Guidance For Providing Safe Drinking Water in Areas of Federal Jurisdiction - Version 1

Part 1 - The Federal Framework

2.0 Federal Legislation and Policies

2.1 The Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality

Recognizing that safe drinking water is a core public health issue, the federal government works in close collaboration with the provincial and territorial governments to develop the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.

These guidelines set out the basic parameters that every water system should strive to achieve in order to provide the cleanest, safest and most reliable drinking water possible. They support drinking water requirements in all Canadian jurisdictions.

The most important drinking water quality guidelines deal with microbiological quality, to ensure there is minimal risk of exposure to disease-causing organisms in drinking water. These guidelines include bacteriological parameters (E.coli, total coliforms, HPC, and emerging pathogens), protozoa, and viruses.

Turbidity, while not a microbiological parameter per se, is considered an important surrogate measure of microbiological quality because increased turbidity may be associated with a contamination episode and because turbidity may interfere with disinfection.

Health-based guidelines have also been developed for a number of chemical and radiological substances that are found in drinking water supplies across Canada. Some of these substances may only be found at some locations (i.e., are site-specific), meaning they may not be a concern for every drinking water supply.

Aesthetic and operational guidelines have also been developed. These guidelines address parameters which may affect consumer acceptance of the water even though the substance in question is found at concentrations below which health effects appear. These parameters generally affect characteristics such as taste, odour and colour.⁽¹⁵⁾

Because guidelines are re-assessed on an as-needed basis and new guidelines are continually being developed, Health Canada's website (see below) should be checked on at least an annual basis.

Although various editions of the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality have been referenced, it is recommended to use the most up-to-date version, the 6^th edition, as modified by the Summary of Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, which can be downloaded from Health Canada's water quality website at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/waterquality. All guideline values and supporting documentation are posted on this website. Appendix 2 provides the complete address for this summary table.

To help stakeholders stay current, Health Canada's Water Quality and Health Bureau also moderates a listserv that automatically notifies subscribers of changes to its website, including updates to the guidelines.

2.2 The Canada Labour Code

The federal government's legal obligations to its employees as a purveyor of drinking water are described in the Canada Labour Code and its related regulations (Canada Occupational Safety and Health Regulations, the Aviation Occupational Safety and Health Regulations, the Marine Occupational Safety and Health Regulations, the On Board Trains Occupational Safety and Health Regulations, and the Oil and Gas Occupational Safety and Health Regulations).

All federal employers must comply with the Canada Labour Code. Section 125 (1)(j) in Part II requires federal employers to provide potable water to employees in accordance with prescribed standards which are set out in the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.

In addition to the requirement to provide potable water to employees, Section 125 (1) (z.11) of the Canada Labour Code states that the employer must provide a copy of any report on hazards in the work place, including an assessment of those hazards, to a policy committee, the work place health and safety committee, or to the health and safety representative.

For detailed information on Health and Safety Committees, see the Canada Labour Code, Part II, Occupational Health and Safety, Section 135. An unofficial consolidation may be found on the Internet at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/L-2/17394.html

Details about the Code and its regulations, and how they apply to drinking water, are given in Appendix 1.

2.3 Other related federal legislation

Three other pieces of federal legislation have sections that deal directly or indirectly with drinking water issues:

• The Department of Health Act (Potable Water Regulations for Common Carriers)
• The Food and Drugs Act (regulations for pre-packaged water and ice and water used in food preparation)
• The National Defence Act

2.3.1 Department of Health Act ⁽¹³⁾

The Department of Health Act sets out the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Health. These powers, duties and functions extend to all matters related to the promotion or preservation of the health of Canadians over which the federal government has jurisdiction.

The web site address for the Department of Health Act and its regulations is:
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/H-3.2/48548.html

2.3.2 Food and Drugs Act

Bottled water, which includes all pre-packaged water and ice, is considered to be a food under Canadian law. All bottled water sold in Canada is regulated under the Food and Drugs Act. The current regulations for bottled water are set out in Division 12 of Part B of the Food and Drug Regulations.

As with all foods, bottled water must comply with Section 4 of the Food and Drugs Act which prohibits the sale of foods which contain poisonous or harmful substances. It is proposed that when the safety of a particular bottled water is brought into question, the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality provide the basis for establishing the safety of substances for which no limits are specified in the regulations.³

Information on bottled water can be accessed through the Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency websites:

• http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/facts-faits/faqs_bottle_water-eau_embouteillee_e.html
• http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/foodfacts/bottwate.shtml

2.3.3 National Defence Act

The National Defence Act gives the Chief of the Defence Staff certain powers of command, responsibilities and discretion regarding the health protection of members of the Canadian Forces with respect to operational imperatives. Part of these responsibilities includes various directives, policies and standards applicable to drinking water.

The web site address for the unofficial consolidation of the National Defence Act is http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/N-5/text.html

2.4 Treasury Board Sanitation Directive

The Treasury Board Sanitation Directive ⁽⁵⁴⁾ applies to all government-owned buildings occupied by federal public service employees. It only applies to federal employees. The Directive states that potable water must "meet the standards set out in the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality 1987 published by authority of the Minister of Health and Welfare."

The Directive also states that every plumbing system that supplies potable water and removes water-borne waste must:

• Meet the standards set out in the Canadian Plumbing Code (now the National Plumbing Code of Canada).
• Be connected to a municipal sanitation sewer or water main.

The Directive specifies that drinking water fountains must meet the standards found in the ARI Standard 1010-82, Standard for Drinking-Fountains and Self-Contained, Mechanically-Refrigerated Drinking-Water Coolers.

The Directive includes specific guidance for ensuring sanitary conditions are met when transporting and storing drinking water, drinking cups, and ice.

In addition, contingency procedures must be developed to deal with issues such as an interrupted or contaminated water supply. These procedures are to be developed in consultation with Health Canada and health and safety committees (See Section 2.2 for more information on health and safety committees).

Applicable sections of the Treasury Board Sanitation Directive can be found in Appendix 1.

2.5 Roles and responsibilities in the federal jurisdiction

Each department or responsible authority is in charge of implementing the federal drinking water program in areas within its mandate and should be accountable for carrying out its duties. Given the differences in departmental structures, defining precisely who is responsible for drinking water management is beyond the scope of this document and should be determined by each department.

That said, each person in the drinking water program needs to know what is expected of them and their level of responsibility. Departments should make sure all required tasks have been assigned to specific, qualified staff. As a reference, examples of the types of roles and responsibilities within some federal departments are given in Appendix 9.

Note: While the duties to be performed can be contracted to a third party, the responsibility for meeting the drinking water program objectives remains with the department.

2.6 Due diligence

In addition to meeting regulatory requirements, federal departments, drinking water system operators, and other responsible authorities must be able to demonstrate due diligence in carrying out their duties (whether these duties are regulated or not).

Demonstrating due diligence means taking every precaution reasonable in the given circumstances to avoid harm or loss. It also means having mechanisms in place to deal with non-compliance and for holding employees accountable for their decisions and actions. The following programs are examples of what may constitute a proper exercise of due diligence:

• Employer leadership/employee input
• Hazard identification/assessment (vulnerabilities assessment)
• Hazard elimination/control
• Training
• Monitoring
• Enforcement
• Documentation
• Communication

As a due diligence measure, managers and operators of federal facilities are advised to ensure water provided by their systems meets the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. At some sites, departments may choose to follow provincial or municipal requirements where these are more stringent. Regardless, facility managers should be familiar with current water quality guidelines and initiatives in their geographical area.

This document is intended to help system operators fulfill proper duty of care and due diligence requirements.

³ Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are working on revisions to the regulations and labelling requirements for bottled water stipulated in Division 12 of the Food and Drug Regulations. A consultation document released in November 2002 outlined the government's proposal and requested stakeholder input on proposed approaches and options. Comments supported the proposed approach to explicitly reference the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality in the Regulations. If this occurs, the Guidelines will, in effect, become law for bottled water and prepackaged ice. Comments and analysis from the consultation will guide the development of the proposed regulatory amendments, expected to be prepublished in Canada Gazette, Part I during 2005.