Halifax Water

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Halifax Water, officially the Halifax Regional Water Commission, is the municipal utility for water, wastewater and stormwater in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. It operates as an autonomous, self‑financed utility that charges customers by meter and is regulated by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. The organization provides clean water, fire protection, wastewater and stormwater services. Its headquarters are at 450 Cowie Hill Road, Halifax, and it employs about 400 people with a 2015 budget around $135 million.

A short history
- 1844–1848: The private Halifax Water Company built a gravity-fed water system from Chain Lakes and Long Lake to downtown Halifax, serving fountains, homes and fire hydrants.
- 1861: The City buys the system and runs it as a public utility for decades.
- By the 1940s the system was deteriorating. In 1945, the City formed the Public Service Commission to overhaul the water system, which later became Halifax Water.
- 1952: The Water Commission bought the assets from the City, operating as a businesslike utility funded by water revenue.
- 1977: The Pockwock water supply system came online, with debt retired by 2000.
- 1996: Metro amalgamation brought Dartmouth and Halifax County water utilities into Halifax Water, and a new Lake Major treatment plant was completed in 1998 to serve Dartmouth.
- 2007: On August 1, Halifax Water expanded its mandate by taking over wastewater and stormwater assets, becoming the first regulated combined water and wastewater/stormwater utility in Canada.
- 2013: Halifax Water applied to the Utility and Review Board for urgent upgrades and a substantial rate increase—about 30% over two years (roughly 11% in 2013 and 16–17% in 2014).