By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources
Regional estimateWater quality grade
Good
Graded against Health Canada drinking water guidelines
Essa at 208 mg/L is hard enough to scale kettles, but most residents solve taste and lead at the tap first. Carbon filtration + test strips; whole-house softener only if repeat hardness readings justify it.
OpenStats pick for Essa’s 208 mg/L hardness — drinking-water carbon first; pitchers do not soften
Higher-flow kitchen carbon for Essa without dedicating a softener closet
Essa at 208 mg/L — measure before jumping to a whole-house softener
Consider whole-house softening only if strips confirm 208 mg/L+ is wrecking appliances
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Municipal reports cover the plant. A Tap Score kit tests the water at a Essa tap for a broader contaminant panel.
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Under-sink and RO systems from Waterdrop Canada — a direct brand alternative to marketplace filters.
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Essa's drinking water earns Grade B (Good). Hardness is 208 mg/L (very hard), and pH is 7.1 against Health Canada's 6.5–8.5 guideline.
Lead at 0 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 Essa 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
Mill Street, McGeorge, and Brownley pumphouses (Angus DWS)
Sodium silicate for iron sequestration and sodium hypochlorite disinfection at each pumphouse; underground reservoirs. Mill Street also receives Collingwood/Alliston pipeline water.
Township of Essa / OCWA; Class II distribution & supply serving Angus (~14,500). Common distribution from three facilities.
All monitored parameters meet Health Canada guidelines.
Health parameters compliant; minor aesthetic factors such as hardness or pH near guideline edges.
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 | 208 mg/L | No health limit (aesthetic) | Compliant |
| pH | 7.1 | 6.5–8.5 | Compliant |
| Lead | 0 μg/L | ≤ 5 μg/L | Compliant |
| Fluoride | 0.5 mg/L | ≤ 1.5 mg/L | Compliant |
| Chlorine (free) | 0.5 mg/L | ≤ 4 mg/L | Compliant |
| Turbidity | 0.9 NTU | ≤ 1 NTU (typical target) | Compliant |
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.
Explore WaterRegister.ca →OpenStats pick
Essa at 208 mg/L is hard enough to scale kettles, but most residents solve taste and lead at the tap first. Carbon filtration + test strips; whole-house softener only if repeat hardness readings justify it.
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