Sewer Surcharge Rebate Program

Qualification Criteria: - Applicant Type: Open to Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) water customers located in the City of Toronto. - Diversion Threshold: The amount of water not returned to the sewer must meet specific percentage-based thresholds relative to total annual consumption (e.g., for users consuming >15,000 m³, the sanitary contribution must be $\leq 90\%$). - Compliance: The business must be in good standing with Revenue Services and in full compliance with the City’s Sewers By-law. - Excluded Water: Drinking water discharged to storm/combined sewers, used for outdoor irrigation, or transported off-site is not eligible. - Professional Requirement: All applications must be stamped and certified by an independent licensed Professional Engineer of Ontario. Qualifying Projects: - Product Water Content: Water used as an ingredient in manufactured goods (e.g., beverages, food products, concrete). - Evaporative Loss: Water lost through evaporation in cooling towers or boilers (e.g., in large HVAC systems or industrial steam processes). - On-site Consumption: Other industrial processes where water is diverted from the sanitary system (requires detailed engineering calculations or sub-metering). - Waste Reduction: Initiatives that demonstrably reduce the volume of water returned to the municipal sanitary system through on-site use or processing. Additional Details: - Rebate Calculation: The rebate applies to the sewer surcharge portion of the water rate (which is approximately 57% of the total water rate). - Multi-year Option: Clients who have been approved for three consecutive years with minimal deviation in water use $(\leq 10\%)$ may opt-in to a tri-annual verification process to reduce engineering report costs. - Retroactive Status: If a Letter of Intent (LOI) is submitted first, the rebate is retroactive to the date the LOI was received, provided the full application is submitted within nine months. - Annual Deadline: To continue receiving the rebate, a renewal application must be submitted by February 1 of each following year. - Engineering Report: Requires a comprehensive report including process flow diagrams, sub-meter readings, and at least three separate periods of study to show seasonal variations.