Toronto — Public health units in Ontario will take over responsibility for monitoring drinking-water safety at places such as churches, campgrounds, gas stations and community halls under legislative changes announced Tuesday.
Current testing requirements, which many smaller operators of non-residential systems complained were too expensive and unnecessary, are also being changed to ease the burden.
The existing rules were implemented in the aftermath of the tainted-water tragedy in Walkerton, Ont., five years ago that killed seven people and sickened 2,500 others.
The aim is to ensure water safety “without requiring unnecessary tests and treatment systems,” the government said in a release.
“The old regulation was a sad attempt to quickly fix years of neglect,” Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky said in a statement. “By not consulting with stakeholders, the new rules often made things worse, especially in small communities.”
It would be up to health units to assess the safety of the water supply and develop specific plans for each site based on the risks of contamination.
This would apply to all drinking-water systems serving non-residential and seasonal uses.
Health units would be able to recover their costs by charging inspection fees, most likely between $250 and $375 a year.
The proposed rules under the province's Safe Drinking Water Act include basic requirements for testing, reporting and taking corrective action.
Under the new rules, only microbiological testing would be required and owners would not have to install costly treatment equipment if their water is deemed to be safe.
If the water is found to contain bacteria, owners and municipalities would still be required to report the results to the local health unit and the ministry and take necessary remedial action.
In addition, small municipalities would be allowed to post warning signs instead of testing water at venues such as community halls and baseball diamonds.
In all these cases, municipalities would no longer have to report annually to consumers about the quality of the drinking water.
The Environment Ministry will continue to regulate the systems until oversight responsibilities are transferred to public health officials, expected in the fall of 2006.
