Inter-Urban Water Supply

The Inter-Urban Water Supply (IUWS) Program will provide a centralized system to connect the existing individual water supply systems in the County. The IUWS will deliver higher-quality drinking water services for long-term growth.

The system will have many benefits including:

• Reliable and safe drinking water quality from a better raw water intake source. This will address regulatory compliance issues
• Capacity for growth beyond the year 2041
• Centralized system that is more resilient and affordable to maintain
• Provides fire flows to all urban centres
• Increased operational efficiency and flexibility during high seasonal peak demands
• Meeting the regulatory requirements for emergency backup water supply capacity
• Less environmental impact by using sustainable materials and trenchless technologies. This will provide a reliable system with 75 to 100 years of service life
• Less long-term costs compared to upgrading, operating and maintaining separate water supply systems. The current systems are prone to regulatory compliance issues. They also need frequent upgrades, and present increasing costs to run and maintain
• Opportunity to reduce impacts on the natural and built environment. The new system will use municipal land and existing utility corridors where possible
• Opportunity to provide safe drinking water services year-round to the residential areas. The system will provide to areas not currently serviced by existing municipal systems
• Opportunity to expand the intake capacity at the Nanticoke Water Treatment Plant. This will reduce the initial capital cost and long-term operation and maintenance cost
• Opportunity to reduce the impact on farming land by using the existing Nanticoke Water Treatment Plant.

• In February 2022, the Inter-Urban Water Supply Program Plan implementation started.
• On April 12, 2022, an update on the Inter-Urban Water Supply program was provided to Council.
• In June 2022, the Norfolk-Haldimand water supply agreement was presented to Council.  Both Norfolk and Haldimand Councils approved.
  
  

The final agreement will be based on detailed financial analysis recommendations. The analysis results will be outlined in the water rate update studies completed by Haldimand and Norfolk counties. The Norfolk water rates update study will be completed in Fall 2022 to support the negotiations and agreement execution. Details will be provided as they become available.

The budget is updated annually. The budget reflects a full county-wide scope, priorities, status, and financial and economic impacts. A phased 10-year implementation approach will ensure over the long term.

The existing individual water supply systems will continue to be operated and upgraded for short-term demand. Norfolk County will continue to provide safe drinking water services to seven urban centres. This includes Simcoe, Port Dover, Port Rowan, St. Williams, Delhi, Courtland, and Waterford.