Sustainable Cities: Abbotsford Mission Water & Sewer Commission
The City of Abbotsford and District of Mission have long been taking measures to save water and make their communities leaders in the sustainable cities’ movement.
The City of Abbotsford operates a regional water supply system on behalf of the Abbotsford Mission Water & Sewer Commission (AMWSC). The system supplies potable water to the City of Abbotsford and District of Mission. The supply system is fed by three water sources: Norrish Creek, Cannell Lake, and groundwater from the Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer.
Our Water Matters is the regional program and website that provides resources and initiatives on the water system and how to reduce water use.
Water Conservation Public Awareness Campaign
Peak water use between 2002 and 2009 demonstrated the importance of water conservation. In 2009, the AMWSC started to enhance the water conservation program and in 2011 the City of Abbotsford installed Advanced Metering Infrastructure and moved to bi-monthly water billing.
With the tools to monitor water supported by a suite of regional conservation programs, Maximum Day Demand (MDD) dropped by approximately 20% since the high demands of 2006 and 2007 and Average Day Demand (ADD) dropped by approximately 10% and has remained fairly stable ever since.
A large part of the water conservation program is public education on the water supply. The AMWSC attends public events throughout Abbotsford and Mission during the water restriction season, delivers water education workshops in grades 4 and 10 throughout the year, and the City of Abbotsford launched a Waterwise portal for customers to access their water consumption online. The merchandise they use to communicate with and educate their residents reflects their commitment to urban sustainability and educates residents about what they can do to be part of the solution.
Eco-Friendly Promotional Products and Sustainable Cities
We worked with Our Water Matters to create branded merchandise and promotional products to be given out at events and at schools in the region to further help drive change. Most recently, we worked with them to create promotional products with a focus on water conservation to support their annual water conservation campaign.
Leading with the messaging ‘Our Water Matters,’ we curated a collection of simple promotional products to reinforce water restrictions and drought resistant planting.
- Fridge magnets showing water restriction stages create a daily reminder for residents on water conservation habits.
- Seeded paper bookmarks with waterwise tips for the garden drives home the need to plant with water conservation in mind.
- Re-usable recycled polyester tote bags are a great reminder to conserve, re-use and ditch the disposables.
The AMWSC has created smart, eco-friendly merchandise that will help residents be part of the solution.
