Water Initiatives

Learn more about the Town's Water Initiative below!

Blue Community

In December of 2011, the Town of Ajax became the second Blue Community in Ontario and just the fourth in all of Canada. The Blue Communities Project is a joint initiative of the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). A Blue Community is one that seeks to protect the water commons and views all water systems as shared resources that should be kept clean, safe and accessible for all Canadians. The movement is a reaction against increasing pressure to privatize water services in the country.

The Project calls on communities to adopt a water commons framework by adopting three specific actions:

Recognizing water as a human right.
Promoting publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater services.
Banning the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events.

The Town adopted these three actions in the form of resolutions after receiving a letter from 13-year old, Robyn Hamlyn. The motivated young activist has contacted dozens of municipalities across Ontario and is speaking at city council meetings throughout the province about the importance of the Blue Community water initiative.

Reuse, Return, Reduce, Stop and Speak Out

How can you help improve the water quality in Lake Ontario?

Reuse - Rain Barrels
Return - Rain Gardens
Reduce - "Top Ten" Consumer tips for Water Conservation
Stop
Speak out

How You can Help Newsletters

Stormwater management is a science that is continually evolving, and as it evolves, our understanding of watershed management also grows. Effective management of stormwater is critical to the continued health of our creeks, Lake Ontario, fisheries and terrestrial habitats. The Town of Ajax believes that an improved understanding of watershed by residents will encourage proactive steps of change in habits to improve water quality.

The Newsletters listed below are things that everyone can do to help.

Rain Gardens Stormwater Retrofit

In 2011, The Town of Ajax completed a Master Plan Environmental Assessment (EA) for Stormwater Retrofit Study to investigate stormwater management retrofit opportunities and new stormwater management practices. The EA established a list of recommended water quality improvements for sewer sheds in the Town. These recommendations provide a long term strategy, ensuring the Town continues to be an innovative leader committed to introducing new technologies while updating infrastructure and policies to enhance the environment.

The Rain Garden project was a recommendation from the EA. The location for the first phase is on the south side of Lake Driveway from Harwood Avenue to Anstead Crescent within the boulevard and the Ajax Waterfront park. Construction was completed in late fall of 2014. The rain gardens were monitored for two years following construction to measure their effectiveness at providing water quality treatment. The rain gardens were each designed with different substrate materials to compare their levels of effectiveness. All three rain gardens succeeded at improving the water quality discharging to Lake Ontario. The two rain gardens that were constructed with enhanced additives were also very effective at removing Phosphorus, which contributes to algae growth at the waterfront. The full monitoring report is available here:

Rain Garden Monitoring Report

Stormwater Funding Feasibility Study

The Town of Ajax is conducting a study to review and recommend a sustainable and reliable funding source to support the Town’s current and future stormwater management program. Share your ideas, suggestions and opinions online on the IMO Hub here!

Your feedback will be considered in the development of a preferred stormwater funding option that will be presented to Council.