Prohibition of certain water-cooled appliances

This regulation primarily targets all water-cooled systems known for the large volume of water they consume. They could, for examples, include refrigerators used in grocery stores or convenience stores, central air conditioning systems in office towers, or even the ice cream machine in the neighborhood dairy bar.

Le Devoir reported in 2003 that a small proportion of ICI buildings in its territory were equipped with water meters. It was then common practice for contractors to hook up air conditioners and refrigerators to the city's aqueduct before their customers have obtained the permit. A restaurateur or convenience store owner could save thousands of dollars annually in equipment and energy costs. Equipment connected to drinking water was cheaper to purchase than those offering alternative cooling technologies and consumed less electricity for cooling.

However, these devices consume a huge amount of water!

The small condenser of a single refrigerated display can easily consume 3000 liters of water per day, depending on its power and if its control valve is in good condition. That is more than 1 million liters of water per year!

In addition to appliances comprising a refrigeration unit, the regulation also covers equipment that requires enormous water consumption. This is particularly the case of the urinals with automatic flushing connected to drinking water, which will have to be replaced by urinals with manual flushing or with a front presence detector.

The by-law also requires that a car wash connected to the aqueduct be equipped with a water recovery, recycling, and recirculation system before January 1, 2018.