Ontario confirms bottled water companies to pay more as of August 1.
The provincial government has confirmed that as of August 1, companies that bottle and sell water in Ontario will pay more to take water.
The fee will go from just $3.71 for every million litres of groundwater taken to $503.71.
Companies that take more than 50,000 litres of water a day must apply for a permit to take water.
The higher fee will go to recover costs associated with managing the industry, the province said in a release Thursday.
The money collected will also go towards scientific research on environmental impacts and creating better data analysis on groundwater taken for water bottling.
"This increased fee, along with the other measures we’ve taken, will help increase groundwater protection and scientific understanding of how to best manage this vital resource," Minister of Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray said in a release.
A moratorium has been placed on new or expanding water takings by bottling companies and will remain in effect until Jan. 1, 2019.