Ask a Wasaga Beach homeowner where the tap water comes from, and most will point at the bay. The bay is right there. But the water in a Wasaga Beach tap comes out of the ground, and that one fact explains several things about plumbing in the town.
Six wells, two pumphouses
The Town of Wasaga Beach draws its drinking water from six production wells at two pumphouses, called Powerline and Jenetta. The Ontario Clean Water Agency operates the treatment, and the Town’s Public Works department runs the pipes to your house. Treatment adds sodium hypochlorite to disinfect the water and sodium silicate to keep its natural iron in solution.
Next door, Collingwood draws from Nottawasaga Bay through a membrane plant. Two towns, one shoreline, two completely different water sources. The well and town water guide has the full table for the area.
What the iron does
Sodium silicate keeps iron dissolved, and dissolved iron does not stain. But iron can come out of solution where water sits and warms, which is why the first orange stains in a Wasaga house show up in toilet tanks and water heaters.
- Water heaters collect sediment faster on groundwater. Flush an owned tank once a year. The water heater page covers the faults.
- Fixtures stain at the waterline in toilets and at drains in basins.
- Aerators collect deposits; unscrew and clean them.
A house on a private well just outside the town can carry iron too, without the town’s treatment. On a private well the fix is a treatment unit at the water, not a new fixture. The well and town water guide covers the difference between a town well and your own.
Who to call about the water itself
The Town of Wasaga Beach publishes an annual report on its drinking water system. If the water at every tap in the house has changed colour or taste at once, the question belongs to the Town first. If one fixture or the hot side only has changed, it is inside the house, and that is plumbing.
The same sand that holds the water
The water that comes out of the town’s wells sits in the ground under the whole town. Wasaga Beach is built on sand, and the water table rises in the spring melt. That is why basements here run sump pumps that work every spring, not just in a storm.
Sump pump installation covers pits, check valves, battery backups and discharge lines that do not freeze shut.
Seasonal houses on town water
Plenty of Wasaga Beach houses close for the winter. On town water, closing means the main shut-off, the water heater, every line drained and antifreeze in the traps. The shutdown timing note covers when to book it.