[2437_planters]
COST SAVINGS: At a recent City of Powell River council meeting, sustainability planner Ana Lukyanova outlined the benefits of self-watering planters, which will replace regular planters on Marine Avenue.
Paul Galinski photo
Council approves $12,500 expenditure for self-watering planters
Replacement of Marine Avenue units will have cost savings
Paul Galinski
City of Powell River Council has approved the expenditure of $12,500 for 25 self-watering planters.
At its meeting on Thursday, June 20, council voted to allocate money from the Community Works Fund for the purchase of the planters, which will be situated on Marine Avenue, to replace planters that need to be manually watered.
In introducing the motion, councillor Maggie Hathaway said the purchase was self-evident; the self-watering planters require less vehicle time, idling on Marine Avenue, and less staff time to look after the planters.
“It kind of makes a lot of sense,” she said.
At the June 4 committee of the whole meeting, in introducing the recommendation, sustainability planner Ana Lukyanova said there are 25 existing planters on Marine Avenue. In the height of the summer, they require watering twice per week.
Lukyanova said what that means is the truck servicing the planters is out there idling for two and a half hours to operate the water pump, twice a week.
She said parks supervisor Mike Kaban had suggested self-watering planters, which only need filling up every three to four weeks. It is faster to fill the reservoir than to pour water slowly into the planters so as not to damage the flowers.
“The planters will not only reduce the frequency from twice a week to once every three weeks, it will also reduce the staff time from two and a half to one and a half hours,” said Lukyanova.
She said looking at the benefits of the self-watering planters, over the course of a summer, about 85 hours of vehicle idling time is saved, and there is a reduction of 537 kilograms of carbon emissions. There is a fuel saving of $350 annually and a savings of staff time of nearly $2,500, for a total savings of $3,029.31 on an annual basis.
There is about a three-and-a-half-year payback on the investment of self-watering planters, said Lukyanova.
The addition of the self-watering planters will not displace any City of Powell River workers and will free them up for other duties.
