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Gatineau runs four drinking water plants: Aylmer, Hull, Gatineau and Buckingham, which also serves Masson-Angers. The City's most recent published hardness results are one sample of distributed water per sector, taken in September 2023: 32 mg/L in Aylmer, 45 mg/L in Hull, 40 mg/L in the Gatineau sector and 40 mg/L in Buckingham and Masson-Angers. That is soft water, well under the 60 mg/L line. In Gatineau, scale builds slowly, and grease, detergent residue and odours are a bigger worry than limescale.
Data last reviewed October 17, 2026.
In other units
Source: Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Aylmer sector, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for: September 2023, one sample of distributed water. Checked October 17, 2026.
In other units
Source: Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Hull sector, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for: September 2023, one sample of distributed water. Checked October 17, 2026.
In other units
Source: Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Gatineau sector, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for: September 2023, one sample of distributed water. Checked October 17, 2026.
In other units
Source: Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Buckingham and Masson-Angers sectors, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for: September 2023, one sample of distributed water. Checked October 17, 2026.
Scale builds slowly with soft water. Odours, grease and detergent residue are the bigger issue, so clean the dishwasher and the washer about every two weeks.
Dissolves grease, detergent residue and limescale buildup, and removes odour-causing buildup.
Clears grease, limescale and odour buildup
Breaks down residue and odour-causing buildup inside your washer.
Removes odour and buildup from the drum and hoses
We use the U.S. Geological Survey scale, in mg/L as CaCO₃.
Utilities usually report hardness in mg/L as calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), which is the same as ppm. Dishwasher and softener manuals often use grains per gallon or German degrees instead. Here is how they convert:
No. The Ville de Gatineau's 2023 sector analyses measured 32 to 45 mg/L of total hardness, which is soft water. Water only counts as moderately hard above 60 mg/L.
Hull, at 45 mg/L in the 2023 sample, followed by the Gatineau sector and Buckingham at 40 mg/L and Aylmer at 32 mg/L. The gap is small: all four sectors have soft water.
Less often than in harder-water cities. Scale builds slowly with soft water. Grease, detergent residue and odours build up in dishwashers and washers whatever your water, so cleaning the dishwasher and the washer about every two weeks still makes sense.
They are the most recent hardness results the City publishes. Its annual reports on the drinking water plants for later years cover the regulated parameters and do not include hardness. We will update this page when the City publishes newer figures.
Aylmer sector (Aylmer plant): 1.9 grains per US gallon, or 2.2 grains per imperial gallon. Hull sector (Hull plant): 2.6 grains per US gallon, or 3.2 grains per imperial gallon. Gatineau sector (Gatineau plant): 2.3 grains per US gallon, or 2.8 grains per imperial gallon. Buckingham and Masson-Angers sectors (Buckingham plant): 2.3 grains per US gallon, or 2.8 grains per imperial gallon.
Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Aylmer sector, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for September 2023, one sample of distributed water. Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Hull sector, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for September 2023, one sample of distributed water. Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Gatineau sector, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for September 2023, one sample of distributed water. Ville de Gatineau, Drinking water analyses, Buckingham and Masson-Angers sectors, 2023 (PDF, in French). Data for September 2023, one sample of distributed water. We update this page when a new report comes out.
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