Water Distribution

The City of Richmond owns, operates and maintains a complex water distribution system that delivers water to residents, businesses and other customers. Once Metro Vancouver treats the water, it is carried into Richmond via four large transmission mains: Angus Drive Main, Lulu Island-Delta Main, Tilbury Main and Annacis Main No. 4.

Richmond draws water through 13 connection points along Metro Vancouver’s watermains. Each connection has a pressure-reducing valve station that reduces the pressure from the transmission mains to match the pressure set in the City’s system.

This water flows into the City’s more than 630 kilometres of distribution mains that supply high-quality water to residents and businesses. Individual service connections feed water from the main network to homes and businesses. All businesses and single-family homes, as well as many multi-family complexes, have been equipped with water meters, which record consumption.

A network of fire hydrants, valves, service connections and other infrastructure further supports delivery of water where and when it is needed.

The municipal water distribution service delivers more than 30 million cubic metres of water each year.

Fire hydrants deliver large quantities of water for fighting fires and help keep Richmond’s drinking water safe by providing a way for water to be flushed out of our system.

Water Services staff conduct extensive annual maintenance on the City’s 5,000-plus fire hydrants to ensure they are ready to provide large volumes of water during firefighting efforts.

In addition to supporting firefighting and system flushing, hydrants are regularly used to provide temporary access to the City’s water supply for a variety of users including farmers, construction projects and film and television production.

Crews replace hydrants when they’re damaged or malfunctioning, and as part of the City’s Capital Construction Watermain Replacement Program. They also perform hydrant retrofits to replace older slide gate hydrants with compression hydrants, which close when they are compromised, preventing major water loss and infrastructure damage.