OCWA utilizes a shared service structure whereby staff and resources are shared among several municipal clients to ensure geographic optimization. OCWA’s typical hub structure provides economies of scale that lessen operation and maintenance costs for client municipalities. Clients also benefit from sharing operations, management and administration staff and specialized support services.
AGENCY OVERVIEW OCWA was established in 1993 as an agency of the Province of Ontario with a mandate to provide water, wastewater and other related services to clients in a manner that protects human health and the environment and encourages the conservation of water resources. The Agency’s core business is the operation and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment facilities and their associated distribution and collection systems on behalf of municipalities, First Nation communities, institutions, and private sector companies. Complementing OCWA’s O&M expertise, the Agency provides a comprehensive range of engineering and other technical and advisory services to water and wastewater system owners.
OCWA has an unmatched ability to deliver excellent compliance and safety performance across diverse regions, technologies and facility sizes, treating water and wastewater for municipalities as large as 1.4 million in the Region of Peel and as small as 2,400 in Moose Factory. Over 90 percent of OCWA employees are directly involved in developing, selling and delivering customer solutions and are among the most knowledgeable and experienced in the water and wastewater industry. Given OCWA’s role as a public Agency, the protection of public health and safety is the Agency’s top priority. The Agency’s speciallyequipped and highly-trained emergency response teams are available 24 hours a day to provide immediate response to water or wastewater emergencies throughout Ontario, providing an essential resource to the Province.
OCWA is the largest operating authority in Ontario, managing close to 800 water and wastewater treatment facilities and associated systems and providing other technical and advisory services on behalf of more than 180 clients. OCWA operates facilities ranging in size from small wells and pumping stations to large-scale urban water and wastewater systems. In addition to operations and maintenance, which is the Agency’s core business, OCWA offers clients a broad array of related functions, including engineering, training and other technical and advisory services such as process optimization, energy management and asset management.
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