The Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER), developed under the Fisheries Act, came into force in 2012 to manage wastewater releases by systems that collect an average daily influent volume of 100 cubic metres or more. The WSER also does not apply to any wastewater system located in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and north of the 54th parallel in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. The WSER set national baseline effluent quality standards that are achievable through secondary wastewater treatment.
The map below presents data regarding compliance with the WSER effluent quality standards according to their averaging period. Wastewater systems must report on either a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. The dataset also includes the carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) and suspended solids (SS) results for each wastewater system.
Annual reporting: This map layer shows whether or not the wastewater systems met the WSER effluent quality limit according to an annual averaging period for carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand CBOD or suspended solids SS.
Quarterly reporting: This map layer shows whether or not the wastewater systems met the WSER effluent quality standards according to a quarterly averaging period. Note that a system that meets its CBOD limit or its SS limit for more than 75% of the time is considered to be in compliance with the effluent quality standards of the WSER.
Monthly reporting: This map layer shows whether or not the wastewater systems met the WSER effluent quality standards according to a monthly averaging period. Note that a system that meets its CBOD limit or its SS limit for more than 75% of the time is considered to be in compliance with the effluent quality standards of the WSER.
The map is available in both ESRI REST (to use with ARC GIS) and WMS (open source) formats. For more information about the individual reporting wastewater systems, datasets are available in either CSV or XLS formats.
Data from Quebec and Yukon
The data for Quebec municipalities (after 2017) is provided to the department separately through the equivalency agreement that was finalized in October 2018. Beginning in 2015, the data reported for the Yukon is provided to the department separately through an equivalency agreement finalized in 2014.
More information on the wastewater sector including the regulations, agreements, contacts and resource documents is available at: https://www.canada.ca/wastewater