Dufferin Grove Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)
Water Hardness
Source
lake
pH Level
8.2
neutral = 7.0
Lead
0.004 mg/L
✓ Below action level
TDS
588 mg/L
Est. Daily Cost
$0.63
energy & soap waste
Source: Health Canada Water Quality · Updated 2026
0–60
mg/L
Soft
61–120
mg/L
Moderately Hard
121–180
mg/L
Hard
180+
mg/L
Very Hard
Appliance Damage Report
In Dufferin Grove, your appliances are currently losing 31% efficiency due to mineral buildup.
| Appliance | In Dufferin Grove | Soft Water City | Efficiency Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kettle | 1.8 yrs | 8.5 yrs | -79% |
| Washing Machine | 4.9 yrs | 12 yrs | -59% |
| Water Heater | 6.2 yrs | 15 yrs | -59% |
Regional Water Comparison
How Dufferin Grove compares to its nearest neighbours
| City | Hardness | Mineralization | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▶ Dufferin Grove, Ontario | 235 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Palmerston-Little Italy, Ontario | 238.5 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Little Portugal, Ontario | 236 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-Junction, Ontario | 237.5 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Wychwood, Ontario | 182 mg/L | High | 🔴 Very Hard |
National Benchmark
How Dufferin Grove compares to the Canada average
| Benchmark | Hardness | Appliance Risk |
|---|---|---|
| ▶ Dufferin Grove | 235 mg/L | 🔴 High |
| Canada National Avg | 141 mg/L | 🟠 Moderate |
| Vancouver Top Rated | 3 mg/L | 🟢 None |
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What Makes Dufferin Grove's Water Unique?
Local geology and source profile
Dufferin Grove (a west Toronto neighbourhood between Dufferin Street, College Street, Bloor Street West, and Lansdowne Avenue — anchored by the popular Dufferin Grove Park with its summer farmers market, community pizza oven, and skating rink (one of Toronto's most beloved community parks), a dense urban neighbourhood of Victorian rowhouses, apartment buildings, and long-established Portuguese and West Indian communities, immediately south of the Bloor Street West Portuguese Quarter (Little Portugal) at the Dufferin Street-College Street axis, adjacent to the Dufferin Subway station) receives its drinking water from the City of Toronto, drawing from Lake Ontario via the F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant. Water is treated using ozonation, biofiltration, UV disinfection, and chloramination, meeting all Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (GCDWQ) standards. Hardness is 235 mg/L (13.7 gpg) — classified as very hard by Health Canada, consistent with the standard west Toronto supply.
Dufferin Grove receives F.J. Horgan plant Lake Ontario supply through the west Toronto distribution — the same characteristically very hard Lake Ontario source (dissolved Silurian and Devonian carbonate from the Great Lakes basin) as all Toronto boroughs. The 235 mg/L is consistent with the standard west Toronto supply corridor (Corso Italia-Davenport 237 mg/L from batch 28, Palmerston-Little Italy from batch 28) in the Dufferin-College area.
At 235 mg/L, Dufferin Grove residents face persistent scale challenges — monthly to bimonthly kettle and showerhead descaling is typical. The City of Toronto provides multilingual water quality information at toronto.ca/water. Health Canada lead service line precautionary guidance applies to the neighbourhood's Victorian rowhouse housing stock for pre-1955 properties in the established Dufferin Grove streets.
Geology & Source: Supplied by City of Toronto from Lake Ontario via the F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant — the Dufferin Grove west Toronto distribution zone carries very hard water at 235 mg/L (13.7 gpg), consistent with the standard west Toronto supply corridor.