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Drinking Water Quality and Supply

Montreal Drinking Water Quality

By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources

Direct municipal data
See where Montreal water comes from
B

Water quality grade

Good

Graded against Health Canada drinking water guidelines

Lead within guidelinepH in range
Hardness vs provincial average120 mg/L · prov. avg 183 mg/L
Lead vs provincial average0.1 μg/L · prov. avg 0.3 μg/L
Hardness
120 mg/L
Lead
0.1 μg/L
≤ 5 μg/L
pH
7
6.5–8.5 range
Hardness
120 mg/L
Hard
Lead
0.1 μg/L
Max: 5 μg/L
pH
7
6.5–8.5
Chlorine
0.6 mg/L
Max: 4 mg/L

From source to sink

Where Montreal water comes from

Lakes, rivers, wells, and treatment plants behind the kitchen tap, in plain language. Chemistry grades above are a separate lab snapshot; this section is the route the water travels.

Open the full tap story

On the map

Where Montreal water lives

Source waters and treatment plants pinned from published utility names. Open a pin below for the full OpenStreetMap view.

Map showing drinking-water locations for Montreal

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins are approximate for orientation, not legal survey points.

Where it starts

Surface water

Research confidence: high

Named source waters

  • St. Lawrence River
  • Lac Saint-Louis
  • Rivière des Prairies

Treatment plants

  • Atwater (Sud-Ouest)

    Major island plant drawing St. Lawrence / aqueduct system water; works in relay with Charles-J.-Des Baillets.

  • Charles-J.-Des Baillets (LaSalle)

    Largest Montréal production plant; St. Lawrence intake; ozonation and UV among treatment steps.

  • Dorval

    West-island plant; historically fluoridated with Pointe-Claire (city has announced end of fluoridation at these plants).

  • Lachine

    Smaller island plant on Lac Saint-Louis / St. Lawrence corridor.

  • Pierrefonds

    Northwest plant drawing from Rivière des Prairies.

  • Pointe-Claire

    West-island plant; historically fluoridated with Dorval.

How it reaches your street

Service de l'eau produces and distributes drinking water island-wide through roughly 5,300 km of watermains. Six plants feed a common / interconnected distribution system serving Montréal boroughs and some neighbouring island municipalities via transmission mains and reservoirs (including Mont-Royal area storage).

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Compare filters · Water test kits · Hardness guide

Reading this page

Montreal's most recent drinking water sample (2026-07-22) reports hardness of 120 mg/L, classified as hard, and pH 7, drawn from a mixed water source and treated at Montreal Water Treatment Plant. Lead measured 0.1 μg/L and fluoride 0.7 mg/L.

Free chlorine measured 0.6 mg/L in this sample. No E. coli was detected in this sample.

Montreal's hardness of 120 mg/L is below the Quebec average of 183 mg/L across 34 tracked municipalities, with a provincial average pH of 7.5.

These readings summarize a single compliance snapshot, not a certification of the water reaching your tap. Test your own water periodically, especially on a private well, and consider a softener if hardness is classified hard or very hard.

How to use this page: read the headline metrics first, then where the water comes from (map and tap story), then the parameter table and source footer.

Health parameters meet Health Canada limits; turbidity above the 1 NTU typical target.

Health parameters meet Health Canada limits; turbidity exceeds the typical 1 NTU aesthetic target.

Figure 1 · From source to sink

How drinking water reaches your tap

Compared to provincial average

Quebec · 34 cities in sample

Hardness (city vs Quebec avg)120 mg/L
pH (city vs Quebec avg)7
Lead (city vs Quebec avg)0.1 μg/L
Fluoride (city vs Quebec avg)0.7 mg/L

Provincial average: hardness 183 mg/L · pH 7.5 · lead 0.3 μg/L · fluoride 0.6 mg/L

Full parameters

ParameterReadingHealth Canada guidelineStatus
Hardness120 mg/LNo health limit (aesthetic)Compliant
pH76.5–8.5Compliant
Lead0.1 μg/L≤ 5 μg/LCompliant
Fluoride0.7 mg/L≤ 1.5 mg/LCompliant
Chlorine (free)0.6 mg/L≤ 4 mg/LCompliant
Turbidity1.8 NTU≤ 1 NTU (typical target)Exceeds guideline
Alberta water licences

WaterRegister.ca

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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Source · Ville de Montreal annual drinking water quality report. Last updated 2026-07-22. Refreshed on the site's automated schedule.