B.C. needs safer drinking water, ombudsman says

Last Updated: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:16 PM ET, The Canadian Press

British Columbia's ombudsman is calling on the provincial government and health authorities to take major steps to improve drinking water safety.

Kim Carter released her report on Wednesday based on an investigation that began last fall after her office received complaints about drinking water quality from across the province.

The investigation found deficiencies in sampling, inspections and enforcement of B.C.'s five-year-old drinking water laws and regulations.

As of May 2008, Carter said there were 528 boil water advisories in effect in the province, 49 water quality advisories and a provincewide advisory for people with weakened or compromised immune systems.

Among her 39 recommendations, Carter asked that B.C.'s five regional health authorities, with the support of the Health Ministry, commit to reducing the number of boil water advisories by 10 per cent every year.

She also recommended that by next June the Health Ministry reassess whether to adopt additional mandatory drinking water standards similar to those in effect in Nova Scotia, Alberta and Ontario, where eight years ago water tainted with E. coli in the town of Walkerton killed seven and sickened thousands.

OMBUDSMAN RECOMMENDS IMPROVEMENTS TO DRINKING WATER SAFETY

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
PR08-001
June 18, 2008
Office of the Ombudsman, Province of British Columbia

OMBUDSMAN RECOMMENDS IMPROVEMENTS TO DRINKING WATER SAFETY
VICTORIA - In a report released today titled Fit to Drink: Challenges in
Providing Safe Drinking Water in British Columbia, Ombudsman Kim Carter
issued 39 recommendations on how the provincial government and regional
health authorities can improve the processes that ensure the safety of
drinking water.

"This report identifies deficiencies that need to be addressed in a timely
way so that water in all parts of the province is fit to drink," Ms. Carter
said.

The report is the product of an investigation into drinking water safety
that the Ombudsman launched in November 2007, after receiving complaints
about drinking water from across the province. With a particular emphasis on
small water systems, the investigation focused on drinking water complaints
processes, how the public is notified of drinking water safety issues, and
how information about drinking water is collected and used. It involved
eight public authorities: the Ministries of Health and Environment, the
Office of the Provincial Health Officer and the five regional health
authorities.

Key recommendations in the report include

* that the regional health authorities develop better systems for
receiving and responding to complaints about drinking water
* that the Ministry of Health and the regional health authorities work
together to reduce the number of boil water advisories in effect by 10 per
cent per year
* that the regional health authorities provide more publicly available
information about drinking water systems on their websites
* that the Ministry of Health consider expanding the number of
mandatory drinking water standards
* that the health authorities increase their efforts to identify and
regulate small water systems

"I am pleased that each of the authorities has committed to implementing the
recommendations we directed to them, and to working together to improve
drinking water safety in B.C.," Ms. Carter said.

Special Report No. 32 is available at www.ombudsman.bc.ca.

-30-

Media contact:
Karen Sawatzky
(250) 356-7740 (direct) or 1-800-567-3247 (toll-free)

BACKGROUNDER
For Immediate Release
June 18, 2008

Office of the Ombudsman, Province of British Columbia

Fit to Drink: Challenges in Providing Safe Drinking Water in British
Columbia

Report Highlights

Background
It has been five years since the Drinking Water Protection Act (DWPA) and
the Drinking Water Protection Regulation (DWPR) came into effect. While
progress has been made since then, our investigation shows that further work
is required to ensure all British Columbians have access to safe drinking
water. One of the themes of the report is increasing public access to
information on drinking water quality (see, for example, recommendations
R12.1, R18, R22 and R24, pages 59, 74, 78 and 80).

Dealing with Questions, Concerns and Complaints

We concluded that the regional health authorities, the Ministry of Health
and the Office of the Provincial Health Officer do not have well-developed
informal complaint processes, that there is very little information available to the public about how to make a complaint, and that generally,they are not well tracked. The Ombudsman recommended the development of written complaints policies and systems to electronically record and track
complaints (see R1.1 and R1.2, page 39).

Under section 29 of the DWPA a person can request an investigation by a drinking water officer if they believe there is a threat to their drinking water. Our investigation shows there is a lack of publicly available
information about how to make such a request, and that only five requests
have been received since 2003. In only two of these cases was an investigation actually conducted. The Ombudsman recommended that the health authorities develop written materials to inform the public of the right to
request an investigation under section 29, and that all future requests be recorded (see R3 and R4, page 44).

Public Advisories and Notices

As of May 2008, there were 528 boil water advisories in effect in British Columbia. There were also 49 water quality advisories and a province-wide advisory for people with weakened or compromised immune systems. Among the Ombudsman's recommendations is that the regional health authorities commit
to reducing the number of boil water advisories in effect by 10 per cent per
year. The Ombudsman also recommended that the Ministry of Health support the
regional health authorities in achieving this goal (see R16 and R16.1, page
64).

Monitoring and Enforcement

The investigation identifies deficiencies in sampling, inspections and enforcement. For example, B.C. requires only two microbiological tests on all drinking water systems, which are for E. coli and total coliform bacteria. Other Canadian jurisdictions, including Alberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario, regulate a wider range of substances. Among the Ombudsman's
recommendations is that by June 1, 2009, the Ministry of Health reassess whether to adopt additional mandatory drinking water standards (see R19, page 74). This would support the province's goal of having the best water quality in the world.

The investigation shows that the regional health authorities are not using the full range of enforcement options available to them under the DWPA and DWPR. For example, violation tickets and orders are rarely issued, and health authorities generally appear to be reluctant to escalate enforcement. This is inconsistent with the government's direction to water suppliers in 2003, which said that, "tolerance shown to non-complying systems in the past will not be afforded to systems in the future." The Ombudsman recommended that the regional health authorities use the full range of enforcement
options available to them (see R27, page 85).

Issues Affecting Small Systems

The report identifies challenges that small system operators face under the
DWPA and DWPR. These challenges include operator certification and training,
emergency planning and conducting regular sampling. Among the Ombudsman's
recommendations is that the Ministry of Health develop a coordinated small
systems strategy (see R33, page 101).

While there are estimates of the number of small systems that exist, many
still remain unidentified, and therefore unregulated. The Ombudsman has
recommended that the Ministry of Health and health authorities increase
their efforts to identify and regulate small water systems (see R31 and R32,page 99).

Drinking Water Information Management Systems

The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health have recognized the
need for a single comprehensive database to manage information about drinking water since 2002, but no such system is yet in place. As the Ministry of Health is the lead agency on this project, the Ombudsman
recommended it ensure that a comprehensive drinking water information system is in place by December 31, 2009 (see R34, page 107).

Special Report No. 32, Fit to Drink: Challenges in Providing Safe Drinking Water in British Columbia is available at www.ombudsman.bc.ca.

Media contact:
Karen Sawatzky
(250) 356-7740 (direct) or 1-800-567-3247 (toll-free)