Kitchener councillor wants cold water ice-making pilot extended

Ice making is a big deal in Kitchener.

With a very robust hockey and ringette culture, the arenas are more than just recreation centers; they are community gathering places.

Maintaining 10 arenas and even more ice surfaces comes at great cost, so any savings are warmly welcomed. That was the idea behind the City of Kitchener‘s Cold Water Ice Making Pilot Project, launched in 2024.

By using a specific piece of equipment, the city would be able to use cold water to make and resurface its ice rinks.

Kitchener Ward 10 Councillor, Stephanie Stretch, has brought forward a notice of motion that asks council to extend and expand the pilot project with funding to be included in the 2027 budget.

She stopped by The Mike Farwell Show to talk about her motion. Stretch explained that typically, hot water is used to make and resurface ice rinks for a specific reason.

“There’s probably some bartenders out there that know that, when you use hot water when you make ice, it also makes it clearer. There’s less bubbles in it, so you can see through it better. So, it makes the ice not only stronger, but you can see the lines better.”

The pilot project saw a mechanical deaerator installed at the Sportsworld arena. The device pulls the air out of the cold water, making it more suitable for ice making.

Stretch said the cost saving comes from not having to heat all that water.

“Enabling us to use colder water, really makes a big difference energy-wise. So, just in the pilot we saw an annual savings of $6,255 and the reduction was about five per cent in CO2 emissions.”

When it launched, it was determined that the savings would offset the cost of the deaerator in 3.5 years. Stretch admits that the price has gone up. She believes that by extending the pilot, the city will be able to gather more information to see if the program is really helping keep costs down.

Stretch said so far, all the feedback they’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We were all kind of shocked to hear all the positive feedback, unprompted. I think it’s a win, win, win, win. I’m really happy the quality of ice remains the same with some people saying that maybe it’s a little bit better.”

The notice of motion was tabled at Monday’s council meeting.