Windsor Utilities Commission and Union Water Supply System announce the initial plan for the development of a joint reservoir solution to mitigate water emergencies.

June 20, 2022

Windsor, ON: The protection of our community’s drinking water and infrastructure is a top priority of the Windsor Utilities Commission (WUC) and Union Water Supply System (UWSS).

In 2020, both boards committed to developing an action plan with a focused shared objective to identify solutions in the event of a source water or water treatment plant emergency such as: chemical spills, blue-green algae, damage to intakes, cyber attacks and major unforeseen facility damage. 

This culminated in a 2021 report that outlined potential solutions to combat these situations. Of those, a new central reservoir and pump station was the most feasible as it addressed emergency supply, maintainability, and support of future growth in all served communities. 

With this new central reservoir structure, both WUC and UWSS water supply would work independently. However, if an emergency were to arise both groups would be able to access each other’s water to alleviate the strain on the affected system.  As the two largest water utilities in the region, water supply redundancy for emergency purposes is needed.

“This is a Win-Win situation for all. By creating this reservoir and pump station, we are ensuring that residents of our communities will be able to access safe, clean, and reliable drinking water, even in the event of an emergency,” states Mayor Drew Dilkens, Chair of Windsor Utilities Commission. 

“Drinking water security is of utmost importance to our residents and customers and it is a vital service that a water utility should be able to provide.  This project will help us achieve this goal.  UWSS welcomes the opportunity to work jointly with ENWIN/ WUC on this strategic drinking water redundancy project,” states Mayor Nelson Santos, Chair of Union Water Supply System.   

On June 15th, 2022, both Boards were in unanimous support of moving forward with the development of a conceptual design and financial assessment, which will be brought back to both Boards for review in early 2023.