Middlebrook Well, Elora, Ontario.
It was 9 1/2 years ago that Nestlé Waters Canada purchased the Middlebrook property just west of Elora. If granted a permit, they planned on pumping 1.6 million litres of water every day and trucking that water to Aberfoyle for bottling.
It became clear to residents that letting an international water bottler take this precious water to a bottling plant to be put it into plastic bottles made no sense at all. So in 2015 the local community mobilized. We attended public meetings, we tied blue ribbons, we put posters and signs all over town, we spoke to local and international media, marched in parades, and engaged with municipal and provincial politicians and staff in a unified front. We named our citizen group SaveOurWater.ca.
A four-year provincial moratorium on new water-bottling permits gave some time to further build the campaign. The Township now understands it needs more wells to service its future growth than was previously assessed. We cheered when the municipality passed the resolution stating, “Centre Wellington is not a willing host community to any new commercial water bottling operation or the taking of water for that purpose under any circumstances.”
The province funded a study of local groundwater that determined this area to be at ‘Significant Risk’ for future water sources, and passed new legislation into the Ontario Water Resources Act giving local municipalities a veto power over water taking permits for bottling. The veto is limited to volumes over 379,000 litres per day, but Nestlé did not apply for a permit for that amount.
Our community’s tireless effort and teamwork paid off. We had battled our Goliath.
In March 2021, Nestlé sold its North American bottled water brands to two private equity companies who renamed the company BlueTriton.
And now, 3 years later, BlueTriton has made the decision to wind down their Ontario operations in January 2025.
What this means for the Middlebrook property and the well is still not clear.
We’ll keep you informed as things progress. But in the meantime, let’s stay vigilant and hopeful. And let’s remember what we accomplished together, that over the last 9 years of effort not a drop of water has left the Middlebrook well for bottling.
That’s huge. That’s community at its best.
Talk more soon,
SaveOurWater
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