May 31 to September 30, every year
Waterloo Region watering restrictions
Two rules decide when you can water in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge: the last digit of your address picks the day, and 5:30–10 a.m. and 7–11 p.m. picks the hours. Most people know the first one and get caught by the second.
Published August 2, 2026 · Plain-language summary of By-law 07-069
Start here
Find your watering days
The by-law works off the last digit of your municipal address. Type your house number and you will get the weekday your lawn is allowed and the calendar dates everything else is allowed.
This tool reads the schedule in sections 3, 4, 8, and 9 of the by-law. It does not account for a permit that moves your lawn day, and it does not tell you whether the clock is currently inside a permitted window.
Two separate rules
Lawns get a weekday, everything else gets a date
Lawn watering runs once a week on an assigned weekday (s.3). Everything else runs on odd or even calendar dates matched to your address (s.4, s.8, s.9). They are different schedules and they rarely land on the same day.
| Address ends in | Lawn day |
|---|---|
| 0 or 1 | Mondays |
| 2 or 3 | Tuesdays |
| 4 or 5 | Wednesdays |
| 6 or 7 | Thursdays |
| 8 or 9 | Fridays |
On odd or even dates instead
- Gardens, flowers, trees, and shrubs
- Washing a vehicle with a hose
- Topping up a permanent swimming pool
Odd-numbered addresses use odd-numbered dates, even use even. One quirk worth knowing: because the rule is date parity rather than every-other-day, the 31st of a month followed by the 1st of the next gives odd addresses two permitted days in a row.
The part people miss
The right day is not enough
Every scheduled use is confined to 5:30–10 a.m. and 7–11 p.m.. That applies to lawns, gardens, car washing, and pool top-ups alike. Watering the lawn at two in the afternoon on your assigned Wednesday is still outside the by-law, and the hours exist because midday watering loses much of the water to evaporation before it reaches the roots.
No day, no window
What you can do any time
Watering cans and buckets
A hand-held watering can or bucket can be filled from your tap or a rain barrel at any time. No assigned day, no time window.
Washing a car with a bucket
The Region is explicit about this one: if you are washing your vehicle with a bucket of water, you can wash it at any time. The schedule in s.8 applies to hoses.
Kids in the sprinkler
Children's recreation is permitted, and so are splash pads.
Filling a new pool
A complete fill after installation or repair is unrestricted. Only top-ups follow the alternate-day schedule.
Anything from a rain barrel
Harvested rainwater was never produced or distributed by the Region, so the by-law's definition of water in s.1(i) does not reach it.
Off the table all season
What no day permits
Hosing down the driveway
Cleaning a driveway, a walkway, or the exterior of a building with water is prohibited under s.7, and irrigating one is prohibited under s.10(b). The Region does allow a wash immediately before applying paint or a treatment. Routine or weekly washing is not allowed.
Watering while it rains
s.10(a). The sprinkler running through a downpour is the one the neighbours report.
A fountain that does not recirculate
Decorative fountains have to recycle the water they use (s.10(c)).
Wasting water outdoors
s.10(d) is the catch-all, and it holds on every day of the season regardless of your house number.
The driveway question
Washing your car
With a hose, s.8 puts you on the same odd/even schedule as your garden, within 5:30–10 a.m. and 7–11 p.m.. Odd address, odd date. Even address, even date.
With a bucket, there is no restriction. The Region’s own guidance says so directly: if you are washing your vehicle with a bucket of water, you can wash it at any time. The definitions in s.1 are what make that work — the schedule bites on a “watering device”, and that term expressly excludes a hand-held container.
Rinsing the driveway afterwards is not allowed. s.7 and s.10(b) rule out washing or irrigating a driveway or walkway for the whole season.
Running a charity car wash? Tell the Region first, on 519-575-4400 ext. 3445.
When you need more
Permits
- 1
New sod or seed
A 14-day permit, $10, one per property per calendar year. The by-law separately allows unrestricted watering for the first 24 hours after planting, provided the Region's prescribed sign showing the planting date is posted at the entrance to the property (s.5(a)).
- 2
Nematode application
A 7-day permit, $10, for applying beneficial nematodes to a lawn.
- 3
A different lawn day
Under s.22 a registered owner can apply to move their assigned weekday. The permit expires September 30 and has to be posted where it is visible from an entrance.
If things get tight
Emergency restrictions
The Region's Commissioner can declare water-supply emergency restrictions on an Ontario Low Water Response Level III condition, urban storage below 60 per cent, or settlement-system pumping above 90 per cent of capacity (s.11, s.12).
- Lawn watering stops entirely, new sod included (s.15).
- Gardens, trees, and shrubs may only be watered with a hand-held container (s.16).
- Washing a vehicle is prohibited outright. s.19 says “clean with water”, not “clean with a watering device”, so the bucket route closes too.
- Pools, hot tubs, ponds, and fountains cannot be filled or cleaned (s.20, s.21).
Notice goes out by newspaper, radio or television, delivery to affected homes, or any other means likely to reach the people affected (s.13).
Where bin cleaning fits
What about washing your carts?
Honestly: the by-law does not mention it. Lawns, gardens, building exteriors, driveways, walkways, vehicles, and pool top-ups are each named. Wheeled carts are not. The general duties in s.10 still apply — nothing gets hosed down a driveway, and no water gets wasted outdoors.
The by-law does not list cart washing among the activities it covers. Washing a car is the closest thing it does list, so that is the standard Bin Heroes holds itself to.
From May 31 to September 30, while the Region's Water Conservation By-law is in force, the crew fills buckets from your outdoor tap, disconnects, and runs the pressure washer off the buckets. Nothing stays connected to the municipal supply while the bins are washed.
Wash water goes onto grass or a garden bed. It does not run down the driveway and it does not head for a storm drain. A whole bin takes 3 to 6 litres, rinse and tidy-up included. A running garden hose gets through that much in well under a minute.
None of this changes your booking. Because the wash runs off buckets, your house number and the date on the calendar do not decide when the crew can come.
Quick answers
Common questions
When are Waterloo Region's watering restrictions in effect?
The Region's Water Conservation By-law runs from May 31 to September 30 every year. Outside those dates outdoor watering is unrestricted unless the Region declares emergency water-use restrictions.
What hours can I water my lawn in Waterloo Region?
Watering is permitted 5:30–10 a.m. and 7–11 p.m. on your assigned day. The hours apply on top of the day rule, not instead of it, so having the right day is not enough on its own.
Which day can I water my lawn?
One weekday, set by the last digit of your municipal address. Addresses ending 0 or 1 water Mondays, 2 or 3 Tuesdays, 4 or 5 Wednesdays, 6 or 7 Thursdays, and 8 or 9 Fridays.
Can I wash my car during the watering restrictions?
Yes. With a hose, wash on odd-numbered calendar dates if your address ends in an odd number and even-numbered dates if it ends in an even number, within the permitted hours. With a bucket you can wash at any time — the Region's guidance is explicit that the schedule applies to hoses.
What is the fine for breaking the watering by-law?
Up to $5,000 per offence, exclusive of costs, under the Provincial Offences Act. By-law officers and police can both lay charges.
Check the official source
Straight from the Region
Bin Heroes is an independent cleaning service, not the Region. This page is a plain-language summary of By-law 07-069, as amended by By-law 10-020. The Region of Waterloo is the authority on what is permitted, and the by-law text governs. Questions go to watercycle@regionofwaterloo.ca or 519-575-4400 ext. 3445. The extension is staffed May through September.