Water & Wastewater
Oxford County owns and is responsible for the management, maintenance, and long-term capital planning for the County's water and wastewater systems. Oxford County operates all Water Treatment facilities and Wastewater Treatment Plants. The City of Woodstock and the Town of Tillsonburg operate portions of the water distribution and wastewater collection systems. Oxford County operates and maintains the water distribution and wastewater collection system in the remaining Area Municipalities and select portions of the City of Woodstock and Town of Tillsonburg systems.
If you have questions about water quality or meter issues, please contact your billing agent as shown on your utility bill. For after-hour emergency calls, find the numbers for your area listed on the Billing page.
Questions? Contact Public Works at 1-800-755-0394 from Monday to Friday, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm.
What's new
The 2024 Annual Water System Performance Summary Reports are now online. Oxford County treated and supplied approximately 10.9 million cubic metres of clean, safe and reliable drinking water to 21 communities through 17 municipal drinking water systems last year.
At the time of the February 26 report to County Council, results were available for nine of Oxford’s municipal drinking water system inspections completed by Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Eight systems received a 100% inspection rating (Beachville, Brownsville, Embro, Hickson, Lakeside, Mount Elgin, Tavistock and Thamesford) and one system received a 92% rating (Innerkip). The remaining system inspection report ratings were either not available at the time of the Council report or the inspection had not yet been carried out.
See the 2024 drinking water system annual reports online here.
The Water Capacity Buy-Back Program offers financial incentives to businesses to reduce water consumption and contribute to sustainable water management. The buy-back program includes incentives of up to 50% of the total project cost for water-conscious upgrades and retrofits to businesses in Oxford County. More
New water and wastewater rates for 2025 are in effect beginning January 1, 2025. Rates are set during the annual budget process and vary depending on where you live in Oxford County and the needs of your community. Learn more
Oxford County Council approved the Water Financial Plan for 2024-2030 on August 14, 2024. The plan is a requirement by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for the issue or renewal of municipal drinking water licenses under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002.
Oxford County operates an amalgamated water system that serves 21 communities with approximately 36,762 connections across four groupings: Woodstock, Tillsonburg, Ingersoll and Townships. The Water Financial Plan provides the financial projections that illustrate the sustainability of Oxford's water systems, including operational forecasts, capital investment strategies and debt management.
Read the 2024 Water Financial Plan.
The 2023 Annual Wastewater System Performance Reports and the 2023 Annual Biosolids Summary Report are now available online. The County’s nine wastewater treatment plants demonstrated continued exceptional performance in 2023. Based on approximately 4,829 effluent samples collected and analyzed in 2023, three of the County’s nine municipal wastewater treatment plants achieved 100% compliance ratings, with the remaining six receiving the following: Thamesford 99%, Tillsonburg 98%, Woodstock 98%, Norwich 96%, Plattsville 96% and Drumbo 93%.
Read the 2023 Annual Wastewater System Performance Reports and 2023 Annual Biosolids Summary Report
The 2024 Water and Wastewater Master Plan is now online in the Reports and publications section of the website.
The plan sets out Oxford County's long-term water and wastewater approach to managing current servicing needs as well as accommodating future projected population and employment growth to the year of 2046.
Public participation and feedback played an important part in identifying the servicing needs and priorities of communities throughout Oxford County. Thank you to everyone who took part!
- Oxford County Administration Building
- Oxford County Library branches (all 14 branches)
- Oxford County Waste Management Facility
- Township of South-West Oxford office
- Town of Tillsonburg office
- Township of Zorra office
Oxford County's online calculator lets you estimate the monthly and annual water bill for someone living in your community. Try the calculator here
Before you dig, you must contact On 1 Call for all water and sewer locates. On 1 Call offers a free, 24/7 locate service both online or by calling 1-800-400-2255.