Is Barrie's water safe? Drinking water quality, wastewater and Lake Simcoe

Where does Barrie's drinking water come from?

Barrie has one municipal drinking water system, owned by the City. It has a surface water treatment plant on the southern shore of Kempenfelt Bay, at 20 Royal Parkside Drive, which draws from Lake Simcoe, and 12 groundwater wells. The plant filters water through membranes, uses activated carbon for taste and odour, and disinfects with chlorine; the wells add sodium silicate to control iron and are disinfected with chlorine, though Well 5 uses ultraviolet light instead of chlorine contact time for primary disinfection. As of January 2026 the system served an estimated 167,176 residents through about 693 km of watermain.

The plant was brought online in August 2011 with a first-phase design capacity of 60 million litres a day (ML/d); the source-protection assessment says it can treat as much as 240 ML/d, with capacity added as the city requires. The City's 2019 Water Supply Master Plan put the plant's firm capacity at 60 ML/d, limited by the number of filtration trains, under a permit allowing it to take 65.2 ML/d from the lake, and the wells' firm capacity at 78 ML/d, for 138 ML/d in all. It projected that demand in the southern zones the plant serves would exceed the plant's 60 ML/d by 2035. In 2025 the City reported treating 14,946 million litres of drinking water, an average of about 41 ML a day (this site's arithmetic), against 13,360 million litres in 2014.

Sources: Drinking Water System Annual Report 2025, City of Barrie. Original document. The system: the surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay plus 12 wells, serving about 167,176 residents. States no plant capacity. Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching-Black River Source Protection Area Assessment Report, Chapter 8: City of Barrie, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (source protection committee). Original document. The surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay opened in August 2011 with a Phase I design capacity of 60 ML/day and the ability to treat up to 240 ML/day. An older planning document; the City's 2019 Water Supply Master Plan gives a firm capacity of 60 ML/d, and its 2025 drinking-water report states none. Water Supply Master Plan Update, City of Barrie (prepared by WSP). Original document. Surface water treatment plant firm capacity 60 ML/d (limited by filtration trains), permit to take 65.2 ML/d; groundwater firm capacity 78 ML/d; 138 ML/d in all; southern-zone demand exceeds the plant by 2035. Sodium: 20 mg/L reportable to the Medical Officer of Health, 200 mg/L aesthetic objective; "no observable trends" 2015 to 2018. Dated July 2019. Financial Information Return, Schedule 80D (statistics), City of Barrie, 2014 to 2025, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (as filed by the City of Barrie). Original document. Megalitres of drinking water treated (13,360 in 2014; 14,946 in 2025) and of wastewater treated, watermain breaks and kilometres of main, as the City filed them. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

How does the Province rate Barrie's drinking water system?

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is responsible for monitoring drinking water systems' compliance with Ontario's drinking water laws, and publishes an inspection rating for each system every fiscal year. Barrie's system was rated 100% in four of the twelve years shown, most recently 2024–25; its lowest was 88.85% in 2013–14. The same files count test results: from 2017–18 to 2024–25 every chemical and radiological result met Ontario's standards, and between none and seven of each year's 4,150 to 4,522 microbiological (E. coli and total coliform) results did not, the seven in 2020–21.

For 2025 the City reports that disinfection by-products, nitrate, nitrite and fluoride all met the standards; the running annual averages were 0.0430 mg/L for trihalomethanes and 0.0395 mg/L for haloacetic acids.

Sources: Drinking Water Quality and Enforcement (open data): inspection ratings, test results, adverse incidents and lead results for the Barrie Drinking Water System, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Original document. Fiscal years April to March, 2013–14 to 2024–25, Barrie's rows only, including adverse water quality incidents and the 2017–18 lead results. The files do not explain how the inspection rating is calculated. Drinking Water System Annual Report 2025, City of Barrie. Original document. The system: the surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay plus 12 wells, serving about 167,176 residents. States no plant capacity. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

How often are problems reported, and has Barrie had a boil water order?

When a test result or an operating problem meets the regulation's definition, the City reports it to the Ministry and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, takes corrective action, and lists it in its annual report. The count mixes very different events: bacteria found in a sample, low chlorine at a well, sodium above the reporting level, pressure lost in a main break, and lost monitoring data.

Sources: Drinking Water System Annual Reports (Section 11, O. Reg. 170/03), 2013 to 2024, City of Barrie (Water Operations Branch). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The reports for 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019 to 2024. The City posts each year's report at the same address, replacing the last, so each was read from an Internet Archive capture; the link is the 2024 capture. No capture was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. The 2013 and 2014 reports list incidents without a total. Drinking Water System Annual Report 2025, City of Barrie. Original document. The system: the surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay plus 12 wells, serving about 167,176 residents. States no plant capacity. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

Two boil water events appear in the reports found. On October 16, 2016 a watermain and a sanitary sewer broke in the same trench on Brennan Avenue; with cross-contamination suspected, the health unit issued a boil water order on October 18 for the affected homes, which got a temporary water supply until the main was replaced. The order was rescinded on November 24, 2016. On April 5, 2019 a large transmission main broke at Yonge Street and Big Bay Point Road and pressure was lost; the health unit issued a boil water advisory for the surrounding area and rescinded it on April 6, after acceptable bacteriological results. The 2019 report calls it both an advisory and an order.

The Province's own incident files are kept by fiscal year, so they cannot fill the calendar gaps above. For April 2017 to March 2018 they list four notifications (three for lead, one for total coliform), and for April 2018 to March 2019 two (one for lead, one for low chlorine).

Sources: Drinking Water System Annual Reports (Section 11, O. Reg. 170/03), 2013 to 2024, City of Barrie (Water Operations Branch). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The reports for 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019 to 2024. The City posts each year's report at the same address, replacing the last, so each was read from an Internet Archive capture; the link is the 2024 capture. No capture was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. The 2013 and 2014 reports list incidents without a total. Drinking Water Quality and Enforcement (open data): inspection ratings, test results, adverse incidents and lead results for the Barrie Drinking Water System, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Original document. Fiscal years April to March, 2013–14 to 2024–25, Barrie's rows only, including adverse water quality incidents and the 2017–18 lead results. The files do not explain how the inspection rating is calculated. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

Is there lead in Barrie's water?

Ontario's standard for lead is 10 micrograms per litre (µg/L). As the City's 2023 and 2024 reports describe it, the City samples twice a year under its drinking water licence, in winter and summer: plumbing at five industrial and commercial locations, and ten hydrants in the distribution system. Reports up to 2016 described the plumbing samples as coming from "residential, industrial and commercial locations"; from 2019 they name only industrial and commercial ones.

From the City's annual reports; results published in mg/L from 2021 are converted to µg/L by this site. *The April 2017 to March 2018 row is the Province's raw test data, counted by this site; no City report was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. "Relief": pandemic-related regulatory relief from the plumbing samples was granted for all of 2021 and the first 2022 period.

In the provincial data for April 2017 to March 2018, five of 24 plumbing samples were above 10 µg/L: 13.5, 19.1 and 11.6 µg/L in September 2017, and 15.5 and 18.1 µg/L in March 2018. Every City report since says all lead results were below the standard. The 2025 report lists only hydrant results, 20 samples from ten hydrants with a highest of 0.004 mg/L (4 µg/L); it lists no plumbing results and does not say why. This site found no published count of lead service lines in Barrie.

Sources: Drinking Water System Annual Reports (Section 11, O. Reg. 170/03), 2013 to 2024, City of Barrie (Water Operations Branch). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The reports for 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019 to 2024. The City posts each year's report at the same address, replacing the last, so each was read from an Internet Archive capture; the link is the 2024 capture. No capture was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. The 2013 and 2014 reports list incidents without a total. Drinking Water System Annual Report 2025, City of Barrie. Original document. The system: the surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay plus 12 wells, serving about 167,176 residents. States no plant capacity. Drinking Water Quality and Enforcement (open data): inspection ratings, test results, adverse incidents and lead results for the Barrie Drinking Water System, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Original document. Fiscal years April to March, 2013–14 to 2024–25, Barrie's rows only, including adverse water quality incidents and the 2017–18 lead results. The files do not explain how the inspection rating is calculated. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

How much sodium is in Barrie's water?

Under Ontario's drinking water regulation, sodium above 20 mg/L must be reported to the local Medical Officer of Health; the aesthetic objective, which the City's 2019 master plan describes as not health-related, is 200 mg/L. The City's licence requires extra sodium testing of the raw water at six wells. Well 12 is the highest: its raw water ran between 123 and 149 mg/L in 2025, above the reporting level and below the aesthetic objective. Sodium results were counted as adverse incidents once in 2016 and three times in 2021; for 2025 the City reports levels above the guideline that did not have to be reported to the Ministry. The treatment plant's most recent sodium result in the 2025 report is 32.0 mg/L, from August 2021. The 2019 master plan found "no observable trends" in raw-water sodium at these wells from 2015 to 2018 and recommended quarterly monitoring.

From the licence tables of the City's annual reports. No report was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. In 2025 the other licence wells ranged from 31 to 92 mg/L.

Sources: Drinking Water System Annual Reports (Section 11, O. Reg. 170/03), 2013 to 2024, City of Barrie (Water Operations Branch). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The reports for 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019 to 2024. The City posts each year's report at the same address, replacing the last, so each was read from an Internet Archive capture; the link is the 2024 capture. No capture was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. The 2013 and 2014 reports list incidents without a total. Drinking Water System Annual Report 2025, City of Barrie. Original document. The system: the surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay plus 12 wells, serving about 167,176 residents. States no plant capacity. Water Supply Master Plan Update, City of Barrie (prepared by WSP). Original document. Surface water treatment plant firm capacity 60 ML/d (limited by filtration trains), permit to take 65.2 ML/d; groundwater firm capacity 78 ML/d; 138 ML/d in all; southern-zone demand exceeds the plant by 2035. Sodium: 20 mg/L reportable to the Medical Officer of Health, 200 mg/L aesthetic objective; "no observable trends" 2015 to 2018. Dated July 2019. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

Has Barrie tested for PFAS?

No published results were found as of October 7, 2026. None of the ten City drinking water reports this site found, for 2013 to 2025, lists PFAS. The Province's Drinking Water Surveillance Program data for 2023 and 2024 include perfluorinated compounds for four of the 101 systems sampled; Barrie's system is not among the 101. That shows no result has been published, not whether PFAS are present.

Sources: Drinking Water System Annual Reports (Section 11, O. Reg. 170/03), 2013 to 2024, City of Barrie (Water Operations Branch). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The reports for 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019 to 2024. The City posts each year's report at the same address, replacing the last, so each was read from an Internet Archive capture; the link is the 2024 capture. No capture was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. The 2013 and 2014 reports list incidents without a total. Drinking Water System Annual Report 2025, City of Barrie. Original document. The system: the surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay plus 12 wells, serving about 167,176 residents. States no plant capacity. Drinking Water Surveillance Program, 2023-2024 open data, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Original document. Samples from 2023 and 2024 at 101 drinking water systems; four of them have results for perfluorinated compounds (PFAS). The Barrie Drinking Water System is not in the file (this site's check). All retrieved October 7, 2026.

Is the sewage plant keeping up, and what does it put into Kempenfelt Bay?

The Wastewater Treatment Facility at 249 Bradford Street is run by the City's Wastewater Operations Branch under an Environmental Compliance Approval issued by the Ministry. Its treated effluent is disinfected with ultraviolet light and discharged to Kempenfelt Bay through a diffuser. Its rated capacity is 76 million litres a day (MLD). Under the Lake Simcoe Phosphorus Reduction Strategy its phosphorus limits are an annual average of 0.1 mg/L and 2,774 kg a year.

From the City's annual performance reports; earlier reports were not found. *2025's share of the limit is this site's arithmetic; the other years' shares are as the reports state them.

The 2022, 2023 and 2024 reports record full compliance with effluent limits. In March 2025 high flows from rain, snowmelt and runoff put the plant over its monthly limits for phosphorus and suspended solids, and in March and April the tertiary filters were partly bypassed; all effluent was still disinfected with ultraviolet light, and the annual phosphorus load stayed under the limit. In June 2023 a failed raw-sewage pump let untreated wastewater spill from the raw sewage building toward Hotchkiss Creek; it was stopped and reported to the Ministry. In November 2024 stabilized biosolids spilled at a loading station and were contained on the plant property.

The City's 2019 Wastewater Treatment Master Plan projected that the plant would reach 80% of its rated capacity (60.8 MLD) in 2021 and all of it in 2031. Because metered flow data were uncertain, it added 20% to model-predicted flows. The reported average for 2025 was 52.2 MLD, 69% of capacity.

Sources: Wastewater Treatment Facility Annual Performance Reports, 2022 to 2025, City of Barrie (Wastewater Operations Branch). Original document. The live address holds the 2025 report; the 2022 to 2024 reports are Internet Archive copies of earlier versions. No performance reports before 2022 were found. Wastewater Treatment Master Plan, City of Barrie (prepared by WSP). Original document. Rated capacity 76 MLD; phosphorus limits 0.1 mg/L and 2,774 kg/yr under the Lake Simcoe Phosphorus Reduction Strategy; projected to reach 80% of capacity (60.8 MLD) in 2021 and full capacity in 2031, using model-predicted flows plus 20%. Dated July 2019. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

How much phosphorus reaches Lake Simcoe?

Algae and plants use up the lake's dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and the amount of algae depends partly on phosphorus. The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan's target of 7 mg/L of deep-water dissolved oxygen at the end of summer is linked to a phosphorus goal of 44 tonnes a year. The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) calculates the load from all sources each year: since 2015 it has ranged from 58 tonnes (2020) to 131 (2017), against a 24-year average of 81.6. The LSRCA says wet years with high river flows bring high loads, and that the tributaries carried 62% of the load on average from 2000 to 2020. For scale, Barrie's sewage plant reported 1,376 kg, about 1.4 tonnes, for calendar 2025 (this site's arithmetic).

Sources: Phosphorus, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority. Original document. Loads to Lake Simcoe for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 hydrologic years: 87, 73 and 131 tonnes. Phosphorus Loads Update 2018-2020, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority. Original document. 110, 82 and 58 tonnes for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 hydrologic years; the 7 mg/L dissolved-oxygen target is linked to a 44 tonne/year phosphorus goal; tributaries averaged 62% of the load, 2000 to 2020. Phosphorus Loads Update 2021-2023, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, dated November 25, 2025. Original document. 70.0, 66.7 and 77.3 tonnes for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 hydrologic years (June 1 to May 31); 24-year average 81.6 tonnes; 44 tonne/year goal in the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. Wastewater Treatment Facility Annual Performance Reports, 2022 to 2025, City of Barrie (Wastewater Operations Branch). Original document. The live address holds the 2025 report; the 2022 to 2024 reports are Internet Archive copies of earlier versions. No performance reports before 2022 were found. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

Is Lake Simcoe getting saltier?

The Province's Great Lakes Intake Program tests untreated lake water collected at the intakes of four Lake Simcoe drinking water plants: Beaverton, Brechin and Lagoon City, Georgina, and Keswick. None is in Barrie, and this site found no published chloride or phosphorus series for Kempenfelt Bay. At the Beaverton intake the annual average rose from 18.0 mg/L in 1982 to 59.4 mg/L in 2024; at Keswick from 20.6 mg/L in 1983 to 66.8 mg/L. In a November 2023 presentation to its board on winter salt, the LSRCA put the salt applied in the watershed at 100,000 tonnes in 2012 and compared lake and stream chloride with the CCME's 120 mg/L chronic guideline. The City's own winter salt use is on the winter maintenance page.

Sources: Great Lakes Intake Program: Lake Simcoe water chemistry, 1976-2024, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (annual means computed by this site). Original document. Raw-water samples at four Lake Simcoe drinking-water intakes (Beaverton, Brechin and Lagoon City, Georgina, Keswick); none in Barrie or Kempenfelt Bay. No chloride results for 2020; 2021 has five to seven per intake. Chloride in the Lake Simcoe Watershed (Board of Directors' meeting presentation), Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, dated November 24, 2023. Original document. Winter salt applied in the watershed: 100,000 tonnes in 2012. Chloride compared with the CCME chronic guideline of 120 mg/L. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

What does council control, and what does it not?

• The City controls: running the water and sewage systems, through its Water and Wastewater Operations Branches; repairs, replacement and expansion of plants, wells and pipes; and the rates that pay for them (see water rates). In December 2020 council directed the Water Operations Branch to give it an annual summary on the City's Safe Drinking Water Act obligations.
• The Province controls: drinking water standards, the City's drinking water licence and the sewage plant's approval and phosphorus limits, inspections and their ratings, and the 44-tonne goal for the lake.
• Others: the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit issues boil water orders and advisories; the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority monitors the lake and calculates its phosphorus load.

Sources: General Committee Minutes, November 30, 2020, City of Barrie — General Committee, dated November 30, 2020. Original document. 20-G-209: names the Infrastructure Department Head the owner representative for the drinking water system, and directs the Water Operations Branch to give Council an annual summary on Safe Drinking Water Act and quality management requirements. City Council Minutes, December 7, 2020, City of Barrie — City Council, dated December 7, 2020. Original document. Adopts Section "B" of the November 30, 2020 General Committee report, including 20-G-209. Drinking Water System Annual Report 2025, City of Barrie. Original document. The system: the surface water treatment plant on Kempenfelt Bay plus 12 wells, serving about 167,176 residents. States no plant capacity. Drinking Water System Annual Reports (Section 11, O. Reg. 170/03), 2013 to 2024, City of Barrie (Water Operations Branch). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The reports for 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019 to 2024. The City posts each year's report at the same address, replacing the last, so each was read from an Internet Archive capture; the link is the 2024 capture. No capture was found for 2015, 2017 or 2018. The 2013 and 2014 reports list incidents without a total. Wastewater Treatment Facility Annual Performance Reports, 2022 to 2025, City of Barrie (Wastewater Operations Branch). Original document. The live address holds the 2025 report; the 2022 to 2024 reports are Internet Archive copies of earlier versions. No performance reports before 2022 were found. Drinking Water Quality and Enforcement (open data): inspection ratings, test results, adverse incidents and lead results for the Barrie Drinking Water System, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Original document. Fiscal years April to March, 2013–14 to 2024–25, Barrie's rows only, including adverse water quality incidents and the 2017–18 lead results. The files do not explain how the inspection rating is calculated. Phosphorus Loads Update 2021-2023, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, dated November 25, 2025. Original document. 70.0, 66.7 and 77.3 tonnes for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 hydrologic years (June 1 to May 31); 24-year average 81.6 tonnes; 44 tonne/year goal in the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. All retrieved October 7, 2026.