More people have been washing their hands during the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems, and the city says consumption of water at home is up compared to April a year ago.--NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
You might say people’s routines have been a little different this April compared to last, and the city says that has had an impact on how much water and power we consumed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and isolation, more people are cooking at home and children are baking as part of their daily education while schools are closed.
Many people are also working from home using lights and power supplies that were often dormant during the day while they were at the office and are now using power.
Jaret Dickie, the city’s manager of utilities business support, says residential power use is up about 10 per cent this April compared to last.
However, the commercial sector has been using about 20 per cent less power, and that means that overall power consumption was down by about 0.5 per cent for this April compared to last, said Dickie.
The weather has also been a bit different this year.
“The weather plays a big part in utility consumption,” said Dickie.
More people than ever before are paying attention to washing their hands thoroughly as running water streams from the faucets in their homes.
Dickie says there has been a five per cent increase for the month of April compared to the same time frame last year.
Residential water consumption has gone up about 1.5 per cent but when it comes to schools and commercial premises there has been a three per cent decrease, said Dickie.
“Last year (April) we used about 742,000 cubic metres of water and this year about 720,000 cubic metres. It’s not big but there is a decrease,” said Dickie.
Dickie notes the late spring, which means there has not been much watering of lawns and gardens to date.
“On the residential side the biggest water consumption is irrigation,” said Dickie.
