Forest Hill North 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
594.2 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 Forest Hill North, your appliances are currently losing 31% efficiency due to mineral buildup.
| Appliance | In Forest Hill North | 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 Forest Hill North compares to its nearest neighbours
| City | Hardness | Mineralization | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ▶ Forest Hill North, Ontario | 236 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Humewood-Cedarvale, Ontario | 236 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Forest Hill South, Ontario | 239.5 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Englemount-Lawrence, Ontario | 238.5 mg/L | Very High | 🔴 Very Hard |
| Oakwood Village, Ontario | 185.5 mg/L | High | 🔴 Very Hard |
National Benchmark
How Forest Hill North compares to the Canada average
| Benchmark | Hardness | Appliance Risk |
|---|---|---|
| ▶ Forest Hill North | 236 mg/L | 🔴 High |
| Canada National Avg | 141 mg/L | 🟠 Moderate |
| Vancouver Top Rated | 3 mg/L | 🟢 None |
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What Makes Forest Hill North's Water Unique?
Local geology and source profile
Forest Hill North (the northern part of the Forest Hill neighbourhood in midtown Toronto — above the Allen Expressway and north of St. Clair West, a prosperous residential enclave of large detached homes on the Bathurst-Eglinton plateau, historically an independent village and now one of Toronto's most affluent neighbourhoods, home to the Forest Hill Village BIA, the prestigious Upper Canada College and Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, and the established Jewish-Canadian community that settled Forest Hill from the 1920s through the 1960s, giving this neighbourhood a distinct cultural and institutional character centred on the Beth Tzedec, Beth Emeth, and other Forest Hill synagogues) 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 236 mg/L (13.8 gpg) — classified as very hard by Health Canada, consistent with the midtown Toronto supply.
Forest Hill North receives F.J. Horgan plant Lake Ontario supply through the midtown 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 236 mg/L is consistent with the adjacent Humewood-Cedarvale (236 mg/L from batch 27) and Forest Heights (236 mg/L from reference data) in the Bathurst–Allen midtown Toronto distribution corridor.
At 236 mg/L, Forest Hill North residents face persistent scale challenges in the neighbourhood's large detached heritage homes — 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 1920s–1950s large detached housing stock, where original lead service connections may exist in the older Forest Hill North streets.
Geology & Source: Supplied by City of Toronto from Lake Ontario via the F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant — the Forest Hill North midtown Toronto distribution zone carries very hard water at 236 mg/L (13.8 gpg), consistent with the Bathurst–Allen midtown supply corridor.