Celebrating our drinking water

The Surface Water Treatment Plant in Barrie, Ont. (City of Barrie)

It’s something we do every day: turn on the tap, fill up our cup and take a big gulp of fresh water. We’re lucky to have clean drinking water, but when was the last time you thought about how it gets to be that way?

This week is all about drinking water and celebrating something we have have every day.

The City of Barrie is recognizing Drinking Water Week, focusing on the role of tap water in daily life, the way it gets delivered to homes and businesses and the people who make sure it’s safe and reliable.

The City reminds the public that Barrie’s water is thoroughly treated, regularly tested and monitored 24/7, making sure it always meets the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

It says every year, officials collect and analyze thousands of water samples to make sure it’s safe.

Barrie gets its water from groundwater, extracted from the ground from municipal wells in the northern part of the city, and surface water in the south end is taken from Kempenfelt Bay.

How water gets treated in Barrie

The surface water will get treated at the plant where it goes through screens to remove large debris. Then it goes through strainers to remove more particles. After that, a chemical is added that makes any suspended particles stick together. Water gets filtered through tiny membrane fibres, harmful bacteria and viruses get removed, leaving only clean water.

The water gets filtered using carbon contactors to remove taste and odour. Water then gets disinfected using chlorine and the newly treated water is pumped to a storage reservoir.

Once the treatment process is done, it gets distributed through 4,200 hydrants and 695 kilometres of watermain.

80 City staff are dedicated to water treatment in Barrie.

In 2025, the City says it created 14,946 megalitres of drinking water.

Learn more

If you’re looking to learn more about your drinking water, Water Operations staff with the City are offering free public tours of the Surface Water Treatment Plan on Royal Parkside Drive. There will be two tours taking place on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., which will run for around an hour.

The City is also hosting a community pop-up at the East Bayfield Community Centre on Thursday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.