The Cleaner, Greener, More Affordable Water Cooler for Montréal

The island city of Montréal has always had an abundance of water. In fact, early Mohawk inhabitants called the island “a place where nations and rivers unite and divide”. In the past, the region teemed with bodies of water, including Otter Lake, Saint Pierre River, Little St. Pierre River, and the Saint Martin River. In the 16th century, European settlers established a fur trading post on the island, at the junction of Petite Riviere and St. Lawrence River. However, as the population grew, the city met challenges in maintaining Montréal water quality. In the mid-1840s, they began pumping water from St. Lawrence into cisterns. “Fontainiers” handled water distribution, opening and closing water valves across the city.

Today, much of the former bodies of water that surrounded the city have dried up. Montréal still has a large network of rivers, ponds, and artificial lakes. Montréal water flows beneath the city in underground networks. As Michèle Dagenais describes in Montréal, City of Water, “The water is very much there, under the concrete and asphalt.” Montreal water supply comes from lac Saint-Louis, lac des Deux-Montagnes, Rivière des Prairies and the St. Lawrence River. Montréal water treatment is handled at 1 of 6 facilities: Atwater, Charles-J.-Des Baillets, Dorval, Lachine, Pierrefonds, and Pointe-Claire. Montréal drinking water may appear white, gray, yellow, brown, or orange in colour. Heavy rainfall can cause household sewage to mix with street rainwater, which impacts Montréal water quality. Although water treatment can reverse the damage, the city of Montréal warns that work operations, breakages, and defective equipment can contaminate Montréal water.