About Water

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Grand River in Cambridge Ontario Canada

The Region of Waterloo works closely with the Cities and Townships to provide municipal drinking water to homes and businesses throughout the Region.

The Region of Waterloo is responsible for treating, disinfecting and supplying drinking water through a large trunk watermain network that distributes water to the Cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the Townships of Woolwich and Wilmot. The Cities and Townships are responsible for the operation and maintenance of the water distribution systems, including watermains, valves, service connections and fire hydrants. The exception is North Dumfries and Wellesley Townships where the Region is responsible for both the supply and distribution systems. A long-term, coordinated strategy ensures sufficient pressure and supply to meet current and future population growth.

Water safety and COVID-19

Important steps for re-opening your building water supply - read this important fact sheet

As a building owner and operator, you are responsible for the water quality in your building and should understand what could happen when water is left stagnant. The longer the building has low water use, the higher the risk for water quality issues. During COVID-19, reduced or no water use in buildings may present health risks. This fact sheet provides information related to reopening your building’s water supply.

Additional resources:

Canadian Water and Wastewater Association Guidance COVID-19 reopening of buildings

Download: Part One is a General Guidance for Water Utilities
Download: Part Two is a FACT SHEET for Building Owners/Operators

PDF: Guide for maintaining building plumbing after an extended vacancy (Province of Ontario)

PDF: Flushing Guidance for Premise Plumbing and Service Lines to Avoid or Address a Drinking Water Advisory

Video: The Purpose of Flushing Building Water Systems

If COVID-19 spreads through respiratory droplets, does the Region of Waterloo need to protect our water system?

The virus is carried in mist when people breath, cough or sneeze. See Public Health's FAQs for more about how this virus spreads. These droplets are not likely to reach our water treatment plants. But if they do, the Region's water treatment processes will remove the virus and keep our water supply safe.

Does our current water treatment remove the virus?

Yes, the Region’s water treatment removes viruses, including the coronavirus. That means the virus does not pose any threat to our drinking water. Tap water is clean, reliable and safe to drink, just like always, the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association has confirmed. Dedicated staff still deliver clean municipal water to homes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - no need to go to the store for bottled water.

We follow advice from Health Canada to ensure public safety. Health Canada's Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality has more details on how water treatment keeps us safe from viruses. The Region of Waterloo also meets or exceeds drinking water requirements set by the province. Our annual Water Quality Reports give the results.

Could the virus survive in our water system?

No, the Region constantly checks our water to be sure proper treatment is keeping it safe. The Region’s water treatment removes the coronavirus, as well as other viruses. Chlorine also keeps our water safe and clean, and the Region monitors chlorine levels at all times. Our annual Water Quality Reports will tell you more.

Journey of water to your tap

When you turn on the tap have you ever wondered where your water comes from?

The journey starts at the source. In Waterloo Region, some of your drinking water comes from the Grand River and most is groundwater.
Next is collection and treatment. Water from the Grand River goes through a multi-step treatment process at the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant and wells (pipes) are put into the ground to extract groundwater.
After the water has been collected, treated and tested, it goes through underground pipes and might first stop at one of the ten water tower in Waterloo Region before arriving at your home.

(Click on the above image to view infographic as PDF file)

Over 100 wells supply water from groundwater aquifers

75 to 80 per cent of Waterloo Region's drinking water starts as groundwater. Groundwater is the rain or melted snow that soaks into the ground where it fills the tiny spaces between sand grains, gravel or rock that make up the layers in an aquifer, deep underground.

illustration of a groundwater aquifer

A large pipe or well put 30 to 90 metres into the ground collects the groundwater. 120+ wells throughout Waterloo Region supply about 120 million litres of drinking water each day. After the groundwater enters the well, a pump pushes it to the top of the well where it is treated and tested before continuing its journey through underground pipes. In some cases groundwater is filtered to remove iron and manganese, minerals found naturally in aquifers.

In addition to the supply wells, over 400 observation/monitoring wells throughout Waterloo Region provide access to groundwater aquifers to collect information on water quality and water levels.

If you live on a farm or in a rural area you probably have your own well. Private wells are the responsibility of the well owner.

Mannheim Water Treatment Plant treats water from the Grand River

20 to 25 per cent of Waterloo Region's drinking water comes from the Grand River.

A weir redirects water from the Grand River to a large reservoir. The reservoir holds two to fours days of water supply and allows time for sand and silt to settle out of the water.
After leaving the reservoir the water travels 10 km to the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant where it goes through a complex multi-step process. The Mannheim Water Treatment Plant can treat 500 to 840 Litres per second.
The water is disinfected using a multi-barrier approach including filtration, ozonation, chlorination and ultraviolet light.
The finished water enters a large underground storage reservoir where it is mixed with treated groundwater before entering the distribution system.
To keep treated water safe while travelling through the distribution system to your tap, a minimum level of residual chlorine or chloramine must be maintained.

How we move water

Waterloo Region's water supply and distribution system uses specialized equipment and pipes to move water from the source, through treatment and to your taps. The water supply distribution system is complex with many supply sources, pressure zones, reservoirs, elevated storage tanks and pumping stations.

The cities and towns of Cambridge, Elmira, Kitchener, St. Jacobs, Lloyd Brown, Waterloo, St Agatha, Baden, New Hamburg, Mannheim and Shingletown comprise one large Integrated Urban System. The Region also has smaller stand alone systems including Ayr, Branchton, Roseville, Linwood, St. Clements, Wellesley Foxboro, New Dundee, Conestogo, Heidelberg, Maryhill and West Montrose.

Testing water to make sure it is safe

Ontario's Safe Drinking Water Act requires municipalities to test drinking water for numerous parameters on a predetermined schedule. The Region of Waterloo proactively performs more testing than is required by the legislation, and includes additional non-regulated parameters in its drinking water monitoring program. An accredited lab must perform the testing.

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks also requires municipalities to produce annual water quality and summary reports. These reports summarize the results of all required drinking water tests and confirm the drinking water supplied by the Region of Waterloo and area municipalities is safe and meets all health-related Ontario Drinking Water Standards.

Each year the Region of Waterloo releases water quality reports that compare the level of quality for the drinking water in Waterloo Region to the Ontario Drinking Water Standards in the legislation O.Reg.169/03.

Environmental Enforcement and Laboratory Services

Environmental Enforcement and Laboratory Services (EELS) responsibilities are environmental protection through monitoring, enforcement and laboratory analysis in support of Regional, Provincial and Federal legislation including:

Environmental Enforcement

The Sewer Use By-law 1-90 regulates and controls the discharge of water and wastewater into the sanitary and/or storm sewer distribution system within Waterloo Region. The By-law protects the wastewater treatment system and the water quality of the Grand River.

The Region of Waterloo provides 24-hour emergency response to environmental spills. Responsibilities include a prompt investigation of reported spills, containment or cleanup measures to minimize damage to the natural environment and notifying affected parties if a chemical spill could affect the Region of Waterloo Mannheim and/or Brantford drinking water treatment plants. Report a spill immediately if you witness or suspect a spill has occurred or is about to occur.

Laboratory Services

Laboratory Services, an accredited laboratory for Region of Waterloo, provides biological, inorganic and organic testing.

Accreditations include ISO 17025, registered with Canadian Association for Laboratory Association (CALA) since 1996 and licensed by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change in 2003 for drinking water analysis.
Biological testing includes E.coli, Total Coliforms, HPC, Microcystin, BOD, and CBOD.
Inorganic testing includes nitrate, nitrite, chloride, fluoride, sulphate, nutrients, and metals.
Organic testing includes chlorination by-products, pesticides, herbicides, 1-4 Dioxane, industrial contaminates, and gasoline by-products.

Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Client Connect (login required)

This website is only available to Region of Waterloo Environmental Enforcement and Laboratory Services clients with approved logins. Enter the LIMS Client Connect website to access your data and related documents.

Quality Management System Policy

The Region of Waterloo Water Services uses a Quality Management System (QMS) for its drinking water systems that supports the Region's dedication to provide high quality drinking water to consumers. The Region is committed to effectively:

manage potential risks and provide safe drinking water to consumers
manage water operations and maintenance activities to comply with applicable legislation, regulations, guidelines and standards
maintain and continually improve the Quality Management System
communicate relevant policies and programs to internal and external stakeholders as applicable
review this policy at least annually to ensure it continues to be appropriate for the subject drinking water systems