Ontario introduces tough new Drinking Water Act

By Steve Davey, Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

Vince Nazareth (left) with PWO conference chair, Eldon Wallis from the City of Orillia.

Ontario’s government will introduce legislation with tough new standards to protect the province’s drinking water and it will take immediate action on Justice O’Connor’s recommendations on water source protection.

The announcement was made by Ontario’s Premier Ernie Eves, and Chris Stockwell, Minister of the Environment, on October 29, 2002.

The government has consulted with the public and stakeholders on the proposed components of the Safe Drinking Water Act. More consultations are planned when the bill is sent to committee in the fall. The proposed legislation builds on a private member’s bill introduced by NDP MPP Marilyn Churley.

Highlights of the proposed Safe Drinking Water Act include:

• Mandatory licensing and accreditation of all laboratories that test drinking water;
• New standards for drinking-water treatment, distribution, quality and testing;
• Mandatory certification of all operators of drinking-water Ontario introduces tough new Drinking Water Act systems, including those who have been “grandparented” into the role;
• Mandatory licenses for all municipal owners of drinking-water systems;
• A “standard of care” for municipalities, requiring that they act honestly, competently and with integrity to protect citizens;
• Stronger enforcement and compliance provisions, including a provincial Chief Inspector to oversee inspection policies, training of Ministry inspectors, frequency of inspections and annual reporting.

Tough wastewater regulations are sure to follow the drinking water standards. At the recent Central Region Professional Wastewater Operators’ fall conference in Barrie, Vince Nazareth, of R.V. Anderson & Associates, told delegates that Ontario’s wastewater industry can expect similar measures in the near future. This inevitability, he added, is based on the undeniable fact that water source protection must be part of any safe drinking water strategy.

The Ontario government also announced the first steps of a plan to develop a watershed-based source protection framework in Ontario. Justice O’Connor – in recommendation #68 in Part Two of the Report of the Walkerton Inquiry – said that source protection should be acted upon in legislation other than the Safe Drinking Water Act, specifically by amending the Environmental Protection Act. The government has said that it will follow this advice and will establish an advisory committee to help develop a watershed framework to carry out the recommendations on source-protection planning.

Ontario has already taken action on a number of Justice O’Connor’s key recommendations by introducing the Nutrient Management Act and proposing the new Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act.

The first stage of the Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act would see the government working closely with municipalities to assess the full cost of water and sewage services. During the second stage, the government would continue working with municipalities, which would use the information from the assessments to develop full-cost recovery plans in a way that makes sense for them.

The proposed Safe Drinking Water Act would provide legislative authority to implement 50 of the 93 recommendations made by Commissioner O’Connor in Part Two of the Report of the Walkerton Inquiry. Another 20 Part Two recommendations are underway, with the remaining being addressed or requiring federal involvement and cooperation.

The proposed Safe Drinking Water Act will be posted to the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry at: www.ene.gov.on.ca/envregistry/019012ea.htm (the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry posting number is AA02E0002).