Dear Editor,
Town of Ponoka has contracted (without any public input) with Neptune Technology Group to replace all the water meters in town. The town states in their nifty little Neptune promoting mail-out that according to By-law No. 2-91, participation in this program is "mandatory".
What neither they (if they even understand the term) nor Neptune are telling you is that these "upgraded" meters, replacing your present analog meter, are a kind of "smart meter".
(Neptune prefers the term "radio transmitter" because they doubtlessly don't want anyone to research "smart meter". This is because if the public was aware of the highly negative health effects of so-called "smart meters", Neptune would be out of business tomorrow.)
First, what exactly is a "radio transmitter" "smart meter"? Simply put: It is a meter that emits an extremely powerful electro-magnetic pulse every few seconds allowing water consumption to be monitored at a distance (drive by reading) replacing "old-fashioned" manual meter reading.
This supposedly has cost benefits in meter reading for municipalities, (with the side effect of thousands of meter readers becoming unemployed across North America- Neptune is monopolizing this market in Canada and the U.S.). But what is not being addressed is the much greater cost - your health. How?
Because the "electro- magnetic" pulse is actually a "micro-wave" and that, friends and neighbors, is radiation! And "smart meters" send out in the area of 8 to 10 thousand micro-wave pulses per day, 365 days a year. And the exposure is cumulative.
Now, Neptune and other "smart meter" manufacturers are loath to admit this and notoriously downplay the health implications of this "technology", but would you want to have a microwave oven, with its door open, radiating your home with millions of 1 - 2 second blasts of radiation every year?
Smart people, however, would never allow a "smart meter" in their home.
("Smart meters" installed outside a home have similar issues but at least they are less intrusive and you can get an opt-out as we did from Atco Gas.)
Town of Ponoka says however, their program is "mandatory". Is cancer "mandatory"? Or heart disease, migraines, sleep disorders, skin rashes, lowered sperm counts, DNA strand damage and a myriad of other disorders, extending even to pets.
If thousands of research scientists, doctors, eminent cardiologists such as Dr. Steven Sinatra and even governments such as Switzerland and Germany, which are rejecting these nefarious devices, are correct in their assertion that so-called "smart meters" will prove to be one of the biggest health disasters in human history, a question arises: Who holds the liability? Would it be the municipality? Neptune? Or both?
This is a serious issue. These devices can impact pacemakers to the same degree as any microwave device. Does that sound safe? Does it sound smart? A public conditioned to live in abject fear of a whiff of cigarette smoke, (a comparatively slow-acting carcinogen) yet willing to be cooked and microwaved to disease and even death by these meters because of certain vested interests, gullible and uninformed public officials. Wake up! Corporations have one aim- to make money. Lots of money and damn the consequences!
There is much more to be said re: peripheral issues such as town council attempting to force people into contract with Neptune, (a third party you have never contracted with, with your informed consent); the fact that you are the owner of your present analog meter, (Real Estate Law deems your meter a fixture owned by the homeowner, removal of which, without permission, constitutes theft and is also in violation of Section 8, Charter of Rights and Freedoms); the fact that Neptune's "installers" are nQ1 plumbers, but receive only a whopping three days training and that after 1 year Neptune will not guarantee their "smart meter"; that any future plumbing problems resulting from faulty installation will be at your cost; that people in other municipalities, forced to accept these meters have received outrageous water bills, (80 per cent of Torontonians saw their bills increase and CNN reported complaints of bills rising to $1,200 to $6,000 a month and Neptune meters failing by the tens of thousands).
What did this "mandatory" program cost Ponoka residents, (or does Neptune work for free)? Installation under kitchen sinks will be a potential mess with cupboards torn apart, sinks removed, etc.; that despite being bathed with constant microwave pulses only one pulse will be recorded every 2- 3 months; that no "smart meter" has ever received an Underwriters Lab, (UL) approval for safety; Neptune Technology Group is not Better Business Bureau (BBB) accredited and have an alert posted for them for refusing to report to BBB, (that's reassuring, isn't it?); and finally, if Health Canada and/or the federal or provincial government decide to eventually go the route of Switzerland and Germany and ban or severely restrict these devices, then we'll have to pay to redo the whole experiment and re-install analog meters.
In closing, if the people of BC could bring BC Hydro's attempt to force acceptance of "smart meters" to an end, so can we. Ponoka Town Council has the opportunity to "keep it real" by facing reality. Instead of falling for Neptune's sales spiel bossing us around in our homes and businesses, they could at least have an opt-out policy, (better yet, an opt-in policy and good luck with that). To "keep it real" council could also do a little research. Google "Dirty Electricity"; "Dr. Magda Havas, Ph.D. (Trent University)"- she should convince even the hardest skeptic of the dangers of "smart meters". Go to YouTube and watch "The Truth About Smart Meters", or "The Dark Side of Smart Meters" and that's just for starters.
(By the way Council will be just as exposed to "smart meter" radiation as the peasantry).
As to the public: Get informed, get active, stand-up and exercise your rights. Just say "No" to "smart meters". Realize you have rights only if you use them and that silence equals consent. People are waking-up everywhere to take back their power. If only 5 per cent say "no", we can win.
Otherwise, don't complain a year from now if you're ill and staring at a $1,500 water bill. It will be too late to cry then. Inform the town you will not take Neptune's meters, inform Neptune via registered mail you refuse their meter, (they won't respond- that's fine) and post a notice on your door refusing installation.
Let’s do it for the children!
Barry Huddleston
Editor’s note: Neptune Technology Group has not responded to our inquiries about the impact of their equipment on human health and we have yet to receive a complete response from the town office regarding the cost/benefit balance of the water meter replacement program.