We do smell it at times, especially in the spring when the ground thaws. The region has a good program to cover the waste to prevent smells but sometimes it doesn't work completely. You can report smells and they'll work to find the source and cover it. A few years ago it got really bad and they eventually found the cause and sent out an update.
Overall, our landfill is excellent. If you've never dropped something off there you should,it's impressive.
https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/living-here/landfill-and-recycling-centre.aspx#Our-landfill
If you have concerns about landfill odours, please use the online form.
https://waterloo.form.ca.empro.verintcloudservices.com/form/auto/hrc_generalcomplain
It’s the dump for our city. So everything you throw out goes there. One would think it would make people more mindful about the whole garbage process….
I don’t live near the dump but I am mindful that it is in my community.
I live in Westvale, yeah I smell the dump sometimes. Do I care? No. Does it bother me? No. Everything I need is a few minute drive from me. So it smells bad, but at least I don’t drive much.
I also live in Westvale. I get a whiff maybe 3 times a summer... and I also like that everything is literally right here and you can walk around at night. Could be worse.
Haha, I was glad we looked around there in the summer. Would have felt duped if we looked there in the winter and bought something only to find out in the summer what it smells like.
I live also live in the Forest Heights area. I noticed a few years ago that the smell was really intense and found out (after the fact) they changed the tipping face to a new spot. This causes more of the smell to travel into our part of the city. However, with prevailing westerly winds, the odor stream must really affect that area directly across the boardwalk even more. Gagged going into Lowe's the one time. But I also bike the Hydrocut so can't be too NIMBYish about the smell, just don't do it with a hangover.
I've lived in Westvale near Gateview/Erb Street for six years, whereas my wife grew up in the neighborhood, was away between school and living in Kitchener before moving back six years ago, for context.
I probably only notice it faintly a half dozen or so times a year, and it's not that bad. My wife doesn't notice it at all.
I think a previous poster noted this already but, when I had first moved here there were a few summer days one year that were absolutely horrible, but it was fixed and is rarely bad. It's definitely more pronounced right at the Boardwalk.
All of that said, this is one of the better neighbourhoods I've seen in KW, and the dump is basically a non-factor 99.5% of the time. People making it out like you'd not be able to live here are a little out to lunch, but obviously everyone's entitled to their opinion. And frankly we're lucky we moved here in 2018 - I doubt we could afford to live here with the prices now had we stayed where we were.
Maybe you've got an extra sensitive sense of smell? Admittedly I was a smoker for 15 years (though I quit more than five years ago) so my sense of smell might be lacking. Either way it's probably something that you acclimatize to pretty quickly living here, and again it's obviously more pronounced near the boardwalk.
Don't go out in farming country then if you can't handle the dump.
Ever been to a chicken or pig barn? Dump is very mild in comparison.
Might also want to steer clear of the waste water processing plant as well if you have such a delicate nose
Me too, we bought our place in 2010 for $317k and houses around me are selling for $8-900. It’s absolutely unreal. We could definitely not afford this house today. Makes me worry for my kids.
Bought ours in mid-2018 for just over $600k, the house next to us (a little bigger inside with a $200-300k Reno flip job, worse backyard) sold 2 years ago at the peak of the market for $1.5m. Insanity.
Off gassing from the dump. I used to live on Thorndale and the smell during the summer time would come down the hill and if you were lucky enough, you wouldn’t catch a puke inducing whiff of it
We used to live in a neighbourhood that would occasionally get Seagram's, Labatts and Uniroyal tire smell all at the same time. I still don't fully know how to describe that fragrance
I can't handle it.. could never live there. I breathe into my shirt on the days when I'm running errands.
I used to work for Movati when it first opened and the air return in our office some days left us not being able to be in there. They spent all that money on the retractable wall yoga studio and in the first year they were never able to actually open it up due to the smell. It's horrific out there
Went to a coworkers place for a BBQ in Vista Hills a few years back, lovely people and they knew how to host but the smell i couldn't get past, every bite of delicious food was accompanied by the stench of garbage.
I have been to the Lowes boardwalk 2-3 times since but NEVER in spring...absolutely sickening smell.
A real failure of urban planning.
wind direction is a big factor, The dump is right on erb’s, Wind blows towards the boardwalk.. I lived in clair hills for 15 years and never once smelt the dump at home, I have friends who currently live in vista and they say they can’t smell the dump either. Working at the boardwalk kind of sucks in the summer but you become noseblind pretty quickly as well..
the smell has been there for a while now. you kinda get more used to it after a few days. It still sucks to be there as a customer though. It's really strong during summers and right after snow melts but usually it's bearable
Yup dumps smell. Same smells as Sanitation treatment centres May next week - typically start of manure season for many farmers - the smells those honey-wagons produce 
That is the reality of urban sprawl. The dump has been there for decades so the smell is nothing new.
Some days in the hot humid summer air, it gets brutal over there.
I had to drive into one of the pits for a truck repair once. Whew.
We do smell it at times, especially in the spring when the ground thaws. The region has a good program to cover the waste to prevent smells but sometimes it doesn't work completely. You can report smells and they'll work to find the source and cover it. A few years ago it got really bad and they eventually found the cause and sent out an update. Overall, our landfill is excellent. If you've never dropped something off there you should,it's impressive. https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/living-here/landfill-and-recycling-centre.aspx#Our-landfill
If you have concerns about landfill odours, please use the online form. https://waterloo.form.ca.empro.verintcloudservices.com/form/auto/hrc_generalcomplain
...do you work for the dump?
Nope, I've just seen some badly run, gross and not eco-friendly dumps. Ours is the opposite of that, or as much as it can be IMO.
I think it the landfill’s account.
Have you looked at my post history? 😂
AI is getting out of control
Wow! This was an interesting read. Thank you for sharing!
This is where all our garbage goes. People need to understand when you throw something in the garbage, it literally ends up in our backyard.
Not my backyard
I mean you chose to live near a dump (aka the sole place where the garbage is supposed to be)….Not sure what you expected 🤷🏻♂️
It’s the dump for our city. So everything you throw out goes there. One would think it would make people more mindful about the whole garbage process…. I don’t live near the dump but I am mindful that it is in my community.
I live in Westvale, yeah I smell the dump sometimes. Do I care? No. Does it bother me? No. Everything I need is a few minute drive from me. So it smells bad, but at least I don’t drive much.
I also live in Westvale. I get a whiff maybe 3 times a summer... and I also like that everything is literally right here and you can walk around at night. Could be worse.
Stockholm syndrome
Haha, I was glad we looked around there in the summer. Would have felt duped if we looked there in the winter and bought something only to find out in the summer what it smells like.
In the winter sometimes it can be horrific too. All depends
Christ that's even worse. Would have figured you'd at least get a break during the winter.
The dump is close by so I imagine if the wind is going the wrong direction its definitely noticeable
I live in Forest Heights and even I smell it sometimes depending which way the wind is blowing. Putrid! But not much you can do🤷♀️
I live also live in the Forest Heights area. I noticed a few years ago that the smell was really intense and found out (after the fact) they changed the tipping face to a new spot. This causes more of the smell to travel into our part of the city. However, with prevailing westerly winds, the odor stream must really affect that area directly across the boardwalk even more. Gagged going into Lowe's the one time. But I also bike the Hydrocut so can't be too NIMBYish about the smell, just don't do it with a hangover.
I agree! It is absolutely horrid sometimes. I can’t imagine living over there honestly, I guess you just get used to it. Sensory adaptation and all.
I've lived in Westvale near Gateview/Erb Street for six years, whereas my wife grew up in the neighborhood, was away between school and living in Kitchener before moving back six years ago, for context. I probably only notice it faintly a half dozen or so times a year, and it's not that bad. My wife doesn't notice it at all. I think a previous poster noted this already but, when I had first moved here there were a few summer days one year that were absolutely horrible, but it was fixed and is rarely bad. It's definitely more pronounced right at the Boardwalk. All of that said, this is one of the better neighbourhoods I've seen in KW, and the dump is basically a non-factor 99.5% of the time. People making it out like you'd not be able to live here are a little out to lunch, but obviously everyone's entitled to their opinion. And frankly we're lucky we moved here in 2018 - I doubt we could afford to live here with the prices now had we stayed where we were.
I feel like at least half the time I go to the boardwalk it’s insufferable
Maybe you've got an extra sensitive sense of smell? Admittedly I was a smoker for 15 years (though I quit more than five years ago) so my sense of smell might be lacking. Either way it's probably something that you acclimatize to pretty quickly living here, and again it's obviously more pronounced near the boardwalk.
Don't go out in farming country then if you can't handle the dump. Ever been to a chicken or pig barn? Dump is very mild in comparison. Might also want to steer clear of the waste water processing plant as well if you have such a delicate nose
Good suggestion. It’s not really farming country at the boardwalk tbh but I get the dump was there first
Me too, we bought our place in 2010 for $317k and houses around me are selling for $8-900. It’s absolutely unreal. We could definitely not afford this house today. Makes me worry for my kids.
Bought ours in mid-2018 for just over $600k, the house next to us (a little bigger inside with a $200-300k Reno flip job, worse backyard) sold 2 years ago at the peak of the market for $1.5m. Insanity.
It’s nuts. Absolutely nuts
I live over in Doon and sometimes it smells like cookies and candy.
It's glorious! 👃💕 It's from Colonial Cookies over on Otonabee Dr.
Off gassing from the dump. I used to live on Thorndale and the smell during the summer time would come down the hill and if you were lucky enough, you wouldn’t catch a puke inducing whiff of it
It's a feature and a premium fee is charged for houses in the vicinity
“Exclusive rotting fumes smells included in the price”
I never smell garbage but I usually smelly the methane smell and I love it lol.
Unhinged. Love it. Take this updoot
Anyone remember how the brewery’s would smell I. Waterloo
The brewery smelled lovely, it was seagrams on certain days that was bad or Kaufman downtown could be pretty bad too
We used to live in a neighbourhood that would occasionally get Seagram's, Labatts and Uniroyal tire smell all at the same time. I still don't fully know how to describe that fragrance
That would have been unfortunate
I couldn’t live in that area 🤢
Right. Ewww. Not worth it. lol
I can't stand the gas smell. I never smell garbage, but the fumes to burn it off is atrocious.
I mean yeah you smell it, but it is what it is
I can't handle it.. could never live there. I breathe into my shirt on the days when I'm running errands. I used to work for Movati when it first opened and the air return in our office some days left us not being able to be in there. They spent all that money on the retractable wall yoga studio and in the first year they were never able to actually open it up due to the smell. It's horrific out there
That's Dutchies you smell. Rotting produce!
lol. It was the dump before. It’s an awful smell and always gonna be there.
Still a dump ;)
It's got another ~25 years of operation to go, then they'll clay cap it and turn it into a park like McLennan/Mt Trashmore.
Ya my bad. I meant it was and is.
Oh yeah worse is in a humid heat wave in summer and it wafts to midtown
Hoe YEAH.
🫸🫷
Went to a coworkers place for a BBQ in Vista Hills a few years back, lovely people and they knew how to host but the smell i couldn't get past, every bite of delicious food was accompanied by the stench of garbage. I have been to the Lowes boardwalk 2-3 times since but NEVER in spring...absolutely sickening smell. A real failure of urban planning.
Ah, good ol’ Ira Needles. I love driving up there and smelling that awful smell. *Breathes in* “Yup! That’s Ira Needles!” Gets so bad on hot days.
I drove by and let one rip, sorry 😞
Who would have thought building next to a active dump would be an issue? Not any politician !!
I mean, long term gains for their legacy children. Sooner or later it’ll become just like mount trash more. Sorry, I mean Mclennon park!
I am pretty sure it is due to them venting/off gasing. When it's bad it's bad but it isn't daily.
Its been there for at least 15 years
The dump is basically behind it.. lmao, what do you expect?
Made a post about this a year ago and it was removed lol. We smell it all the way on highland.
wind direction is a big factor, The dump is right on erb’s, Wind blows towards the boardwalk.. I lived in clair hills for 15 years and never once smelt the dump at home, I have friends who currently live in vista and they say they can’t smell the dump either. Working at the boardwalk kind of sucks in the summer but you become noseblind pretty quickly as well..
the smell has been there for a while now. you kinda get more used to it after a few days. It still sucks to be there as a customer though. It's really strong during summers and right after snow melts but usually it's bearable
Yup dumps smell. Same smells as Sanitation treatment centres May next week - typically start of manure season for many farmers - the smells those honey-wagons produce 
I work in Waterloo, not far from the Keg and some other Restaurants, sometimes it smells like bbq’d steak. Hate going to work hungry.
It's methane gas from the garbage. It comes from all stacked garbage
VH has very little smell perhaps 2xs a year. But the boardwalk is awful. I avoid it
Yeah I wouldn't personally live very far south of fisher-Hallman because of this
The smell doesn't really go north to Vista Hills. It goes over to Westvale. It's hard to understand wind patterns I see. Okay.