Durham Works

Plan your route online with Traffic Watch

Want to check your route for major traffic issues before hitting the road? Durham Region’s Traffic Watch map is a live, interactive tool that shows issues that may affect your travel throughout Durham Region.

Traffic Watch is a useful tool for residents who are looking to find better routes around Durham by avoiding traffic disruptions. Images from traffic cameras are updated every minute, giving users an almost real-time view of traffic flow.

Traffic Watch merges information from the Region,...

Detecting costly toilet leaks

The leaks in your home that have the potential towaste the most waterare often the most difficult to detect. That’s why it isn’t unusual for a leaking toilet to result in awater billas high as $1,000!

The most common toilet leak is caused by a worn-out flapper valve. The best way to detect toilet leaks is to order the Works Department’s dye test strips to place in your toilet tank. Once you have put a dye strip in the tank, wait a few minutes. If the dye appears in the toilet bowl, you have a...

Why does the Region charge for disposal at our Waste Management Facilities?

We encourage residents to take advantage of thevarious types of curbside collection the Region offers, which are funded by your annual property taxes. In addition to garbage, green bin and blue box collection in most municipalities, collection also includes a full suite of curbside services for scrap metal, large appliances, waste electronics, porcelain (such as toilets), yard waste, Christmas trees andbatteries.

User fees collected at ourwaste management facilitieshelp fund the cost of...

Use salt responsibly to protect drinking water sources

Salt is necessary to prevent slippery conditions, but using it improperly can harm ourdrinking water sources. Too much salt can run off into water sources, affecting ourdrinking water quality.

Follow these strategies for the proper use of salt:

• Shovel as soon as possible during or after a snowfall to prevent ice from developing.
• Redirect downspouts away from walkways and driveways to prevent ice and runoff.
• Store snow so that it will not run across paved surfaces towards catchbasins or ditches.
• Use...

Five recycling mistakes you can avoid

1. Take-out coffee cups

Coffee cups don’t belong in the blue box. The plastic lining that prevents them from leaking also makes them unsuitable for recycling.

2. Plastic bags

Durham Region doesn’t accept plastic bags. Residents are advised instead to return them to retailers participating in the Plastic Bag Take-Back program.

3. Soiled cardboard

Paperboard and cardboard containers or packaging that have been soiled with food should be thrown in the green bin rather than the blue box. Contaminated paper...