How Langley's water and sewer work

Turn on a tap in Langley and the water most likely started out in Coquitlam Lake, up in the mountains north of the Fraser. Flush, and it heads into Metro Vancouver’s regional sewer system, which treats it and releases it to the Fraser River. A few corners of the Township do things differently, with wells on one end and septic tanks on the other.

Where the water comes from

Metro Vancouver runs the regional system, the Greater Vancouver Water District. It draws from three protected mountain watersheds, Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam, covering about 60,000 hectares and fed by rain and snowmelt. Capilano and Seymour water is filtered and treated with UV light at the Seymour Capilano Filtration Plant. Coquitlam water is clearer, so it gets ozone and UV at the Coquitlam Water Treatment Plant, with chlorine added as a backup disinfectant.

It moves through more than 520 kilometres of regional mains to each municipality, which delivers it to your door.

Both Langleys name Coquitlam Lake as their source. The City notes the water reaches it through underground pipes that cross the Fraser River. The City’s main reservoir, at 200A Street and 47A Avenue, holds 22.7 million litres. In the Township, regional water flows to the Jericho Reservoir in Willoughby and out through roughly 605 kilometres of Township mains.

The Township’s wells

The Township tops up the regional supply with eight municipal groundwater wells: six in Aldergrove and two in Acadia. Aldergrove and Gloucester get a blend of regional water and well water. Aldergrove’s groundwater is naturally high in iron, manganese and nitrate, so it’s blended, filtered and treated at the Aldergrove Water Treatment Plant first. In 2025 the wells supplied about 1,030 million litres, or 5.5% of the Township’s 18,528 million litres.

Homes outside the Township system use private or community wells. The Township’s free Private Well Network offers members discounted water testing. One shallow aquifer the Township tracks, Hopington AB, supplies residents around Salmon River and rises and falls with the rain.

Where it goes after the drain

Sewage runs through local pipes (the Township alone has 34 sewer lift stations) into Metro Vancouver’s regional system. Metro Vancouver’s Fraser Sewerage Area is served by two plants, Annacis Island and Northwest Langley. Both use secondary (biological) treatment and release the treated water into the lower Fraser River.

The Northwest Langley plant is in the Township and serves about 30,000 people in Langley today. Metro Vancouver is rebuilding it on the same site to serve 280,000 people, including Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, with a new outfall to the Fraser and tertiary filtration down the road. The project documents don’t give a finish date. We couldn’t find an official page saying where the rest of Langley’s sewage is treated, or which neighbourhoods drain to which plant, so ask your municipality if you need it for your address.

The City’s sewer bylaw sends all its sanitary flows to the regional system and doesn’t allow septic tanks. Some Township properties are on septic instead (the Township’s utility FAQ notes they get no sewer charge). Under the provincial Sewerage System Regulation, only authorized people build or service those systems, and the owner has to keep theirs maintained.

Summer watering rules

Metro Vancouver’s Drinking Water Conservation Plan has four stages. Stage 1 switches on by itself every May 1 and runs to October 15. The water district’s commissioner can call Stages 2 and 3 in hot, dry spells, and Stage 4 in emergencies.

Under Stage 1, homes water lawns one morning a week: even addresses on Saturday, odd on Sunday. Automatic sprinklers run 5 to 7 am, and manual watering is 6 to 9 am. Trees, shrubs and flowers can be hand watered or drip-irrigated any time, and vegetable gardens are always fair game.

2026 never made it to Stage 1. With the snowpack at 44% of normal on May 1, Stage 2 started that same day and banned lawn watering outright. Stage 3 followed in early June, adding limits on sprinklers, car washing and filling pools. Everything ended on October 15.

Each municipality enforces the rules through its own bylaw (Township Bylaw No. 5321, City Bylaw No. 3037). In 2026 the Township warned of $250 fines per offence under Stage 2 and $350 under Stage 3, with each day counting separately. The Township issues new-lawn permits good for 21 days (renewable once, with a fee) and free permits for treating chafer beetles with nematodes. The City charges $50 for a new-lawn permit and doesn’t issue any permits at Stage 2 or above. The Township’s bylaw covers only properties on the municipal system; private wells fall under the Province, though the Township asks well owners to follow the rules anyway.

How you pay for it

Township. Since 2025 water, sewer and garbage come on their own utility statement, not your tax notice. Most homes pay a flat annual rate. For 2026 a single-family home pays $779.96 for water and $716.47 for sewer; a condo or townhouse pays $667.22 and $609.00. A secondary suite adds 30%. The 2026 flat-rate bill was due July 2, with a 10% penalty after that, and anything still unpaid on December 31 moves onto your property taxes.

Homes in the voluntary metering program pay by use instead: water is $0.98 per cubic metre for the first 500 a year and $1.28 after that. Sewer is charged on 80% of the water you use. A meter 25 mm or smaller also carries a $476 annual infrastructure charge each for water and sewer, split over three bills a year. On a well or septic, you simply don’t see that charge.

City. Almost every property is metered. Residential meters are read once a year in March and the charge lands on your June property tax notice, with sewer billed on 80% of water use. Bigger users get a bill every two months, with a 10% discount for paying on time. Current rates are on the City’s Utilities page.

More: your property tax bill, line by line, garbage, organics and recycling and City vs. Township.

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