|
|
|
The Yukon government approved a new regulation for large public drinking water systems and bulk water delivery in August 2007.
According to this regulation, the owner of a large public drinking system (any system that has 15 or more connections piped to a distribution system or five or more delivery sites on a trucked distribution system) is responsible for supplying and delivering safe drinking water (water that meets the health-related criteria set out in the Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality) to users.
Operators must obtain a permit from a health officer.
Water systems that obtain water from a surface water source or use well water under the direct influence of surface water must provide treatment consisting of filtration and disinfection.
Owners must ensure that drinking water is monitored for bacteriological, chemical and physical quality as well as for turbidity.
Water testing for large public systems serving less than 500 users, must be done twice a months; for sytems serving 500 to 3,000 users or more, one a week.
Boil water orders are issued by health officers who may give notice of the boil water order or its rescinding or require the owner to give said notice to users.
Transparency
Yukon does not publish its BWAs online.
Municipalities own and are responsible for
municipal drinking water facilities and
their operation. That includes supplying
the public with safe drinking water.
Saskatchewan Environment regulates
municipal waterworks and all privately
owned (publicly accessible) waterworks
that have a flow rate of 18,000 litres or
more per day. There are about 570 public
waterworks across the province serving
850,000 people, 650,000 of them in cities
and larger towns. Saskatchewan
Environment will also regulate certain
pipeline systems.
Saskatchewan Health, through the health
regions, will regulate semi-private
waterworks that have a flow of less than
18,000 litres per day. These include, for
example, on-site water systems serving
restaurants, motels, campgrounds, small
parks, municipal wells with no distribution
system. There are about 1,600 semi-public
waterworks across the province. Smaller
non-municipal pipeline systems (3-14
service connections) will also be regulated
by Health.
About 150,000 people rely on private
waterworks including systems at farms,
rural homes and cottages. Although
private waterworks are not regulated,
health regions will interpret test results.
• About 85% of Saskatchewan residents rely on municipal or communal waterworks for domestic uses.
• About 27% of municipal or communal waterworks use surface water and serve about 57% of Saskatchewan residents.
• About 73% of municipal or communal waterworks use groundwater and serve about 28% of Saskatchewan residents.
• About 15% of Saskatchewan residents (such as farmers, cottage owners, etc.) rely on private or individual works; the sources for these systems are groundwater (wells) or surface water (small reservoirs, dugouts, lakes, etc.)
Water Quality
Saskatchewan’s standards for bacteriological drinking water quality are more stringent than the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.
The number of samples required for bacteriological water quality monitoring of a waterworks is based on the number of people served by the system. See table, Page 4
Transparency
Saskatchewan publishes an Annual on Drinking Water Report. The latest is for 2007-08.
Saskatchewan posts and regularly updates all advisories online. Their Saskh20 website also links to owner/operators'requests for Precautionary Drinking Water Advisories and Emergency Boil Water Orders.
Links
- Drinking Water
- SaskH20
Ontario has stringent, health-based standards for microbiological, chemical and radiological contaminants to protect drinking water quality. As bacterial contamination can pose severe health hazards, Ontario has adopted zero tolerance standards.
Municipal residential drinking water systems supply the homes of more than 80 per cent of Ontarians. Others obtain drinking water from either non-municipal year-round residential systems, seasonal residential systems or small private systems serving five homes or fewer (such as private wells). All these systems come under the Ontario Regulation 170/03.
Ontario Regulation 252/05 regulates drinking water systems serving non-residential and seasonal residential uses until their intended transfer to the public health units.
The Ministry of the Environment oversees the current requirements.
After the proposed transfer of responsibility, public health units will evaluate risks at individual systems and develop a system-specific water protection plan to ensure compliance with provincial drinking water quality standards.
According to the Chief Drinking Water Inspector's 2006-07 Report:
- 99.83 per cent of water quality tests submitted by municipal residential drinking water systems met Ontario drinking water standards. Municipalities conducted more than 520,000 microbiological, chemical and radiological tests.
- 99.49 per cent of water quality tests submitted by systems serving designated facilities met Ontario drinking water standards. Over 102,000 microbiological and chemical tests were conducted at these systems.
Transparency
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has recently integrated all its drinking water information into the Drinking water Ontario website. The re-design might be why adverse drinking water incidents are no longer updated. Ontario no longer posts any information concerning its boil water advisories, neither on its new site nor on the Regional Health Authority sites.
Links
Drinking Water Ontario
Clean Water Act Fact Sheet
New Brunswick public websites offer very little specific information concerning water treatment standards and schedules other than to state that
the Department of Health works in cooperation with
the Department of Environment to regulate public
drinking water supplies.
Public Health Inspectors
monitor the results of water samples taken by
municipalities to ensure the water does not exceed
Health Advisory Limits, a set of bacteriological and
chemical criteria based on the Canadian Drinking
Water Quality Guidelines.
To protect the public from
adverse health consequences, District Medical Officers
of Health may issue ‘Boil Orders’ or ‘Do Not Consume
Orders’ where public supplies fail to meet the Health
Advisory Limits.
According to the Department of Health's 2006-07 Annual Report, 23,100 water tests were monitored and 13 boil water orders were issued in eight New Brunswick communities.
Although statistics on drinking water sources were not found, the extensive information concerning the monitoring and testing of private wells in New Brunswick indicate that there are many in the province.
In 2006-07, the Department of Environment introduced a
one-time free water testing opportunity for private well
owners called “Know Your H20”. The Department of
Health participated in the program by reporting to
homeowners results which exceeded the Guidelines for
Canadian Drinking Water Quality and providing free
follow-up samples. A total of 7,163 private well owners were contacted and 3,434 took advantage of the offer.
Transparency
Boil water advisories are published online.
Public websites offer very little specific information concerning water treatment standards and schedules
Links
Drinking Water Quality
Environment- Water
Regional Health contacts
WEEKENDER Archives
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Ensuring safe drinking water is a considerable challenge, because there are literally
thousands of different water systems in British Columbia—more than 3,000 public and
community water systems under provincial jurisdiction and 468 small First Nations water
systems under federal jurisdiction. While water systems share some common features,
individual water systems are designed in different ways and will face specific issues and
challenges.
Water suppliers have ultimate responsibility for delivering safe water to the consumer.
Their responsibilities are outlined in B.C.’s Safe Drinking Water Regulation.
Local health authorities are responsible for protecting the public from waterborne
illness. At this time 18 regional health authorities in the province—11 regional health
boards and seven community health services societies employ medical health officers, environmental health
officers, and public health engineers to ensure the safety of drinking water.
More than half of the B.C. population get their water from the two largest water systems: the Greater Vancouver Regional District system, which serves 18 municipalities and two million people, and the Capital Regional District on south Vancouver Island, which supplies a population of approximately 310,000. Not surprisingly, most of the
small and medium-sized water systems are found in rural areas of the province.
Most British Columbians get their water from a public system of some type, while the remainder receive water from a private system that serves only one family.
About half of the B.C. population are served by surface water public systems in Vancouver and Victoria. Outside of the Vancouver and Victoria areas, there is roughly an equal split between surface and groundwater systems.
• About three-quarters (76%) of B.C.'s drinking water comes from surface water (lakes, river, streams); the remainder
comes groundwater (wells or springs, fed from underground sources called aquifers).
• Most (84%) British Columbians get their water from a public water system (a system that serves more than one singlefamily
dwelling).
Transparency
With the exception of Interior Health whose water advisories are not database driven and therefore updated quaterly, Regional Health Authorities regularly update and post BWAs online.
Links
Drinking Water Standards and Testing
BC Drinking Water program
There are approximately 400 public water systems in Manitoba, 45% of which rely on surface water as their source of supply, and 55% on groundwater. Approximately 80% of the population of Manitoba are serviced by public water systems. Surface water is the source of drinking water for 85% of public water system customers.
The major population centers of the province rely on surface water sources.
There are a growing number of regional water supply systems servicing rural areas. Semi-public water systems are currently being inventoried. An initial estimate is that there are approximately 1,500 semi-public and 35,000 private water systems in Manitoba.
Water suppliers must collect samples for bacteriological analysis by a certified laboratory . The number of samples required and the frequency of sampling depend on the size of the population being served. For example, public water systems serving less than 5000 people are required to take one raw sample, one treated sample at the water treatment facility and one treated sample from the water distribution system (distribution sample) every two weeks.
Boil Water Advisories are issued for a water system or a water source by a Medical Officer of Health (Manitoba Health) due to a confirmed or suspected bacteriological quality problem. Affected residents and businesses are notified in the event an advisory is issued and provided with instructions on precautionary measures.
Transparency
Manitoba posts its boil water advisories on the Water Stewardship website. Advisories are updated as they happen.
Links
Manitoba Water Stewardship
About half of Nova Scotians rely on surface water for their residential water supply and half on groundwater.
A public drinking water supply is a water works system for the provision of piped water for human consumption where the system has at least 15 service connections or serves 25 or more individuals per day at least 60 days of the year. This includes municipal, commercial, institutional, industrial, and privately owned water supplies (eg. schools, restaurants, nursing homes, campgrounds, parks which are on their own water supply).
The regulations require public drinking water supply owners to test their water supplies on a regular basis, to inform their customers and Nova Scotia Environment if there are problems, and to take corrective action to address any problems which may be identified.
Nova Scotia Environment has been designated as the lead
agency to take such measures as are reasonable to provide access to safe,
adequate and reliable public water supplies.
The Medical Officer of Health (MOH) provides advice to the Minister of Health, the Minister of Environment, the owner and the public regarding public health concerns
associated with drinking water supplies. The MOH may issue orders to protect
public health, including the issuance of boil water advisories.
All water supplied must meet health based Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality published by Health Canada.
Transparency
Nova Scotia publishes its boil water advisories. The site is updated once a week.
Links
Environment - Water
It should be noted that Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in
Canada which has assumed the responsibility for drinking water quality monitoring and
reporting of data to the public. In the eight remaining provinces, this responsibility has been assigned to the municipal governments. In those provinces, the municipal governments are
responsible for drinking water quality monitoring and reporting of the data to the provincial
regulatory agency (Ministry / Department of Environment).
According to the document "Source to Tap" published in 2002, the drinking water quality monitoring program is limited to public water supplies only and currently there is no legislative requirement for the monitoring of institutional, commercial and private
supplies.
Under the partnership arrangement with municipalities, the Department of
Environment is responsible for collecting samples, interpreting data, and providing annual
water quality reports to participating municipalities while the municipalities are responsible to pay for the analysis cost of samples.
Approximately 83% of the province’s population receives water from public sources and 17%
from private sources.
The majority of public water supply sources are surface water (88%)
(ie. lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers and streams) and the remaining are groundwater (12%)
(ie. dug and drilled wells).
Approximately 75% of the public surface water supply sources
are protected and about 3% of the public groundwater supply sources are protected.
Approximately 459,043 (83%) of the total population of the province has access to
public water supplies (serviced) while the remaining 91,193 (17%) use private (unserviced)
water supplies.
There are 794 water systems in the province of which
607 are public systems and 187 are private systems, defined here as unserviced communities
where each household has its own water source.
Transparency
Boil water advisories are regularly posted and updated online with details as to the reason for the advisories.
Links
Drinking Water Safety, 2007 Annual Report
Water Resources Management
Source to Tap
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alberta was the first province to require even stricter rules for drinking water
quality than those outlined in the Health Canada
drinking water guidelines.
Alberta Environment (AENV) is responsible for the Drinking Water and Wastewater Programs for large public systems in Alberta.
Although a new provincial health board, Alberta Health Services Board, has recently replaced Alberta’s nine regional health authority boards, Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) are to this date still responsible for the application of the Public Health Act of Alberta within their Regional boundaries. The role of RHAs in the spirit of the Public Health Act, applies to all drinking water systems, both large and small, and to all aspects of safe drinking water production and delivery, if there is a concern about health impacts or disease transmission.
The system owners / utilities are responsible for meeting AENV’s regulatory requirements and for the production and delivery of safe drinking water to the consumers.
Of all the consumptive uses of water in Alberta, 97.5
per cent comes from surface water and 2.5 per cent
comes from groundwater. The two main surface water
users in Alberta are irrigation (71 per cent) and
commercial/industrial operations (15 per cent).
Municipalities account for five per cent of surface
water consumption. The three main groundwater
users are commercial/industrial (53 per cent),
agricultural operations (25 per cent) and municipalities
(18 per cent).
In Alberta, approximately two million people get their
drinking water from large municipal systems. The
efficiency of larger systems provide a reliable and safe
supply of water at a relatively low expense, because
there are so many users. Approximately 400,000
Albertans get their water from smaller water treatment
plants, which is relatively costly to the operator. The
remaining 600,000 Albertans obtain their water from
private systems such as wells, water co-ops or by
hauling.
Transparency
As do most provinces, Alberta offers a great deal of information online, including direct access to waterworks' testing and reports.
But neither the province nor the Regional Health Authorities post boil water advisories online, with the exception of Chinook Health.
Links
Water For Life
Regulated Drinking Water in Alberta
Regulated Drinking Water in Alberta -List of waterworks
Quebec first introduced binding drinking water standards at the
provincial level with 42 parameters for testing in 1984. Since then, Quebec has increased the number of standards required for monitoring, and some of its standards go beyond those of the Canadian Guidelines. Quebec's approach promotes inter-departmental and watershed management.
According to the Regulation respecting the quality of drinking water the owner/operator of a drinking water distribution system must regularly monitor the quality of the water to ensure that it is fit for consumption and is not a health hazard. If bacteriological analyses of the water reveal the presence of fecal coliform, the owner/operator must immediately notify users that the water is unfit for consumption and should be boiled for at least one minute before drinking.
The Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs (MDDEP) is responsible for the quality of drinking water and the implementation of the drinking water regulation through its seventeen administrative regions.
About 86% of the Quebec population, or 6,5 million people, receives its drinking water from municipal systems.
In 2005, 1,087 residential distribution systems were municipal and 405 were private systems.
Transparency
Boil water advisories are regularly updated and posted online.
There is comprehensive documentation online including lists of waterworks and regulations. Most of it in French only.
Links
MDDEP-Drinking water
Regulation
Water Policy (English)
Although everybody on Prince Edward Island uses groundwater to meet their daily water needs, over half of Islanders (57%, the highest proportion in Canada) depend on private wells for their water supply.
40 per cent have onsite sewage disposal systems for wastewater treatment. A high proportion of drinking water quality problems can be directly related to the condition of wells or onsite sewage disposal systems.
The Water Management Division is responsible for the sustainable management, protection and enhancement of the Province's drinking water, groundwater, inland surface water and coastal estuaries. The division regulates water and sewer infrastructure and assists in the administration of funding that supports this infrastructure. The division provides water testing services (microbiological and chemical) and engineering advisory services to the general public, other provincial departments and agencies, industry and municipalities.
All municipal water supply utilities and privately owned or operated central water supply systems are required to sample their water on a regular basis according to the requirements prescribed in the Drinking Water and Wastewater System Operating Regulations. These regulations specify the both minimum scope and frequency of water testing for water supply facilities based on the system size and characteristics, and also require system operators to report general water quality statistics to customers on an annual basis.
The Drinking Water and Wastewater Facility Operating Regulations, which came into effect January 1, 2005, require that all facilities have certified operators in charge of the operation of water and wastewater systems. As of April 1, 2005, all municipal systems are required to have certified operators, and as of January 1, 2006, all systems serving the public are required to be registered. Also, as of January 1, 2006, systems serving five or more households are required to have certified operators in charge of their systems. The level of certification is based upon the facility classification of the system(s). For an operator to become certified, they must meet certain education and experience requirements and successfully complete an examination (greater than 70%) administered by the department.
Transparency
There is no requirement to publish boil water advisories.
Links
Water Management
Managing Drinking Water
Quality in the Northwest Territories outlines a safe drinking water framework and strategy for the NWT. Published in 2005, the framework proposes a multiple-barrier approach, calling for three major lines of defence to protect drinking
water. keeping NWT Water Clean; making Drinking Water Safe; and proving Drinking Water Is Safe.
There are 34 public water systems in the NWT: 27 of them get water from rivers or lakes, 4 of
them get water from underground wells, 3 of the public water systems in the NWT get water
trucked in from other communities.
Drinking water quality in the Northwest Territories is tested on a regular basis for various parameters. In the NWT the Office of the Chief Medical Health Officer sets the Drinking Water Sampling and Testing Requirements which dictate what parameters should be tested and how often. The testing results are then monitored by the local and regional Environmental Health Officers. When a problem is noted, such as water samples that have been found to be positive for E. coli, the Environmental Health Officer has the authority to provide instructions to the community on how to deal with the problem, such as issuing and rescinding a boil water advisory.
The Northwest Territories has a voluntary water treatment plant operator certification program. Work is on-going to formalize the certification process, and consideration is being given to legislating a mandatory operator certification requirement in the future. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut are the only provinces/territories that do not have a mandatory operator certification requirement at present. Most operators in the Northwest Territories have been trained to the level of the water treatment plant that they are working in, and are considered certified under the voluntary program.
Transparency The Northwest Territories has an excellent searchable database-driven boil water advisory information system. The database is updated regularly and contains information on waterworks and treatments as well as water incidents .The database is a joint project of Stanton Territorial Health Authority and the Government of the NWT departments of Health and Social Services, Municipal and Community Affairs, and Public Works and Services.
Links
Drinking Water Quality, info and database
We were unable to find detailed online information on Nunavut Drinking Water other than the Department of Health and Social Services is responsible for renvironmental health.
According to the 2006 Sierra Legal Report, Waterproof 2, the Chief Medical Health Officer determines
the manner and frequency of sampling
for bacteriological, physical, and chemical
characteristics. The Department of Health and
Social Services issues water sampling protocols.
There is no requirement for individual systems
to provide public reporting and the territorial
government does not produce an annual report.
Online reporting is not available even though a
database is kept. However, there are no regulatory
criteria specifying when boil water alerts should be
issued or the proper notification procedures.
Links
Health and Social Services
More News on main site
| |
|
|
|
