[Delphinus]

Vancouver isn't already on meters ??? I would not have guessed that.

Pay for usage isn't necessarily a bad thing. Generally speaking your costs shouldn't go up too tremendously. They may, as stated, go down. What it should do is encourage people who overwater their lawns or let a leaky toilet continue to leak without fixing the flapper to take a look at those sorts of things and be a little more proactive about not using so much.

I know a guy who is a perfect example of why mandatory water meters is a good thing. It may not be this way anymore in Calgary, I'm not sure, but there was a "grace period" when meters were first introduced in Calgary, where if a house was built before the new regulations, you could have a meter uninstalled and you could go back to flat rate. He had his taken out "so that he could water his lawn." He "prided himself on having the greenest grass on the block". Never mind that you don't need to be excessive about watering grass, 1/2" per week and it's as green as it's going to get - anything more and it just gets shallow roots and is in fact then an unhealthy lawn that dies easier.