Ontario is proposing to make…

Ontario is proposing to make residential foundation drainage systems exempt from requiring a PTTW for water taking of up to 379,000 litres of water per day. For water taking of more than 379,000 litres of water per day from residential foundation drainage systems, a PTTW will still be required.

This proposal is welcomed, as the current 50,000 L/day limit for foundation drainage is quite small, forcing many residential buildings to have to obtain a PTTW. These PTTWs then become the responsibility of the building owners, which in the case of residential condominium buildings, is the Condominium Corporation, who typically have limited understanding of hydrogeology and Ministry permitting processes.

For consistency with other aspects of the regulation, the limit should be 400,000 L/day, as it is with current EASR limits and the existing Category 2/Category 3 PTTW transition.

Many (if not most) multi-storey residential towers are being built with 1 to 3 floors of commercial space on the lower floors. These residential mixed-use buildings should not be excluded from the proposed exemption to obtain a PTTW.