Drinking Water Protection Act

After Ontario’s Walkerton disaster Canadians gained a new appreciation for drinking water safety.  The Drinking Water Protection Act was intended to protect the quality of water delivered to consumers, guaranteeing that problems would be reported promptly and corrective action taken.   The Act is primarily a public health statute, and concentrates more heavily on guaranteeing safe treatment of water than protecting water quality at the source.  Nonetheless, it may be a useful tool for watershed protection advocates in some cases.  The Act is administered by the Ministry of Health Services. 

Water Suppliers

The Act regulates water suppliers – any person who owns a “water system”.  A water system provides water for domestic use, but does not include a system supplying a single family residence with water or a system excluded by the government’s regulations.  Currently the regulations exclude:

·         water systems designed to bottle water,

·         water systems authorized on Crown Land under a permit under the Water Act, and

·         water systems authorized under a Water Licence for conservation, power or storage systems.

The Act imposes a number of specific obligations on water suppliers.  A Water Supplier must:

·         Provide its water users with water that is potable and meets any requirements that the government may require through regulations.   The Regulations set out specific standards that must be met for a number of potential contaminants.

·         Obtain a permit from the government before constructing or altering a water system;

·         Obtain a permit from the government before operating a water system;

·         Have operators who have been certified by the Environmental Operators Certification Program Society;

·         Develop and maintain an emergency plan;

·         Monitor its water on a regular basis; and

·         Report any contamination (as defined in the regulations) or threat to the water system to government employees and, if required by an official known as the drinking water officer, to the public.

Government supervision

The Drinking Water Protection Act creates Drinking Water Officers – government officials responsible for monitoring drinking water quality.  If the government has not otherwise appointed officers, then the Medical Health Officer for an area (appointed under the Health Act) must either serve as the Drinking Water Officer, or appoint someone else to do so. 

Drinking Water Officers have powers to deal with “drinking water health hazards” by:

·         Ordering a person who caused or contributed to the health hazard to take action to investigate, abate and correct the health hazard;

·         Taking action to prevent or abate a health hazard where a person who was ordered to do so failed to do so, or where there is no obvious person who should be required to take action;

·         Conducting an investigation into complaints from any member of the public who believes that their water supply is threatened; and

·         Making a range of possible orders against a person who has not complied with the Act aimed at protecting the public.

In addition to the Drinking Water Officers, the Act requires the Provincial Health Officer (an employee of the Ministry of Health Services) to report annually on the state of drinking water in British Columbia and report to the Minister (and cabinet if the Minister does not correct the problem) about any other situation where government action or inaction “significantly impedes the protection of public health in relation to drinking water.”

Source Protection

When the provincial government unveiled its most recent amendments to the Drinking Water Protection Act it claimed that the Act would protect sources of drinking water.  This had been a strong recommendation of an expert panel appointed by the government. 

The final version of the Act does contain general prohibitions against tampering with water sources.  However, a provision allowing for water planning – that would have provided source protection against pollution caused by forestry, mining, urban development and other types of development – had been watered down.  Now instead of being a key part of the Act, Drinking Water Plans will only be developed as a last resort – where the Provincial Health Officer has said that there is no other practical way to safeguard public health and the Minister decides to order one.  See the Guide Page on Drinking Water Plans for more information. 

Related Guide Pages:

·         Drinking Water Plans

·         Water Quality

For more information about the Drinking Water Protection Act:

·         An electronic copy of the Drinking Water Protection Act. 

·         Drinking Water Program of the Ministry of Health Planning, Public Health Protection.  See especially the Ministry’s Action Plan for Safe Drinking Water in British Columbia.