Water taking report and charges
The fees and related rules of reporting for industrial or commercial water users who take more than 50,000 litres on any single day in the year.
The law
By law, all phase 1 industrial or commercial water users must report and pay $3.71 for every million litres of water that they take each year.
Effective August 1, 2017, water-bottling facilities with permits to take water must pay an additional $500 for every million litres of groundwater taken (for a total of $503.71 per million litres).
Phase 1 water users
Phase 1 industrial or commercial water users that take more than 50,000 litres on any single day where water is incorporated into a product include:
- water-bottling facilities
- beverage manufacturing facilities
- fruit and vegetable canning or pickling facilities
- ready-mix concrete manufacturing facilities
- other non-metallic mineral product manufacturing facilities
- pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemical manufacturing facilities
- other inorganic chemical manufacturing facilities
Source law
You can find a complete set of rules related to this activity in:
Water charges
The $3.71 per million litres charge for phase 1 industrial or commercial water users will apply to the total volume of water taken each year (annual volume of water withdrawn x $3.71 per million litres). Water-bottling facilities with permits to take groundwater will be charged $3.71 per million litres plus an additional $500 per million litres for a total of $503.71 per million litres of groundwater taken.
Ontario will invoice and collect the charge directly from phase 1 industrial or commercial water users (including permitted water bottling facilities).
Who must report
If you are a phase 1 industrial or commercial water user and you pay a water charge, you must submit a one-time report to the ministry.
Deadline to submit report: within 30 days of operation.
What to report
The owner of a facility that is a phase 1 industrial or commercial water user must report:
- the address of the facility
- contact information for the facility
- contact information, including name and title of the person who should be contacted
- facility billing information
- the class of facility and a description of how the water is used
- the names of the owner of the facility
- the number of the facility’s water taking permit if applicable
- the name of the owner of the water works if applicable
- the account number that the owner of the water works uses to charge the facility for its water use if applicable
- the method the facility uses to measure the amount of water it uses
How to report
To submit your one-time report:
- open the excel document: Industrial and Commercial Reporting Template
- fill out the template
- save the file
- email form to: WTRSHelpDesk@ontario.ca
How to update report
To update any information on your report, contact:
The Water Taking Reporting System Help Desk
1-877-344-2011 (toll-free)
416-235-6322 (Toronto area)
WTRSHelpdesk@ontario.ca