Municipal wastewater systems in Canada, 2021-2022
Released: 2024-11-01
Canadian municipalities reported a 5.9% increase of wastewater volumes in 2022 to 5 661 million cubic metres, following a 7.7% decrease in 2021.
Just over 32 million Canadians are served by municipal wastewater systems
In 2022, just over 32 million people were served by municipal wastewater systems that have daily flows that process 100 cubic metres or more. Primary treatment systems (removing a portion of suspended solids and organic matter by physical and/or chemical processes) served 5 million people; secondary treatment systems (removing organic matter and suspended solids using biological treatment processes and secondary settlement) processed wastewater for 15.8 million people; and tertiary treatment systems (removing specific solids, nutrients and/or contaminants after secondary treatment using physical, chemical or biological processes) served 10.9 million people. Just over 321,000 people discharged their wastewater into systems that provide no treatment.
The remaining 5.2 million Canadians either had their own on-site wastewater system or were served by other systems with flows of less than 100 cubic metres per day, or by other facilities outside the scope of this statistical activity.
Nearly all wastewater in Canada is treated prior to its discharge
In 2022, nearly 5 600 million cubic metres of wastewater received treatment prior to being discharged, while systems that provided no treatment discharged 82 million cubic metres of wastewater back into the environment.
The total volume of untreated wastewater from systems that provided no treatment and combined sewer overflow that was discharged amounted to 223 million cubic metres in 2022. This is equivalent to 3.8% of all wastewater collected and discharged by municipal wastewater systems in Canada.
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Note to readers
As of 2018, combined sewer overflow volumes from Quebec municipalities are not available, thus estimates for combined sewer overflows and total volumes of untreated wastewater do not include municipal wastewater systems in the province of Quebec.
The target population is composed of municipal wastewater systems in Canada with a flow of 100 cubic metres or more per day, representing a population of approximately 2,000 systems. These estimates exclude systems that service First Nations reserves, government institutions, commercial and industrial establishments, and provincial parks.
Contact information
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