than what has passed through it.
Water sampling and testing
Prince George is rated as having one of the best water systems in the province. Our disinfection process maintains water purity throughout the City's distribution system, which results in tap water quality that is equal to or better than bottled water.
We achieve this by testing our raw water vigorously (around 90 samples are sent every month to the BC Centre for Disease Control for analysis) and with a little help from the environment in the form of naturally filtered groundwater.
Water sample reports
We conduct regular tests on raw water samples taken from each of our six wells and publish the testing results below, along with annual water system reports.
Click on any of the coloured zones in the map below to access the latest raw water report for that area.
Cross Connection Control
Sometimes our water system might find itself connected to a potential source of pollution or contamination. In such cases, we must protect our water quality by preventing backflow from entering the system. Backflow is any solid, liquid, or gas that can potentially taint our water supply.
All commercial, industrial, and institutional organizations must have a testable backflow prevention device installed on-premise. Water connections with these devices must also submit a testing report to the City when the devices are first installed and then annually.
To find out if this applies to your business or organization, contact us at 3-1-1 (or 250-561-7600 outside city limits).