Source Water Protection

The Municipality of Thames Centre owns and operates two municipal drinking water systems which are supplied by groundwater wells. Our systems produce safe, high quality drinking water for the communities of Dorchester and Thorndale.

As a result, much of our community depends on groundwater for its drinking water; however, groundwater is susceptible to contamination from activities occurring on the surface. Contaminants can end up sinking into the ground and impacting the groundwater supply.

Groundwater contamination can occur from:

• leaking fuel tanks
• overuse of fertilizers and pesticides
• manure application
• chemical leaks and spills
• poorly maintained septic systems 
• wells

If groundwater becomes contaminated it will create long-term issues that are costly to fix. To ensure drinking water is safe and clean it is important to prevent contamination at the source. Source water protection is the first step to protect existing and future sources of drinking water.