By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources
Regional estimateWater quality grade
Fair
Graded against Health Canada drinking water guidelines
Stratford at 235 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 Stratford’s 235 mg/L hardness — drinking-water carbon first; pitchers do not soften
Higher-flow kitchen carbon for Stratford without dedicating a softener closet
Stratford at 235 mg/L — measure before jumping to a whole-house softener
Consider whole-house softening only if strips confirm 235 mg/L+ is wrecking appliances
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Municipal reports cover the plant. A Tap Score kit tests the water at a Stratford 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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Stratford's drinking water earns Grade C (Fair). Hardness is 235 mg/L (very hard), and pH is 7.3 against Health Canada's 6.5–8.5 guideline.
Lead at 0.3 μg/L is below the 5 μg/L maximum, and fluoride is 0.7 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 Stratford 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.
Groundwater
Research confidence: medium
Stratford municipal well supplies
City groundwater wells with disinfection feeding the urban distribution system; no Great Lakes intake.
City-operated reservoirs, towers, and watermains across Stratford’s urban area.
Health parameters meet Health Canada limits; turbidity above the 1 NTU typical target and very hard water.
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 | 235 mg/L | No health limit (aesthetic) | Compliant |
| pH | 7.3 | 6.5–8.5 | Compliant |
| Lead | 0.3 μg/L | ≤ 5 μg/L | Compliant |
| Fluoride | 0.7 mg/L | ≤ 1.5 mg/L | Compliant |
| Chlorine (free) | 0.8 mg/L | ≤ 4 mg/L | Compliant |
| Turbidity | 3.6 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.
Explore WaterRegister.ca →OpenStats pick
Stratford at 235 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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