Niagara Falls Water Treatment Plant - 2021 Annual Water Quality Report

This annual water quality report summarizes the quality of drinking water from the Niagara Falls Water Treatment Plant, drinking water system number 220002084, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2021. This report satisfies the requirements of Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water Systems.

Description of drinking water system

A conventional surface water treatment plant incorporates the following steps in its purification process:

• Zebra mussel control
• Travelling screens
• Coagulation
• Flocculation
• Sedimentation
• Filtration
• Disinfection

The plant has a rated daily flow capacity of 145,475 m3/day. Primary disinfection is achieved through utilizing sodium hypochlorite and ultraviolet light as enhancement.

The Niagara Falls Water Treatment Plant supplies water to the City of Niagara Falls (260002304), parts of the City of Thorold (260004313) and parts of Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (260001380) in the Niagara region. The Niagara Falls Water Treatment Plant is located at 3599 Macklem Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The water treatment chemicals used over this reporting period are:

• Sodium Hypochlorite
• Aluminum Sulphate

Monetary expenses incurred

To ensure safe and efficient operations, the following major repairs or upgrade projects took place:

• Intake relocation (pre-construction) - $353,000
• Boiler replacement (construction) - $18,500
• Filter improvements (construction) - $625,000
• Filter control improvements (construction) - $46,000
• Plant pumping improvements (construction) - $57,000
• Plant upgrade (construction) - $471,000

System infrastructure

• Drummond Road valve replacement (construction) - $11,500
• Port Robinson interconnect (pre-construction) - $132,000

Summary of adverse water quality incidents

The following table summarizes the notices of adverse water quality incidents submitted in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Adverse water quality incidents are reported to the Spills Action Centre and the Medical Officer of Health.

Where there have been no adverse water quality incidents for the reporting period, the table will show "NIL".

Incident Date	Location	Adverse condition	Corrective Action	Notice of issue resolution
Sept. 19	Filtration	Precautionary report due to filtration process not operating as intended during backwash allowing a small volume of water to bypass the effluent valve	Filter was washed, disinfection data was reviewed and confirmed. Routine microbiological sampling was also reviewed following the event.	Sept. 23
Nov. 9	Treated	Suspected sampling error Total coliform exceedance Result: >200 cfu/100ml Prescribed Standard: 0 cfu/100ml E.coli exceedance Result: 1-100 cfu/100ml Prescribed Standard: 0 cfu/100ml	Resamples collected and results within acceptable limits	Nov. 15

Water quality test results

Reported results that are shown with "ND" (non-detect) instead of a numerical value indicates that the sample result is below the lowest possible detection limit for the parameter.

Microbiological testing

Microbiological testing carried out under Schedule 10 of Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water systems, during this reporting period.

Heterotrophic plate count testing

Heterotrophic plate count (HPC) testing is conducted on some treated and distribution system samples. The heterotrophic plate count test is used as a tool to monitor overall quality, but the results are not indicators of water safety. There is no prescribed standard for heterotrophic plate count.

Operational testing

Operational testing carried out under Schedule 7 of Ontario Regulation 170/03 -Drinking Water Systems, during this reporting period. An analyzer continuously monitors the water treatment process and records results on a predetermined frequency. Where continuous monitors are used, 8760 is reflected as the number of samples.

*NTU (nephelometric turbidity units) is a unit that measures the lack of water clarity.

Additional testing

Summary of additional testing and sampling carried out in accordance with the requirement of an approval, order or other legal instrument.

Inorganic testing

Inorganic parameter testing carried out under Schedule 13 of Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water Systems, during this reporting period. Inorganic substances include heavy metals and dissolved minerals that may be present in treated drinking water.

*Prescribed standards are copied from Ontario Regulation 169/03 - Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards. The prescribed standard for sodium is copied from Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water Systems.

Lead testing

Lead testing carried out under Schedule 15.1 of Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water Systems, during this reporting period.

Organics testing

Organic parameter testing carried out under Schedule 13 of Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water Systems, during this reporting period. Trace organic test parameters include: volatile organic substances, pesticides, solvents, dioxins, PCB's, and disinfection by-products.

Parameters Exceeding Prescribed Half-Standard

Any inorganic or organic parameter(s) that exceeded half the standard prescribed in Schedule 2 of prescribed standards documented in Ontario Regulation 169/03 - Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards or prescribed standards documented within Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water Systems for large municipal residential drinking water systems.

Where there have been no instances of a half-standard exceedance for the reporting period, the table will show "NIL".

Parameter	Result Value or Range (minimum number)-(maximum number)	Prescribed standard	Unit of measure	Date of sample
Sodium	11 - 12.4	20	mg/L	Jan. 4 Feb. 1 March 1 April 6 Aug. 10 Nov. 1

*Prescribed standards are copied from Ontario Regulation 169/03 - Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards. The prescribed standard for sodium is copied from Ontario Regulation 170/03 - Drinking Water Systems.

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