The Village of Vars is in the eastern portion of the City of Ottawa, and two wells serve a population of approximately 800. The system draws drinking water from the Vars-Winchester esker, a geological unit that was formed when glaciers last retreated from the area around 10,000 years ago. A wellhead protection area (WHPA) is the area around a well where land use activities have the potential to affect the quality of water that flows into the well. The size and shape of a WHPA is determined by the amount of water being pumped and the direction and speed at which the groundwater travels through the aquifer (in this case, the esker) to get to the well. Drinking water can be influenced by many things that we do in the environment and in Vars it could potentially be impacted by waste disposal, sewage, agriculture, pesticides, salt, snow, fuel and chemicals.

To learn more about the WHPA for the Village of Vars, please click here.

For more information on Source Protection for municipal drinking water, please visit: http://yourdrinkingwater.ca/