By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources
Direct municipal dataWater quality grade
Fair
Graded against Health Canada drinking water guidelines
Metro Vancouver’s 22 mg/L snowmelt supply is soft by Canadian standards — you are filtering for chlorine taste, not minerals. The Denali pitcher is the value pick; step up to under-sink carbon if you cook with lots of filtered water.
OpenStats pick for Vancouver’s 22 mg/L supply — taste, not minerals
Under-sink carbon for Vancouver
Baseline Vancouver tap water before RO
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Municipal reports cover the plant. A Tap Score kit tests the water at a Vancouver tap for a broader contaminant panel.
Lab kit partner link. We may earn a commission when tracking is active.
Under-sink and RO systems from Waterdrop Canada — a direct brand alternative to marketplace filters.
Waterdrop affiliate link. We may earn a commission.
Vancouver water hardness is 22 mg/L with pH 7.6.
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 Vancouver 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.
Surface water
Research confidence: high
Seymour Capilano Filtration Plant
Metro Vancouver plant treating Capilano and Seymour source water (filtration and UV); Canada’s largest drinking-water filtration plant.
Coquitlam Water Treatment Plant
Metro Vancouver plant treating Coquitlam source water with ozone, UV, and chlorine; typically unfiltered because of historically low turbidity.
City of Vancouver purchases wholesale treated water from Metro Vancouver (Greater Vancouver Water District) and operates the local distribution system of mains, reservoirs, and services within city limits.
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
British Columbia · 58 cities in sample
Provincial average: hardness 142 mg/L · pH 7.6 · lead 0.4 μg/L · fluoride 0.6 mg/L
| Parameter | Reading | Health Canada guideline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 22 mg/L | No health limit (aesthetic) | Compliant |
| pH | 7.6 | 6.5–8.5 | Compliant |
| Lead | 0.1 μg/L | ≤ 5 μg/L | Compliant |
| Fluoride | 0.7 mg/L | ≤ 1.5 mg/L | Compliant |
| Chlorine (free) | 0.6 mg/L | ≤ 4 mg/L | Compliant |
| Turbidity | 3.4 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
Metro Vancouver’s 22 mg/L snowmelt supply is soft by Canadian standards — you are filtering for chlorine taste, not minerals. The Denali pitcher is the value pick; step up to under-sink carbon if you cook with lots of filtered water.
As an Amazon Associate, OpenStats earns from qualifying purchases.
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