Drinking Water Quality
Drinking Water Reports and Publications
Reports
How Safe is Your Water? (PDF 4.4M)
Drinking Water and Those with Weakened Immune Systems (2009)
The above link to the HealthLink BC file is suggested messaging that should be communicated by drinking water officers and health authorities to people who have weakened immune systems. It provides information on who should be concerned and what can be done to help prevent water-borne infections.
Drinking Water
Officer's Guide (Updated 2007) (PDF 602K)
This document was developed to promote effective, consistent and transparent administration of the Drinking Water Protection Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulation across British Columbia. It is intended to provide policy and procedural guidance to public health officials who are responsible for the implementation of this act.
Interim Best Practices on Requests for Investigation of a Drinking Water Threat under the Drinking Water Protection Act (2008) (PDF 56K)
Under section 29 of the Drinking Water Protection Act, if a person considers that there is a threat to his/her drinking water, the person may request the drinking water officer to investigate the matter. This document is a draft addendum proposed for the Drinking Water Officer Guide, outlining best practices in such investigations.
These best practices provide interim guidance for the public and drinking water officers regarding the process. They will be fine-tuned to ensure that they meet the needs of the public, health authorities and the ministry, before formally becoming incorporated into the Drinking Water Officer Guide in 2010. At that time, they must be considered by drinking water officers in the course of their work.
Decision Tree for Responding to a Turbidity Event in Unfiltered Drinking Water (2009) (PDF 215K)
This document was developed to promote a standardized, consistent approach to determining when it is appropriate for a boil water notice to be issued by drinking water suppliers in response to a turbidity event. It is intended to provide policy and procedural guidance to public health officials who are responsible for the implementation of the Drinking Water Protection Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulation across British Columbia.
Provincial Health Officer's Report, Progress on the Action Plan for Safe Drinking Water in British Columbia (2007) (PDF 2.2M)
This report provides a progress report on the Action Plan for Safe Drinking Water in British Columbia for 2003/2004 and 2004/2005, and considers the status of drinking water protection since the implementation of the Drinking Water Protection Act..
Provincial Health Officer's Report, Drinking Water Quality in British Columbia: The Public Health Perspective (2000) (PDF 1.2M)
Safe drinking water is essential for human health and survival. It is used for human consumption, food preparation, or other normal household purposes. Safe drinking water is water that is safe to drink and fit for household use without further treatment.
Action Plan for Safe Drinking Water in British Columbia (2002) (PDF 972K)
The provincial government is committed to ensuring safe, reliable and accessible drinking water for all British Columbians. To that end, the government has developed an action plan to safeguard the quality of drinking water throughout the province.
Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Inter-Agency Accountability and Coordination on Drinking Water Protection (2006) (PDF 365K)
This MOU establishes accountability requirements of signatory ministries for the coordination of source protection land use planning and infrastructure. The MOU establishes guiding principles, commits to the establishment of regional drinking water teams and regional protocols concerning drinking water protection.
Ombudsman's Office Special Report, Fit to Drink: Challenges in Providing Safe Drinking Water in British Columbia (2008) (PDF 11.8M)
In November 2007, the Ombudsman initiated an investigation into the fairness and adequacy of public advisory and complaints processes regarding drinking water safety, with a particular focus on small water systems. The resulting report demonstrated that more action was required to ensure that the direction, legislation and process delivered the desired results. The eight public authorities involved accepted all the recommendations resulting from this investigation.
Panel Review of B.C.'s Drinking Water Protection Act (2002) (PDF 197K)
The ministers of the former Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection and Ministry of Health (currently named the Ministries of Environment and Healthy Living and Sport) established an independent review panel in September 2001 to review the Drinking Water Protection Act, passed in April 2001. The Drinking Water Review Panel completed its mandate by preparing an interim report in December 2001 and this final report.
British Columbia Auditor General's Report, Protecting Drinking
Water Sources (1999) (PDF 3.7M)
The water systems in Vancouver and Victoria draw from watersheds that they control and are able to protect from uses that might threaten water quality. This is not so for most other communities across British Columbia. The purpose of this audit is to look at the government’s protection of drinking water sources for these other communities.
Publications
Living Water Smart
Living Water Smart is the provincial government's vision and plan to keep our water healthy and secure for the future. Through this plan, the B.C. government commits to new actions and targets — and builds on existing efforts to protect and keep our water safe.
Safe
Water: Supply Vital to Your Health (PDF 229K)
This publication covers choosing a water source, groundwater systems, surface water systems, testing water and solving water quality problems.
Emergency Response Planning for Small Waterworks Systems (PDF 311K)
The Drinking Water Protection Act requires all purveyors of small water systems to have an emergency response plan in case of a threat to public health. This handbook will assist operators of small waterworks systems in developing their own emergency response plan to help protect water system users in the event of an emergency.
Flooding and Your Health
What you can do before, during and after a flood with respect to drinking water safety.
Flood Preparation and Well Disinfection Fact Sheets
Preparing your well for a potential flooding event helps to protect your water supply, as well as others who use the same aquifer. This site includes three factsheets:
Well Protection Toolkit Files
The toolkit is a set of guidelines for the six-step approach to how a community can develop and put into place a well protection plan to prevent contamination of its well water supply. The toolkit contains seven booklets that discuss these six steps. It includes an example of how each step is implemented in the fictitious community of Pumphandle, British Columbia.
Drinking
Water Source-to-Tap Screening Tool (PDF 392K)
In 2004, the Province developed the self-screening tool for use as a secondary method for assessing risk in drinking water systems.
This survey is to be completed by the water purveyor (on a voluntary basis or as required by the local drinking water officer) and submitted to the drinking water officer, who evaluates the results. If significant risks are identified, the drinking water officer can determine if a water supplier needs to undertake a comprehensive source-to-tap assessment to further analyze the risks.
The Comprehensive Drinking Water Source-to-Tap Assessment Guideline modules can be found on the Source-to-Tap website.
Comprehensive Drinking Water Source-to-Tap Assessment Guideline (2010)
In addition to fulfilling a regulatory requirement, the updated Comprehensive Drinking Water Source-to-Tap Assessment Guideline serves as a tool for water systems to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the risks to drinking water safety and availability, how to operate more effectively, and how to ensure the best possible water quality and assured quantity.
Application of "Point of Entry" and "Point of Use" Water Treatment Technology In British Columbia (Main Report) (PDF 2.7M)
This report outlines research and application of “point of use” and “point of entry” water treatment systems as an option for consideration in the provision of potable water by small water systems. It is intended as a resource and source document for use in the development of more audience-specific information on the topic. A guide for water suppliers is under development.
Application of "Point of Entry" and "Point of Use" Water Treatment Technology In British Columbia (Appendices and References) (PDF 569K)
Fact Sheets
Groundwater Quality Fact Sheets
The seven fact sheets on this website provide general information on total and fecal coliform bacteria; nitrate; arsenic; fluoride; sodium; iron and manganese; and hardness and their main occurrence in the province. The fact sheets are listed separately below:
Top