Saint John Water ensures the reliable and economical delivery of safe, clean drinking water to about 17,000 customers in Saint John. This includes managing the supply of water, water quality testing, water treatment, transmission and distribution, and billing. Our water meets the high level of quality required by Health Canada and the New Brunswick Departments of Health and Environment and Local Government. And we’re proud of the recognition we’ve received—including awards from the Atlantic Canada Water & Wastewater Association. We are regulated by the Clean Environment and Clean Water Acts.
Clean water begins at the source
The most economical way to maintain uncontaminated water is to keep the water clean to begin with. It’s why we operate by the "multi-barrier approach”, which reduces or prevents contaminants from entering the water system at every step in the process. We protect the watershed and aquifers by limiting activities in protected areas.
Our Water Sources
South Bay Wellfield
Three large wells at this site collect water from aquifers deep below the ground's surface. It’s then pumped to the South Bay Treatment Facility where it's treated and sent through the distribution system to over 3,000 customers on the west side of the city. South Bay Wellfield began distribution in September 2017.
Loch Lomond Drinking Water Treatment Facility
This state-of-the-art facility is supplied from the Loch Lomond and Latimer Lake watersheds. It has the capacity to produce 75 million litres of clean drinking water per day, and the three on-site storage reservoirs have a capacity of 33 million litres. This facility serves over 13,000 customers in the east, north, south, and select areas of the west side of the city. Distribution began in August 2018. See our FAQ for more information on water from this facility.
Harbourview Well System
Saint John Water owns, operates, and maintains two well houses in the Red Head Area in East Saint John. This groundwater system supplies chlorinated well water to about 450 residences in the Harbourview subdivision.
Water quality testing
The health and safety of the public are Saint John Water’s primary goal and that’s why we test for more parameters and on a more frequent basis than is required by law. We sample water right from the raw source water, through the treatment process, and at various locations throughout the distribution system. More water quality data can be found in our Drinking Water Annual Reports and the Water Quality Reports.
Water treatment
Depending on the source, Saint John Water uses different treatment techniques. Groundwater aquifers are a great clean source of potable water, as mother nature has done all the treatment required. However, since these aquifers transmit water via a pipe network, sodium hypochlorite is used as a means of disinfection. Orthophosphate is also being used in the South Bay Wellfield treatment system to manage corrosion within the distribution system.
Water sourced from the Loch Lomond Watershed is pretreated at Latimer Lake Pretreatment facility followed by full modern water treatment including coagulation and flocculation, dissolved air flotation, filtration, and disinfection. Orthophosphate is also used to manage corrosion within the distribution system.
Billing and collections
About 80% of our customers pay a flat rate for their water and sewerage services. Council sets the rates in order to recover both the operating and capital costs of the utility. For more information, see Water Service Rates.