Alerts
August 18, 2026
"HEY! AM I DRINKING POOL WATER?!" No, no you most definitely are not. There is, however, a temporary change working through our system for our customers who use water that comes from the City of Ottawa. Over the next month and a half your water may start to smell and taste slightly more like a swimming pool. Hey, but did you read the part where I said it’s temporary? It is for the health of our distribution system. The City of Ottawa has turned off their ammonia feed system which will in turn, switch our water supply from Chloramines (Combined Chlorine), to Free Chlorine for what we lovingly refer to as our "Annual Burnout" or "Free Burn". Burnouts are only planned to last a handful of weeks each, and will be noticed by some as a stronger chlorine smell and/or taste in their tap water. It is still VERY safe to drink and use in your normal daily usage and consumption. "What is it?" you may ask. In short, the water plants we purchase water from typically feed both Chlorine and Ammonia to form Chloramines, also known as Combined Chlorine, in their water plants to provide a long-lasting protection against microorganisms. Where Chloramines do indeed last longer in the distribution system (the pipeworks we have in the ground to bring tap water to your house ), they are not as good at disinfecting the water as Free Chlorine. Free Chlorine is much more reactive to any organic growth that may occur, but beings that it is more reactive, it doesn't last as long and has more difficulty reaching to our customers farthest out at the ends of our main water lines. The burnout is typically done on an annual basis to ensure our distribution system stays clean and biology free so that we can continue to provide our customers with the cleanest and safest water possible. Along with the taste and smell of chlorine, you may also notice periods of low pressure while I flush our lines. I know nobody wants to "waste" water, but during this time I highly encourage you to run a little extra water through those water hydrants out in the pasture, or through those second bathrooms that don't get much use in an effort to run this Free Chlorine though to water lines that don't get much use. It's about the cheapest, and simplest type of maintenance you will ever come across.
