By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources
Regional estimateWater quality grade
Fair
Graded against Health Canada drinking water guidelines
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Cambridge's drinking water earns Grade C (Fair). Hardness is 156 mg/L (hard), and pH is 7.4 against Health Canada's 6.5–8.5 guideline.
Lead at 0.4 μg/L is below the 5 μg/L maximum, and fluoride is 0.5 mg/L against a guideline of ≤ 1.5 mg/L.
How to use this page: read the headline metric and provincial comparison first, then supply and treatment notes, then the source footer for the underlying dataset.
Watershed to tap
How Cambridge draws, treats, and distributes drinking water, from municipal and utility publications. Chemistry grades above come from separate parameter records; this section does not invent plant lab figures.
Mixed surface and groundwater
Research confidence: high
Region of Waterloo well supplies and Mannheim Water Treatment Plant
Region owns and treats supply for Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo. Much of Cambridge is fed by local wells (UV and hypochlorite). Parts of Cambridge are in the Mannheim Service Area that also uses Grand River water treated at Mannheim in Kitchener.
Region of Waterloo supplies treated water into the Integrated Urban System; the City of Cambridge operates local distribution, hydrants, and billing.
Health parameters meet Health Canada limits; turbidity above the 1 NTU typical target.
One or more parameters exceed a Health Canada drinking water guideline or turbidity target.
Figure 1 · Supply chain
From watershed to tap
Ontario · 123 cities in sample
Provincial average: hardness 178 mg/L · pH 7.5 · lead 0.4 μg/L · fluoride 0.6 mg/L
| Parameter | Reading | Health Canada guideline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 156 mg/L | No health limit (aesthetic) | Compliant |
| pH | 7.4 | 6.5–8.5 | Compliant |
| Lead | 0.4 μg/L | ≤ 5 μg/L | Compliant |
| Fluoride | 0.5 mg/L | ≤ 1.5 mg/L | Compliant |
| Chlorine (free) | 0.9 mg/L | ≤ 4 mg/L | Compliant |
| Turbidity | 3.7 NTU | ≤ 1 NTU (typical target) | Exceeds guideline |
On a private well or holding an Alberta water allocation licence? Water Register maps EPA licence records, transfer comparables, and watershed context across the province.
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Cambridge pairs 156 mg/L hardness with 0.9 mg/L chlorine — taste and scale show up together. Elite carbon for drinking, shower filter for chlorine, strips so you know when you need a softener.
As an Amazon Associate, OpenStats earns from qualifying purchases.
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