Règlement 86-2024 sets the rules for using drinking water from Ormstown's distribution network: lawn-watering days by the last digit of the address, pool-filling dates by even or odd civic number, spring driveway washing between May 1 and June 15 only, and a February 1, 2027 deadline to replace air conditioning, refrigeration systems and compressors that use drinking water. Fines start at $250, and each day of a continuing offence counts as a separate offence.
Règlement 86-2024 sets the standards for using drinking water from the municipality's distribution network, and it applies across the whole territory of the municipality (art. 3). It defines drinking water as water made fit for human consumption and coming from the aqueduct network, including water stored in a container (art. 2). Notice of motion was given and the draft bylaw tabled on February 5, 2024; the bylaw was adopted March 11, 2024, and the public notice of adoption is dated March 13, 2024. It repeals and replaces all earlier bylaws concerning the use of drinking water (art. 9).
The document's opening pages carry the heading "Modèle de règlement municipal sur l'utilisation de l'eau potable", dated April 2019. Applying the bylaw is the responsibility of the director of public works (art. 4).
Article 3 adds that the bylaw does not limit the use of drinking water for horticultural production: all the activities needed to produce vegetables, fruit, flowers, or ornamental trees and shrubs for commercial or institutional purposes, including soil preparation, seeding, upkeep, harvest, storage and marketing.
Two schedules apply: one for lawns (art. 7.3) and one for hedges, trees, shrubs and other plants (art. 7.4).
For lawns (art. 7.3), watering is permitted only from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. with an automatic system, and only from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. with a mechanical system, on the following days. The bylaw defines a mechanical system as a watering device that must be turned on and off by hand but is not held in the hand while in use (art. 2).
| Address ends in | Permitted day |
|---|---|
| 0 or 1 | Monday |
| 2 or 3 | Tuesday |
| 4 or 5 | Wednesday |
| 6 or 7 | Thursday |
| 8 or 9 | Friday |
Article 7.3 lists Monday to Friday only; it assigns no Saturday or Sunday. Articles 7.3 and 7.4 assign the days to "l'occupant d'une habitation" (the occupant of a dwelling) whose address ends in the digits shown; they do not set days for other buildings.
For hedges, trees, shrubs and other plants (art. 7.4), the same hours apply, on three days a week:
| Address ends in | Permitted days |
|---|---|
| 0, 1, 4, 5 or 9 | Monday, Wednesday, Friday |
| 2, 3, 6, 7 or 8 | Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday |
Article 7.2 permits manual watering of a garden, vegetable plot, flower box, planter, flower bed, tree or shrub at any time. The bylaw defines manual watering as watering with a hose connected to the network and fitted with a shut-off held in the hand throughout use, or with a container (art. 2).
Article 7.6 allows a new lawn, a new planting of trees or shrubs, or new landscaping to be watered every day during the hours set in articles 7.3 and 7.4, for 15 days from the start of seeding, planting or sod installation. Sod may be watered at any time on the day it is laid. Owners who water during this period must produce proof of purchase of the plants or seed on request from a person responsible for applying the bylaw. Article 7.7 allows nurseries and golf courses to water every day during the same hours, when necessary.
The bylaw distinguishes a bassin de baignade (a pool, wading pool, spa or hot tub) from a bassin d'eau, an outdoor basin not meant for bathing, generally ornamental, such as a fountain or cascade (art. 2). Filling a bassin d'eau is authorized at any time; if it has a mechanism that moves the water, it must have a recirculation loop kept in good working order at all times (art. 7.9).
Article 7.9 authorizes filling a swimming pool "selon les modalités suivantes" (on the following terms): between May 1 and June 15; on an even date when the civic number is even; on an odd date when it is odd; after June 15, at any time; and, for a demountable wading pool, at any time. The article lists these as separate items. It does not say whether the even and odd dates apply only between May 1 and June 15, or whether a pool may be filled before May 1.
On the day a new pool is installed or its liner is replaced, it may also be filled at any time. The owner or occupant must keep the documents establishing the date of that work for at least 30 days (art. 7.9).
Article 7.9 prohibits using drinking water at any time to maintain the water quality of a pool whose treatment system is defective, or to maintain the water level of a pool that is not watertight.
Using drinking water for the spring cleaning of a driveway, traffic lane or parking area is authorized only between May 1 and June 15; outside that period, such use is prohibited (art. 7.10). Drinking water may be used at any time to clean such a surface when applying paint or a protective coating to it, or to remove a product or substance that cannot be removed by mechanical means such as a broom or air blower. In all cases, only a hand-controlled spray nozzle is authorized.
Using drinking water to clean a terrace or an exterior wall of a building, or to wash a vehicle, is authorized at any time. A vehicle may be washed only with a wash bucket or a hand-controlled spray nozzle. On the site of a commercial or industrial establishment, washing a company vehicle or a vehicle in its care, when washing is a service incidental to the establishment's activities, is authorized at any time with a wash bucket or a hand-controlled spray nozzle (art. 7.10).
Article 7.11 authorizes the use of drinking water to supply an automatic car wash fitted with a system that recovers, recycles and recirculates the wash water, kept in good working order at all times. The owner or operator of an automatic car wash must comply before February 1, 2027.
Chapter 6 prohibits installing certain equipment that uses drinking water. Equipment of these kinds installed before the bylaw came into force must be replaced before February 1, 2027:
Under article 7.5, an automatic watering system must have: an automatic moisture sensor or automatic rain shut-off that prevents watering cycles when rainfall or soil moisture is sufficient; a backflow preventer meeting CSA standard B64.10 to prevent contamination of the distribution network; an electric valve operated by an electric pilot device to control watering or the watering cycle; and a manual shut-off handle or valve, accessible from outside, used only in case of breakage, malfunction or any other case judged urgent. A system installed before the bylaw came into force that does not meet these requirements may be used, but must be upgraded, replaced or taken out of service.
Article 7.8 prohibits wasting drinking water or letting it run needlessly, and lists eight situations that are considered waste: using network pressure or flow as a source of energy or to run equipment; letting drinking water run to prevent a pipe from freezing, unless the municipal authorities specifically require it, and then only for the period indicated; using drinking water to melt snow or ice; letting drinking water run off from any structure, appliance or system supplied by the network; using drinking water to water plants or maintain grounds when it is raining; deliberately using watering equipment so that water flows into the street or onto neighbouring properties; breaking or letting a building's piping, fittings or fixtures deteriorate so that water can be lost or wasted; and using drinking water abusively or excessively, even for a permitted use.
For the freezing case, during intense cold or when ground frost is deep, the municipal authorities may require the owner or occupant of a building whose service connection is listed as freeze-prone to let a trickle of water run from a purge or an indoor tap, for as long as needed to prevent the connection from freezing or breaking (art. 7.8).
Article 7.14 prohibits letting water run unless the person responsible for applying the bylaw explicitly authorizes it, in certain particular cases only. Using drinking water for agricultural irrigation is strictly prohibited unless a water meter is installed on the supply line and the municipality has authorized it (art. 7.15). Fire hydrants are used only by authorized municipal employees; no one else may open, close or operate a hydrant or its supply valve without the municipality's authorization. Hydrants are opened and closed following the procedure the municipality prescribes, with a backflow-prevention device (art. 6.3).
Article 7.17 prohibits using drinking water for watering plants, maintaining grounds, filling a basin and any other recreational or cleaning use "en raison de la survenance" (by reason of the occurrence) of either of two events: a current or anticipated drought likely to cause a water shortage, or a major break in the aqueduct network or in an essential component of it, likely to compromise the supply or availability of drinking water in the network. The article does not say who determines that such an event has occurred, or how residents are informed.
Four uses remain permitted during the prohibition: watering vegetable gardens and edible plants, in the ground or in pots, gardens, flowers and other plants, with a hand-controlled spray nozzle between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.; partially filling a pool to shape and hold the liner, up to 30 cm of water measured at the shallowest part, or adjusting a pool's water level to prevent damage to related equipment; watering a lawn in the circumstances and on the conditions of article 7.6; and any intervention to protect, maintain or restore peace, public health or public safety. The prohibition is in force for as long as the situation that justifies it lasts (art. 7.17).
Employees specifically designated by the municipality may enter any public or private place at any reasonable time, inside or outside the municipality's limits, and stay as long as necessary to carry out a repair or check compliance with the bylaw; they have access to interior shut-off valves inside buildings. They must carry identification issued by the municipality and show it when asked (art. 5.2). Authorized municipal employees may shut off the water supply to make repairs to the distribution network without the municipality being liable for any resulting damage; they must warn affected consumers by any reasonable means, except in an emergency (art. 5.3).
Article 5.4 says the municipality does not guarantee uninterrupted service or a given pressure or flow, and that no one may refuse to pay all or part of a bill because of insufficient water, whatever the cause. Where pressure exceeds 550 kPa, the municipality may require the owner to install a pressure reducer with a gauge, kept in good working order. If water reserves become insufficient, the municipality may take the measures needed to restrict consumption, and may supply buildings it considers priorities before private owners connected to the network.
Article 8.4 sets the fines. For an individual: $250–$500 for a first offence, $500–$1,000 for a first repeat, and $1,000–$2,000 for any further repeat. For a corporation: $400–$800, then $800–$1,500, then $1,500–$3,000. Administration fees are added to the fine in every case, and an offender in a continuing offence is presumed to commit as many offences as there are days it lasts.
The person responsible for applying the bylaw may issue a statement of offence for any offence under it (art. 8.5). A court that sentences an offence may also order the offender to remove the violation within a deadline it sets; failing that, the municipality may do the work at the offender's expense (art. 8.6).
The lawn-watering day depends on the last digit of the address, Monday to Friday (art. 7.3). Manual watering of a garden, planter, tree or shrub is permitted at any time (art. 7.2). Spring cleaning of a driveway with drinking water is authorized only between May 1 and June 15 (art. 7.10). Air conditioning, refrigeration systems and compressors that use drinking water without a recirculation loop, and automatic-flush urinals with a purge tank, installed before the bylaw came into force must be replaced before February 1, 2027 (art. 6.2, 6.8).
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