HUB Billing & Payment Options

An average household that annually consumes 200 cubic metres of water will pay an additional $77.65 per year or $6.47 each month.

See below how Hamilton’s water and wastewater/stormwater rates compare to other municipalities in Ontario.

Learn more about water rates at hamilton.ca/WaterRates

Water and wastewater budgets contain fixed costs. These costs do not change based on water consumption. The cost to distribute, collect and treat municipal water and wastewater throughout the City remains relatively constant, regardless of the water used by all residents. Capital renewal and expansion of the City’s overall water/wastewater/storm infrastructure is the largest portion of your bill because it has a replacement value of $10.1 billion. Aging City infrastructure becomes more costly to operate, maintain and replace. Nearly 20% of our city’s water and sewer mains are more than 80 years old.

It is not unusual for a wastewater/stormwater bill to be higher than the corresponding water bill across the country. As environmental regulations have become stricter over the past few decades, the costs of treating wastewater and managing stormwater to required levels have risen substantially.

Wastewater/stormwater charges are higher than water costs for many reasons:

• The cost of wastewater line maintenance and construction due to the differences between the systems for water distribution and wastewater collection. Drinking water flows through pressurized pipelines. It can move uphill and downhill, meaning that we construct water pipelines at minimum depth below the ground surface, often above the rock layers. Wastewater must flow by gravity – downhill the whole way. In rolling terrain, sewer lines must sometimes be built deep beneath the ground, well into hard rock. Trench excavation – especially in rock - is the largest part of the cost of building a pipeline. The deeper the pipe, the higher the cost of construction.
• The sizes of drinking water distribution and wastewater collection systems also affect costs. Like many other municipalities, Hamilton serves more of its citizens with public drinking water than with sewer service. Many water customers are on septic tanks instead of sewers. The water utility has a larger customer base to support its operating costs, lowering individual customers’ costs. 
• The complexity of wastewater treatment has increased dramatically over the years. Over the last couple of decades, treatment has evolved to include sophisticated biological systems for removing organic materials, complicated filters and modern disinfection methods. The water released by the treatment facility has become increasingly cleaner. The advanced systems are costly to build and operate, increasing the overall cost of wastewater treatment, in most cases.

The City is responsible for the water service line between your property line and the municipal water main. It is sometimes necessary to connect homes and businesses to a bypass system to ensure uninterrupted municipal water delivery during a watermain repair or replacement when the municipal water main is frozen or for other operational reasons.

The bypass system typically consists of connecting your outdoor water faucet to a hose specially designed to carry potable drinking water. It is essential not to disconnect or turn off your outdoor faucet while this bypass system is in place.

While connected to the bypass system, your water use will not be metered. Your water consumption for billing purposes will be based on your average daily consumption during the same period last year.

Once the construction work is completed, the bypass system will be discontinued so that your water service will be restored, allowing your water consumption to be once more metered. Your billing will return to be based on your measured water consumption now.

Yes, the Ontario Government funds the Home Hemodialysis Utility Grant program. If you are on home hemodialysis, the first step is to contact the Home Dialysis Coordinator in your Regional Renal Program for more information on how to enroll for this Grant.

Private Fire Protection is an added fire protection system to the public fire protection system available. The public systems are public fire hydrants and supporting infrastructures.

Private and public fire protection systems rely on the public water system for their water supply. They include booster pumps, sprinkler systems, private fire hydrants, and related fire suppression equipment. These all use the public water system to protect and suppress fires.

The Private Fire Protection Charge is a charge from the City of Hamilton. It only applies to customers that have private fire protection systems that use the public water system. The charge is for the fire water service line systems that do not have a meter.

The people who use the City of Hamilton water supply pay for a share of the public fire protection systems throughout the entire water systems. The most visible part of the fire protection system is the street fire hydrant. Fire hydrants have a complex system of pumps, pipes, and water reservoirs that create the water pressure needed. The fee pays for the maintenance required to ensure enough treated water for everyone and public fire protection systems to use. It makes sure water mains, booster pumps, and storage facilities are the proper sizes.

Customers have a public fire protection system for their fire protection needs without the cost. But, if a customer requires more fire protection for their property that uses an unmetered public water supply line, they must pay for it. The charge makes sure that users pay for their share of the system that supports their private fire protection systems.

The most common method of charging for a private fire service is to base the charge on the size of the customer’s unmetered fire service connection. The serving size is the amount of the City’s water supply available if there’s a fire. The City developed a fixed charge (sewer surcharge is not applied) for having an unmetered private fire service line. The bills combine the fixed charges and service lines that provide water. The City used the American Water Works Association (AWWA) factor table to develop the rates for fire lines based on service line diameter. The City also reviewed private fire line rates in other cities to find an appropriate rate.

The City sets the rate based on the size of the unmetered fire service line for the property, according to the current rate schedule The City Council approved the following rates (effective January 1, 2026)

The current fixed charges for metered water lines (effective January 1, 2026) are more significant than the fees for an unmetered fire line.

Yes, many North American municipalities have private fire protection fees. Some areas need meters on all water service lines (including dedicated private fire line services). When there is a metered line, there are no extra fees than those measured.

Whether you use your fire protection system or not, it does not determine the fees. The presence of an unmetered water service line for fire protection is what determines the price. To not be charged, the service must be fully disconnected from the City’s water main.

A public or private fire protection system supplied by the public water supply must be ready 24/7. The necessary pumps, pipes, back-up power supplies, and storage facilities must be in place to provide water on an immediate basis. Over time the City has had to oversize servicing to properties with private fire protection systems. Public and private system owners must pay for the city’s maintenance for their fire protection lines.

A Private Fire Protection system is present if there are sprinklers, private fire hydrants, booster pumps, or more. The water supplied to the Private Fire Protection system may come from a separate water line that is not metered. This line is only for the fire protection/suppression system (known as a fire line).

The supply for fire protection may also be from a water line that supplies both the domestic needs of the business and the fire protection needs. This is called a combined fire line, and the City requires a meter on these lines.

The private fire protection fees go towards the City’s Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Rate budget.

Provincial legislation requires municipal water and sewage systems to be sustainable. It must balance the protection and health of the citizens and the environment. The City’s Rate budget must be self-sufficient. The water and wastewater user fees the City collects must fund and support the city’s water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. The rate budget does not receive any property tax funding.

Industrial, commercial, and institutional (IC&I) customers get this permit when they exceed treatable parameters. The City’s Sewer use By-law No. 14-090 (By-law), as amended, to establish the parameters we use. The City’s wastewater treatment plant can treat the following: Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Suspended Solids, Total Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Oil & Grease (animal/vegetable).

The Overstrength Treatment Charge is from the City of Hamilton. It applies to customers that got issued an Overstrength Discharge Permit. It helps the City of Hamilton recover the costs of conveyance, treatment, and sewage monitoring that exceeds the limits.

The formula used to determine overstrength treatment charge follows:
Treatment Charge payable per parameter = concentration - Sewer Use By-law limit × quantity of discharge × overstrength discharge fee for the parameter.

Upon applying for a Sewer Discharge Permit, the customer can choose one of the following options:

• Average - the City calculates the average concentration for each parameter based on two weeks’ worth of sampling and analysis data.
• Actual - the applicant provides actual and ongoing sampling and analysis data for each parameter when the permit is in effect and at a specified frequency.

City of Hamilton staff will then conduct audit samples. The City’s Environmental Laboratory analyzes these samples to determine compliance with the permit and whether the billing concentration outlined in the permit is valid.

When you apply for a Sewer Discharge Permit, you can choose one of the following options:

• You install a flow measuring device to measure and report the quantity of discharge to a sewer works
• Water consumption records

The By-law that the City Council approved established the City of Hamilton’s Water and Wastewater/Stormwater fees. And each treatable parameter develops the Overstrength Discharge fee.

Surcharge Discharge Permit (formerly Sanitary Sewer Surcharge Agreements) allows the City of Hamilton to charge sewer users directly to treat wastewater discharge. This charge is for water that does not originate from the City’s potable water supply, for example, water from Lake Ontario.

The Surcharge Treatment Charge is a charge from the City of Hamilton that applies to customers with a Surcharge Discharge Permit. It allows the City of Hamilton a mechanism to recover the costs of conveyance, treatment, and monitoring of sewage that the customer did not initially purchase from the City of Hamilton’s water supply.

For example, an IC&I customer could take water from Lake Ontario or a well system and discharge this water as sewage to the City’s sewer system. Additionally, a customer could extract water during the manufacturing process and discharge it into the City’s sewer system.

The formula used to determine surcharge discharge fees is as follows:

Discharge fee payable = quantity of discharge × wastewater/storm treatment charge (as set by the City annually in the Water and Wastewater/Storm Fees By-law).

When applying for a Sewer Discharge Permit, you can choose one of the following options to measure the quantity:

• You can install a flow measuring device to measure the quantity of discharge to a sewer works.
• You pay for a Water Balance Study that can be conducted when installing a flow measuring device is not possible. The Water Balance Study report shall:
  1.  Cover a minimum period of five calendar days over a minimum of three separate occasions and include at least one balance showing seasonal variation or shutdowns
  2. Record all water originating from the City’s potable water supply (if applicable)
  3. Measure all water originating from a source other than the City’s potable water supply, which will be discharged from the premises to a sewer works
  4. Be completed and certified by a qualified professional engineer, licensed in the Province of Ontario
  5. Be submitted with this Application Form

The City of Hamilton’s Water & Wastewater/Stormwater Fees By-law as approved by City Council, establishes the wastewater variable rate which forms the basis for the Surcharge Treatment fee.

Contact the City of Hamilton Environment Enforcement Officer with any questions regarding Overstrength or Surcharge Treatment charges. The contact information is on the charges detail worksheet that HUB includes with the sewer discharge permit invoices quarterly.