News Releases
Government Home Search Sitemap Contact Us  

NLIS 1
May 28, 2001
(Environment)

 

Premier announces plan of action on water quality

Premier Roger Grimes announced today government�s plan of action to ensure the continued protection and safety of public water supplies in the province.

The premier was joined by Environment Minister Ralph Wiseman, Municipal and Provincial Affairs Minister Oliver Langdon, Government Services and Lands Minister Walter Noel and Minister of Health and Community Services (Acting) Gerald Smith.

Government�s plan of action strengthens the existing multi-barrier approach to water quality management with special emphasis on legislation and policy, source protection and management, infrastructure, monitoring and reporting, inspections and mitigation, operator training and single point contact for public inquiries.

Government will spend about $50 million over the next three years addressing water quality issues. Key elements of government�s plan include:

  • increasing the number of inspectors;
  • increasing the frequency of water testing;
  • providing municipalities with 100 per cent funding up to a maximum of $100,000 to install or upgrade chlorination equipment;
  • working in partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities to provide operator training and education; and,
  • keeping the public informed and being more open and accountable.

Premier Grimes also released a recently compiled report by the Department of Environment entitled Source to Tap: Water Supplies in Newfoundland and Labrador, May 2001 and a report on trihalomethanes (THMs) entitled Trihalomethane Levels in Public Water Supplies of Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition, the premier released the 1996 draft report on the state of public water supplies with the caution that the report was never finalized and anyone using this draft report as a reference should consult with the Department of Environment, Water Resources Division, at (709) 729-2664 for clarification.

"The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will continue to be vigilant in its efforts to provide municipalities with continued access to safe drinking water," said Premier Grimes. "This plan of action will enhance the protection of public drinking water supplies and maintain public confidence in our drinking water."

Media contact:

Carl Cooper, Office of the Premier, (709) 729-3564

Diane Keough, Department of Environment, (709) 729-2575

FACT SHEET

Government�s Plan of Action

Government has a plan of action to enhance the protection of public water supplies. Future water safety initiatives will focus on strengthening our existing multi-barrier approach to water management with specific focus on the following:

  • Legislation, regulations and guidelines
  • Single-point contact and lead agency
  • Source protection and management
  • Water services and infrastructure needs
  • Drinking water quality monitoring and reporting
  • Regulatory inspections and mitigation plan
  • Operator education and training

Source protection and management
A Geographic Information Systems-based database will be developed for all (protected and unprotected) public water supply and wellhead areas. This database will be used to promote integrated land use activities (logging, mining and others) within public water supply areas without compromising the integrity of drinking water sources.

Water services and infrastructure needs
Government will implement a $10 million multi-year capital funding program to improve the quality of drinking water. In addition, $15.4 million will be invested this year in water supply and distribution systems by the three levels of government including the upgrading of two existing water treatment plants and investment in five new water treatment plants.

Drinking water quality monitoring and reporting

  • Government will introduce an expanded chemical testing program and an expanded bacteriological water quality testing program. Additional resources will be added to the current complement to carry out this work. The Public Health Laboratory will establish operations at major hospitals throughout the province.
  • Information on water quality testing will be readily available and government will prepare an annual report on the state of drinking water quality, which will be tabled in the House of Assembly.

Operator education and training

  • The province is leading the country with its unique approach to operators� education and training. The strategic plan includes the delivery of 54 education and training seminars in 18 locations throughout the province in 2001. The second phase of the plan will deal with on-site training.

FACT SHEET

Government�s Actions to Date

Drinking water quality has always been a priority for government. Over the years, government has implemented a program of source water protection, water treatment, water quality monitoring, and proper maintenance and operation of water treatment systems in order to ensure the continued safety of the province�s public water supplies. Some of government�s actions to date include:

  • The province has established an exemplary source protection program. Government has increased the number of protected water supply areas to 244. This is an increase from five protected supply areas in 1974.
  • The province has established a leadership role in drinking water quality monitoring and reporting as compared to most other Canadian provinces where the responsibility rests with municipal governments.
  • The province has expanded its programs of bacteriological, physical and chemical testing of drinking water. This includes increased testing frequency, scope and additional personnel. In fact, in this fiscal year government will collect the highest number of samples for its chemical testing program than were collected in the entire history of the drinking water quality monitoring program in the province.
  • The province has taken a proactive approach to protecting public water supplies that are not adequately chlorinated by issuing boil water advisories. This extra precaution is not taken in other provinces, which may account for their considerably fewer boil water advisories than in this province.
  • The province�s clear objective is to eliminate the need for boil water advisories due to inadequate chlorination. That is why municipalities can receive 100 per cent funding to install or repair municipal water disinfection systems from the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs.
  • A water quality technician has been hired to work specifically with communities that have high trihalomethanes (THMs) level
  • An interdepartmental committee has been struck to advise government on issues with respect to drinking water safety.
  • The province is an active member of national drinking water committees.
  • The province has committed millions of dollars to develop a safe drinking water plan.

FACT SHEET

Types of Routine Water Testing

Bacteriological Testing

  • The Government Service Centres (GSC) of the Department of Government Services and Lands (GSL) carry out bacteriological and chlorine residual sampling on public water in accordance with protocol established in an MOU with the Department of Health and Community Services (HCS) and the regional health boards. Sampling for the St. John�s water supply is carried out by the city and testing is done by the Public Health Laboratory.
  • Bacteriological analysis is done at the Department of Health and Community Service�s Public Health Laboratory located in St. John�s and at GSC offices outside St. John�s. Chlorine residual analysis is carried out in the field by GSC staff.
  • The Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality outline the number of samples to be taken each month based on the population served (i.e. four times per month for water supplies serving up to 5,000 people; one sample per 1,000 population for 5,000 to 90,000 people served; and 90 plus one sample per 10,000 population for more than 90,000 people served).
  • GSC samples public water supplies on average once a month. Government is moving toward meeting the recommended sampling frequency outlined in the guidelines.
  • GSC tests for total and fecal coliforms, E-coli and chlorine residual, and these results are then passed on to municipalities. In a case where higher than acceptable numbers of coliforms or chlorine deficiencies are found, the results are immediately communicated to the communities for appropriate action. The regional medical officer of health is also advised that action has been taken with the community, and initiates any follow up that may be necessary by the public health system. It is the responsibility of the community to put a boil water advisory in place.

Chemical and Physical Testing

  • The Department of Environment conducts chemical and physical testing of the province�s 314 public water supplies using surface water in the province. Drinking water quality monitoring of these supplies for physical and chemical parameters comprises two components, source water quality and tap water quality.
  • Currently, there is data on source water quality for about 325 public water supplies, tap water quality data for physical and chemical parameters for about 165 water supplies, and tap water quality data for THMs for over 300 public supplies. Some of the monitored parameters for tap water quality are above the recommended guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. This information is made available to municipalities quarterly in addition to an annual report. There are no guidelines for source water quality.
  • With the exception of a few physical parameters which are tested by Department of Environment staff, all samples for physical and chemical analysis are tested by accredited laboratories under contract.
  • Frequency of sampling for most chemical and physical parameters is not stipulated but is suggested as semi-annually in the guidelines, and is decided by the department on a case-by-case basis. With the exception of THMs, testing of other physical and chemical parameters is not necessary on a frequent basis because they are unlikely to change dramatically in short periods of time. However, baseline chemical and physical testing will be done for every public water supply in the province by the end of this year.

For more information view: /env/sourcetotap

2001 05 28                                                 11:15 a.m. 


SearchHomeBack to GovernmentContact Us


All material copyright the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. No unauthorized copying or redeployment permitted. The Government assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of any material deployed on an unauthorized server.
Disclaimer/Copyright/Privacy Statement