What is in your water

When you fill your glass with water from your taps, you can be assured that Hamilton’s drinking water is safe to drink. Standards for drinking water quality are set and legally enforced by the Ontario Drinking Water Standards. The City of Hamilton’s drinking water consistently meets all Ontario Drinking Water Standards. This regulation focuses on treating and testing drinking water and stipulates public access to information and notification of adverse results. Learn more about how Hamilton’s drinking water is treated.

Drinking water in Hamilton is tested at the Environmental Laboratory  on Woodward Avenue seven days per week. Samples are tested from the Water Treatment Plant and throughout the distribution system. Please see our Quarterly Drinking Water Reports for complete details.

Water Quality Reports

Musty Taste  and Odour
The odour causing compounds are more prominent during extended warm temperatures throughout Lake Ontario. When temperatures reach 19 degrees Celsius, we experience increases in naturally occurring compounds which can create a musty odour or taste within the drinking water. Two compounds called Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol (2-MIB) are responsible for a musty or earthy odour that is detectable by some persons in concentrations as low as a few parts per trillion (ppt). One ppt is equivalent to 1 drop of water in 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.