The North Salt Spring Waterworks District began installing 300 new water meters in early February 2026 on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, as part of a three-year plan to update the community’s water system. This project is the first step in a larger effort to replace aging equipment across the island and improve how water use is tracked.
The new meters are designed to help the district find leaks much faster and provide residents with more accurate information about their water use.
This update follows a May 2025 referendum in which local residents approved funding for broader improvements to local water infrastructure, as reported by the Gulf Islands Driftwood.
The project is also part of a larger effort to make the island’s water supply more secure during dry summer months. The district says the new equipment will help reduce its carbon footprint by cutting down on vehicle trips needed to read meters manually.
Work on the first phase follows a public meeting held on February 4, 2026, where staff explained how the new technology would help manage the local water supply. The district ordered the equipment in October/November 2025 to ensure the installation could start on schedule in February 2026.
Residents who have faced high bills from undetected underground leaks in the past will now have access to faster alerts if a problem is found. The district plans to continue replacing older meters across the North Salt Spring and Ganges areas through 2028 to ensure all customers are on the new system.
