What water rates pay for
Delivery of safe, reliable drinking water to citizens and businesses of Hamilton. Hamilton’s water comes from Lake Ontario and our water treatment and distribution systems make it ready for you to drink straight from the tap.
Collection and treatment of wastewater and stormwater. Collecting and treating rain water, storm run-off and sanitary waste from domestic, commercial, and industrial activity is key to preventing source water pollution and protecting public health.
Operating, maintaining, replacing and rehabilitating aging water, wastewater and stormwater sewer systems.
1 water treatment plant
4 communal well systems
2 wastewater treatment plants
4,900 kilometres of pipes
13,000 fire hydrants
145,000 water connections & meters
139,000 sewer connections
Water meter installation, reading and maintenance. In addition to measuring consumption allowing us to charge fairly based on volumetric use, metering provides an incentive for water conservation and preservation of this invaluable, life-sustaining resource.
Capital infrastructure investments to improve water and wastewater processes ensuring fiscal and environmental sustainability. The current replacement value of our water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure is $9.76 billion.
In an effort to reduce costs the City of Hamilton has:
- Built a gas purification plant that allows us to convert methane into natural gas that is sold back to the local grid.
- Built a methane-powered cogeneration unit that produces enough electricity to power 1200 homes per year.
- Focused on system leak detection initiatives to reduce water loss.
- Optimized chemical usage and hydro time-of-day use.
- Replaced process equipment with more efficient devices.
- Implemented trenchless technologies to rehabilitate infrastructure.
- Optimized management of both in-house and contract staff resources.
Visit Alectra Utilities (formerly Horizon Utilities) website for more information on Understanding Your Water Bill.
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