water commission agency overview formed water 1945 wastewater & stormwater 2007 preceding agencies halifax water commission public service commission headquarters 450 cowie hill road halifax nova scotia employees 400 website www.halifax.ca hrwc the halifax regional water commission hrwc is the municipal water wastewater and stormwater utility serving the residents of the halifax regional municipality hrm pursuant to the public utilities act . an autonomous self financed utility halifax water is a fully metered water utility providing water fire protection wastewater and stormwater services as regulated by the nova scotia utility and review board . contents 1 history 2 water supply system 3 wastewater and stormwater system 4 sponsorship 5 references 6 external links history edit although hrwc s present structure has existed since 1945 its creation was related to earlier events . as with any growing metropolis throughout the last century the former city of halifax had struggled to meet the ever increasing demands of its residents for clean safe drinking water . in 1861 after serious degradation the water supply system was purchased by the city from a private company and operated in one form or another for 75 years without ever resolving its maintenance and wastage problems . ravaged by two world wars and the great depression by 1943 halifax s water supply had deteriorated to a critical condition . responding to a government commissioned report on the need for a complete overhaul of the system the city on january 1 1945 formed the public service commission renamed the halifax water commission in 1987 to operate and manage the water utility . eight years later in 1952 the water commission purchased the assets of the water utility outright from the city to ensure that the utility operated in a business like manner . this business like approach has enabled the hwc to continually improve and upgrade the water supply system by funding operational and capital expenditures directly from potable water and fire protection revenue without any financial assistance from the municipal government . given a mandate to own and operate the city s water supply the hrwc has transformed the water supply system into a modern efficient and financially sound operation providing high quality water and service to its customers . in 1977 the pockwock water supply system was brought on line on time and on budget . through sound financial planning the debt for the pockwock system was retired in the year 2000 . on april 1 1996 as a result of metro amalgamation the dartmouth and halifax county water utilities were merged with the halifax water commission bringing with it new challenges and opportunities . in response to a pressing need for high quality water in the dartmouth area the commission constructed a new water treatment plant at lake major and associated transmission system . the project was completed in december 1998 on time and on budget with minimal disruption to hrwc s customers . the most recent exciting opportunity arose in 2013 when hrwc filed claims 1 to the uarb for urgent and long overdue upgrades and a 30 % rate hike 11.2 % in 2013 and 16.7 % in 2014 for a cummulative increase of 29.8 % . 2 on august 1 2007 the commission expanded its mandate once again with the transfer of hrm s wastewater and stormwater assets to halifax water and becoming the first regulated water and wastewater stormwater utility in canada . water supply system edit 3 water treatment plants j. douglas kline water supply plant pockwock was commissioned in 1977 and uses a direct dual media filtration process . plant capacity is 227 000 000 litres day 50 million igpd and serves the communities of halifax bedford lower sackville fall river waverley and timberlea . lake major water supply plant was commissioned in 1999 and uses a sedimentation with multi media filtration process . plant capacity is 94 000 000 litres day 20 million igpd and serves the communities of dartmouth eastern passage cole harbour and westphal . bennery lake water supply plant was commissioned in 1987 and uses a direct filtration process . plant capacity is 7 950 000 litres day 1.75 million igpd and serves the halifax stanfield international airport and aerotech business park . 5 isolated systems five island lake was commissioned in 1994 and serves five island lake collins park was commissioned in 2010 and serves wellington middle musquodoboit was commissioned in 2010 and serves middle musquodoboit . silver sands was acquired in 1999 and serves cow bay . miller lake was acquired in 2002 and serves fall river . 18 storage reservoirs over 1 300 km of distribution mains 7 700 fire hydrants 79 000 customers wastewater and stormwater system edit see also harbour solutions 13 wastewater treatment facilities 160 pumping stations over 2 000 km of collection mains 37 000 manholes 17 000 catchbasins 10 retention facilities holding tanks 600 km of ditches sponsorship edit halifax water is a sponsor of the 2009 icf canoe sprint world championships in dartmouth . references edit http www.halifax.ca hrwc documents finalsubmissionjanuary92013.pdf davenport ruth . halifax water rate hike hearings set to begin double digit increases proposed . retrieved 15 apr 2013 . external links edit official website halifax regional water commission act harbour solutions v t e halifax nova scotia government regional council community councils communities 2004 election 2008 election 2012 election 2016 election services and agencies police fire and emergency public libraries halifax regional water commission halifax transit articles of interest buildings and structures capital district communities culture education economy famous people geography halifax harbour halifax explosion harbour solutions history media parks port authority school board sports royal nova scotia yacht squadron transportation community areas bedford chebucto peninsula cole harbour & westphal cow bay & eastern passage dartmouth eastern shore east eastern shore west mainland halifax halifax peninsula hammonds plains upper sackville & beaver bank lake echo & porters lake lawrencetown musquodoboit valley & dutch settlement preston & cherrybrook prospect st. margaret s bay timberlea lakeside beechville retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title halifax regional water commission & oldid 713918468 categories government in halifax nova scotiawater supply and sanitation in canadahealth in canadahidden categories official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage 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