A recent letter to the Gazette by Jerry Manegre (Your Views, Oct. 20) suggests smart water meters are not safe due to their electromagnetic frequency (EMF) and the city should be challenged on the mandatory installation.
A search of the city website “AMI water meters” provides a very different view of the facts and indicates almost an infinitesimally small impact to health from the smart meters. It states the r900 smart meter is certified by Industry Canada for Health Canada and significantly exceeds meeting the Safety Code 6 standards. The meter transmission level is 10 times lower than Health Canada Safety Code 6 limits, and that the Health Canada Safety Code 6 level is already 50 times lower than the lowest level set by the World Health Organization. The meter actually sends out pulses of data that total less than one minute per 24-hour period and independent tests show this is a miniscule 0.00000003 per cent of the Safety Code 6 level.
We are already surrounded by all kinds of EMF signals in our homes by laptops, tablets, cellphones, Wi-Fi routers (our own and signals from our neighbours’ homes) , cordless phones, baby monitors, radio and TV signals, burglar alarms, blow dryers, microwaves, garage door openers, in our cars with remote starters or door locks, etc.
Outside our homes, we are also exposed to EMF signals just to name a few from fluorescent lights; wireless hot spots at restaurants, coffee shops, most stores, public venues like our libraries and recreation facilities; equipment in hospitals; fire and police radio systems, public school Wi-Fi , Wi-Fi in airports, by merchandise theft scanners at the exits of retail stores, cellphone towers, high voltage power lines etc.
While I can sympathize with anyone who might suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity, until we could get rid of all the other sources of significantly higher EMF, I think it is very inaccurate to suggest the new water meters are unsafe or that the city is wrong for installing them.
Mike Killick, St. Albert
