Most municipal water in Middlesex Centre comes from Lake Huron through the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System. A few communities receive water under a contract with the City of London (which draws from both Lake Huron and Lake Erie), and a few draw from groundwater sources.
Regardless of the source, water is tested and treated multiple times during its journey from the lake to your tap to ensure that it exceeds provincial water quality standards.
Source Water Protection
Drinking water in Middlesex Centre - the water that comes out of your taps if you are on municipal water - is treated and tested to ensure that it exceeds provincial quality standards.
Protecting the sources of our drinking water is an important first step in our multi-barrier approach to water safety. Under the Provincial Clean Water Act, communities in Ontario's source water protection regions work together on a watershed basis to identify threats and take action to protect our drinking water sources.
Middlesex Centre is located in two source protection regions:
- Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Source Protection Region (covers the northern portion of Middlesex Centre around Denfield)
- Thames-Sydenham Source Protection Region (covers most of Middlesex Centre)
Water Quality & Testing
Our Drinking Water Quality Management System is in place to keep our water safe. Water samples tested from across the municipality consistently confirm that our water quality exceeds provincial standards.
- Water Testing & Lead
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Middlesex Centre conducts regular, on-going testing for lead in municipal drinking water at water treatment plants and at residential homes. The residential testing takes place twice a year at 20 homes each time. These homes change for each round of testing.
Recent testing in residential homes shows that we are below both the provincial and national safety standard for lead concentrations in drinking water:
- Ontario Standard (Ontario Regulation 169/03) is 10 ppb.
- Health Canada Standard is 5 ppb.
- Middlesex Centre testing found an average lead concentration of 0.13 ppb at residential homes. The maximum amount found was well below the safety standard, with one home having 1.12 ppb. (data - summer 2019)
Thank-you to all the residents that have let us collect samples in their homes to date!
Volunteers Needed
We’re always looking for more residents that are willing to volunteer their homes to test for lead in the municipality’s drinking water system. This is routine testing to ensure the safety of our municipal water system.
What’s involved? One our licensed operators will come to your home between 8 am and 3 pm. The operator will take a sample from your kitchen tap. The test takes about 45 minutes and uses less than 50 litres of water. You will get a copy of the test results for your home.
If you would like to volunteer, contact our Public Works & Engineering Department. Please provide your name and address in your email.
Note: If you are looking for information on testing your well water, please check with the Middlesex-London Health Unit.
- Drinking Water Quality Management System (DWQMS)
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The municipality has implemented a Drinking Water Quality Management System as a required under the Safe Drinking Water Act for all of our municipally-owned water systems.
- Water System Licences & Permits
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The Government of Ontario has issued the following licences and permits to Middlesex Centre with respect to our drinking water systems:
Birr Drinking Water System
Melrose Drinking Water System
Middlesex Centre Distribution System
- Water System Annual Reports
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As required by the Ministry of Environment, the municipality provides the following annual reports:
Municipally Owned Systems
- Birr Drinking Water System: 2023 Report
- Melrose Drinking Water System: 2023 Report
- Middlesex Centre Water System (includes Arva, Ballymote, Delaware, Ilderton, Kilworth & Komoka): 2023 Report
Annual Reports from Drinking Water Systems that supply water to Middlesex Centre
- Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System: 2023 Annual Report and 2023 Compliance Report
- City of London Drinking Water System: 2023 Summary Report
- Sodium Notices
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For the residents of Birr and Melrose Municipal Water Systems, please see attached notice from the London Middlesex Health Unit with regards to elevated sodium levels in the municipal water supply:
Please see the Regulation of Water Supply By-Law for information on the administration of water in Middlesex Centre.
- Financial Plans
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As required by the Ministry of Environment, under regulation 453/07, Middlesex Centre provides to the public, our financial plans for our drinking water and wastewater systems:
Private Wells
For information related to Private Wells, please contact the Middlesex-London Health Unit at 519-663-5317 or visit the Middlesex-London Health Unit - Private Well Water page.