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The drinking water system types listed below are regulated by the Ministry of the Environment, and are described in the Drinking Water Systems regulation (Ontario Regulation 170/03).

For information about small systems, visit the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s website.

Definitions of some of the words/terms found in the following chart can be found at the bottom of this page.

Municipal systems (owned by, and/or supplies water to a municipality)
Large residential serves more than 100 private residences*	Small residential serves from six to 100 private residences
Large non-residential serves a designated facility** (e.g. day nursery, school, health care facility, social care facility) can supply water at a rate greater than 2.9 litres per second	Small non-residential serves a designated facility (e.g. day nursery, school, health care facility, social care facility) supplies water at a rate less than 2.9 litres per second

Non-municipal systems (not owned by a municipality)
Year-round residential serves more than five private residences* or trailer park or campground with more than five service connections*** open throughout the year	Seasonal residential serves a designated facility (e.g. day nursery, school, health care facility, social care facility) serves more than five private residences or trailer park or campground with more than five service connections is closed for at least 60 consecutive days
Large non-residential serves a designated facility** (e.g. day nursery, school, health care facility, social care facility) can supply water at a rate greater than 2.9 litres per second	Small non-residential serves a designated facility (e.g. day nursery, school, health care facility, social care facility) supplies water at a rate less than 2.9 litres per second

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* Private residence - means a dwelling place occupied for an extended period of time by the same person if:

• the residents have a reasonable expectation of privacy
• food preparation, personal hygiene, and sleeping accommodations are not communal in nature, and
• any use of the dwelling place by a resident for a home occupation, trade, business, profession or craft is secondary to the use of the dwelling place as a residence and does not use more than 25 per cent of the indoor floor area.

** Designated facility - means:

• a children and youth care facility
• a day nursery
• a children’s camp
• a delivery agent care facility
• a health care facility
• a health care seniors facility
• a school or private school
• a social care facility
• a university, a college of applied arts and technology, or an institution with authority to grant degrees.

*** Service connection - means:

• a point where a drinking water system connects to plumbing, other than plumbing in a trailer park or campground OR
• in a trailer park or campground, a fixture that allows a trailer or other vehicle to connect to the trailer park’s or campground’s drinking water system.

(For the complete list of legal definitions, see section 1 of the Drinking Water Systems regulation.)

Drinking water help line

If you have questions about your system type, the drinking water help line is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-866-793-2588.