While it has been operational since January, on Friday, May 7, 2010 Metro Vancouver took advantage of the warm, sunny weather to celebrate the official opening of the Seymour-Capilano Filtration Plant. Attendees included Metro Vancouver Board Directors, staff, contractors, environmental groups, involved residents and local media. Following speeches and a special thank-you to the Canada-British Columbia Infrastructure Program, participants celebrated with a glass of pure, mountain fresh water. For highlights of the official opening and to learn more about this amazing new filtration plant, check out this video. And please remember: the next time you want water, turn on the tap.

For more information and history on the Seymour-Capilano Filtration Plant and the associated projects at Capilano, click here.

Now Our Guests can Enjoy World-class Water
Hotel guests to the Metro Vancouver region now have an alternative to purchasing water in single-use plastic bottles. Guests at the new Fairmont Pacific Rim now have the option of purchasing a sustainable, refillable metal water bottle in place of disposable water bottles. Both will be available in mini bars. Other hotels throughout the region have expressed interest in supporting the sustainability of our region by offering their guests the option of a refillable water bottle. Oh, and the refills are free.  

Visitors to the Olympics enjoyed our tap water
A water wagon delivered our pure, mountain fresh water to residents and visitors at the Vancouver Olympics. Check out the video to hear what people thought about our water and learn more about the new Seymour-Capilano Filtration Plant. Next time you want water, turn on the tap.

• Metro Vancouver is committed to reducing bottled water use by 20% by 2010 to reduce the environmental impact of bottled water
• Millions of single-use plastic water bottles (one litre or smaller) ended up in our region's landfills in 2007
• We want to provide a tangible way for residents to support a sustainable practice – using refillable water containers instead of single-use plastic water bottles
  

Metro Vancouver’s tap water is arguably some of the best drinking water in the world, and it costs you only about $0.8 per 1,000 litres, or $0.0008 per litre.  A single-use one litre bottle of water can cost you as much as $1.75 a litre.

Metro Vancouver partnered with Pacific Cinematheque’s Summer Visions Film Institute for Youth to produce a series of public service announcements about drinking tap water.

See here the eight fun and innovative PSA’s.




Zero Waste Challenge

• With millions of single-use plastic water bottles ending up in landfills every year, getting more people to drink tap water also supports Metro Vancouver’s Zero Waste Challenge.
• Launched in 2006, the Zero Waste Challenge has a goal to divert 70 per cent of our solid waste from landfills by 2015.
• Currently, almost half of the region’s waste is now buried in landfills or incinerated in the region’s waste-to-energy facility in Burnaby.
• Fifty-two per cent of our solid waste is recycled or diverted. Last year, an estimated three million plastic water bottles ended up in the garbage. Those bottles could have been returned to recycling depots.

Take the pledge to support sustainability in the Metro Vancouver region by choosing tap water over single-use plastic bottled water whenever possible. According to many international tap water campaigns, the total amount of energy embedded in our use of bottled water can be as high as the equivalent of filling a plastic bottle one quarter full with oil.  It takes more water to produce that bottle than the bottle holds.

• The production and transportation of bottled water contributes to greenhouse gas emissions
• Even if the bottle is recycled, more energy is needed to reuse the plastic

 Take the Pledge