Water supply systems typically have intake, treatment, storage, and distribution components. There are many different treatment types, depending on the characteristics of the source water. Likewise, the storage and distribution systems vary greatly between municipalities, depending on the unique characteristics of each city or town. Rural residents usually have individual groundwater supplies. Wells must be carefully prepared and maintained to prevent pollution.
Water is delivered by trucks to several regions of Canada.
In the Far North, water may have to be trucked to homes that do not have conventional water supplies because the ground is frozen. Water is also delivered by truck in some rural areas of the east and in the Prairies where shallow wells go dry. Where there are piped systems in the North, the pipes are often buried very deep, up to 3 or 4 metres, to get below the worst of the frost, and are insulated to prevent the water from freezing. In permafrost areas, the heat lost from even insulated underground pipes would melt the permafrost and cause the ground to cave in. These are heated, insulated, metal or wood-clad enclosures that are generally installed on piles or blocking.