New Hauled Sewage Rate Review
All Niagara Region projects

About the project

A review of the method for calculating hauled sewage rates is complete. The purpose is to ensure that fees are fair and cover the costs of treating hauled waste.

Proposed changes include a new multi-rate structure. This will ensure rate payers and residential customers are not subsidizing high-strength commercial and industrial sewage disposals. This involves setting one fee for high-strength sewage from commercial / industrial users and another for low-strength sewage from residential users.

Niagara Region last updated its hauled sewage rate method in 2007. The current fee is $46 per 1,000 gallons for all sewage types and has been the same since 2022.

The hauled sewage rate is the fee Niagara Region charges sewage haulers to dispose of sewage at Regional wastewater treatment plants. Haulers set their own fees for services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The proposed rates and approach will be posted for comment. After the 30-day comment period, staff will review feedback and make adjustments as needed.

Proposed hauled sewage rate changes

Niagara Region is proposing a different way to determine the hauled sewage rates to reflect the costs of treatment for specific waste types. In general, sewage that costs more to treat will be assigned a higher rate.

The changes will include using two rates. One for high-strength sewage typically from places such as wineries, breweries and food processing and another for low-strength sewage typically from residential sources. These new rates will be calculated using a Weighted Pollutant Concentration Method.

Whether sewage is high or low strength will be based on sample data. The proposed new rate will also cover costs for operating the wastewater treatment plant, equipment maintenance, capital improvement, monitoring, sustainability and growth.

Using the proposed hauled sewage rate, new rates for 2025 would be:

• Low-strength sources: $71 per 1,000 imperial gallons
• High-strength sources: $165 per 1,000 imperial gallons

Proposed hauled sewage rate information

• Why new rates are being proposed

  Niagara Region last updated its hauled sewage rate in 2007, setting a single rate of $40 per 1,000 imperial gallons. The current rate is $46, a 15 per cent increase over 15 years. The previous method didn't include costs for upgrades or capacity.

  The new rates are meant to cover the full cost of treating hauled sewage and to share treatment costs more equitably. This will help shift costs away from residential ratepayers and back to the sewage generators using the facilities.

  The proposed rates are comparable to what other municipalities charge, as shown in Appendix 2 of the Hauled Sewage Rate report.

• Why a two-rate system is being proposed

  The Region receives hauled sewage of different strengths. Businesses often generate high-strength sewage while residential properties are low-strength. Currently, even though high-strength sewage costs more to receive and treat, all sewage generators are paying the same rate.

  A two-rate system will ensure those generating sewage that's more expensive to treat will pay a higher rate, reflecting the actual treatment costs more fairly.

• Residential properties with septic tanks

  The low-strength rate will be applied to residential properties where sewage is generated from typical domestic activities such as bathing, laundry and toilet waste. Random samples of hauled sewage from residential sources are tested. Abnormal sample results will be investigated.

  A typical septic tank at a residential property is about 1,000 imperial gallons and should be cleaned out every three to five years. Currently, the rate is $46 per 1,000 imperial gallons. Using the current rate, the fee charged by the Region to dispose of the contents of a typical septic tank would be $46. The recommended rate for 2025 is $71, meaning the fee charged by the Region for an average septic cleanout would change to $71.

  The hauled sewage rate is the fee Niagara Region charges a sewage hauler to dispose of sewage at a Regional wastewater treatment plant. Haulers set their own service fees which would be part of the overall cost to the customer.

• Commercial and industrial properties generating sewage

  High-strength sewage is sewage that has a biochemical oxygen demand greater than 10,000 milligrams per litre.

  When sewage haulers deliver loads to a Niagara Region hauled sewage disposal site, they provide a sample of the contents. If a business is already registered with the Region, past sample results will decide if they are a high or low-strength sewage source.

  For new sewage generators, samples will be tested before approval of the source to determine if the sewage is high or low strength.

  All samples are tested by an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory.

• Typical high-strength sewage sources

  Sewage from wineries, breweries, abattoirs, distilleries, food processing and dairy farms are typically high-strength. This information is in Appendix 1 of the Hauled Sewage Rate report.

• Options if your sewage is considered high-strength

  Commercial and industrial properties can consider pre-treatment to lower the strength of the sewage before it's hauled. If pre-treatment is installed, new samples can be tested and the rate will be updated based on those results.

Information for sewage haulers

• Determining if your customer is a high or low-strength sewage generator

  Niagara Region will provide this information online in the approved sewage generator lookup tool. Haulers can search for a sewage generator by address using this tool.

  If it is an approved sewage generator, it will show if the sewage is high-strength or low-strength.

  If the sewage generator is not approved, a sewage generator application will need to be completed. As part of the approval process, they will be assigned as high-strength or low-strength.

  Sewage haulers can also email Environmental Enforcement or call 905-980-6000 for inquiries.

• The Weighted Pollutant Concentration Method explained

  The Weighted Pollutant Concentration Method shows how much it costs to remove various types of pollutants from wastewater and determines what it costs to treat an "average" sample of hauled sewage. In simple terms, the operational and maintenance costs are based on the amounts of treatable pollutants in the hauled sewage.

  This method determines the average concentration of pollutants in regular wastewater and weighs each pollutant to determine the cost per kilogram to treat them. This cost is then applied to the average pollutant loading in hauled sewage to determine a treatment cost.

  The average strength of various hauled sewage sources is based on a three-year historical average of laboratory results from collected samples. The data used for this method is credible, with testing done by an accredited lab using thousands of samples from sewage haulers. This ensures the data accurately reflects overall pollutant concentrations.

  This method only includes treatment costs at facilities receiving hauled sewage and does not exclude costs from other wastewater facilities or sewage collection systems. This ensures the rate charged reflects the true cost of hauled sewage acceptance and disposal.

  Average three-year pollutant concentrations (milligrams per litre)

  Pollutant	Regular wastewater	Hauled sewage sources - low concentration	Hauled sewage sources - high concentration
  Biochemical oxygen demand	189	4,125 22 times higher	18,761 99 times higher
  Total suspended solids	252	9,003 36 times higher	14,258 57 times higher
  Total phosphorus	29	64 2 times higher	80 3 times higher
  Total kjeldahl nitrogen	17	491 28 times higher	30 2 times higher
  Total	487	13,683 28 times higher	33,128 68 times higher

Project timeline