ATHABASCA – Users at Athabasca’s three car washes may notice an increase in pricing after town councillors voted not to provide subsidies for the water-heavy businesses.
The town of Athabasca has been contemplating a change to how they sell the three businesses water after a Feb. 3 letter from Athabasca Car and Truck Wash asked for a reduction in the high-flow section of the bill.
“Our car wash operates with an extensive setting system designed to minimize debris entering the town’s sewer system,” wrote Blair Kadikoff, who outlined the work the company does to keep debris from entering the town’s sewer system.
“Given these extensive efforts to pre-filter and settle waste before it reaches the sewer, I believe our facility contributes cleaner water to the town’s system and even assists in flushing the lines.”
The letter was back before councillors for the third time since it was sent in; initial discussions on March 4 and April 15 had seen the topic get deferred for more information from administration.
“I do agree with the letter where it says they get rid of the grit for the most part; it looks like it goes through a system of discharges that gets rid of sand, the dirt, etc.,” said Coun. Dave Pacholok, who is the current chair of the Athabasca Regional Water Services Commission.
“The actual contaminants that go into the soap and everything like that, I don’t know if that’s getting eliminated and without the proper type of a system, I’m not certain that we’re getting the full effect.”
Currently, Athabasca charges 40 per cent of its water rate for sewer so if a bill includes a $100 water fee, it’ll be an additional $40 for sewer. The town of Barrhead also sets its rate to 40 per cent, and over in Westlock, residents pay 33 per cent of their water bill in sewer fees. Smoky Lake and Boyle both use a set dollar amount and councillors weren’t positive how it measured up.
The town’s administration also looked into the provincial regulations and found that car washes must have interceptors installed for other substances, including oil, if they were present, as well as the regular grit, sand, and dirt.
Mayor Rob Balay also pointed out that Boyle doesn’t return its effluent to a water source, instead relying on evaporation to get the water back into the ecosystem.
“I don’t think they have the extensive treatment system that we do because we put ours back into the river, so there’s a huge difference in the cost ,” he said.
Councillors ultimately voted to deny the request instead of sending it back to administration for more information, noting they had been kicking it down the road for months without any purpose.
“As a former business owner, I do know that increases in costs only led to the increase in rates we were charging, that’s how you run a business,” said Pacholok.
The vote to deny the request passed unanimously.
