Drinking Water Systems Regulation O.Reg. 170/03

(Regulation made under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002)

The Drinking Water Systems Regulation (O. Reg. 170/03) regulates municipal and private water systems that provide water to year-round residential developments and designated facilities that serve vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly. Designated facilities include children’s camps, child and youth care facilities, health care and social care facilities, a school or private school, a social care facility, a university, college or institution with authority to grant degrees.

Amendments to O. Reg. 170/03 came into effect on June 5, 2006. The amendments are risk-based and are designed to safeguard the quality of Ontario’s drinking water, while making the regulation more workable and affordable for residential drinking water systems and systems serving designated facilities. They add clarity and flexibility to the testing and operational regimes set out in Reg. 170 and in some cases, could reduce the cost of regulatory compliance.

• Amendments to Regulation 170/03 made under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Resources 5695e Improvements to the Drinking Water Systems Regulation (O.Reg. 170/03) for Municipal Residential Systems   5696e Improvements to the Drinking Water Systems Regulation (O.Reg. 170/03) for Non-Municipal Year-round Residential Systems   5697e Improvements to the Drinking Water Systems Regulation (O.Reg. 170/03) for Systems Serving Designated Facilities

O. Reg. 170/03 does not apply to non-residential and private seasonal residential drinking water systems unless they serve designated facilities. These systems are regulated by the new regulation for non-residential and private seasonal residential systems that do not serve designated facilities (O. Reg. 252/05) (http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/water/sdwa/reg252.htm)

Disclaimer

This page has been updated to reflect changes to regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act. It should be noted that these materials are intended to act as guides to the Acts and Regulations and should be used in conjunction with the Acts and Regulations. To be clear about your specific legal requirements, you must refer to the text of O.Reg 170 and the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002. You can access these at www.e-laws.gov.on.ca.

Key Documents

Drinking Water Information System (DWIS)

Resources 4448e01 Procedure For Disinfection Of Drinking Water In Ontario   4449e01 Technical Support Document for Ontario Drinking Water Standards, Objectives and Guidelines   4414e01 Procedure For Corrective Action for Systems Not Currently Using Chlorine

Information for Drinking Water Systems Owners and Operators

Municipal Drinking Water Systems

Technical Updates for Municipal Drinking Water Systems 4478e15 Annual Reports   4478e16 Categories of Municipal Drinking Water Systems   4478e17 Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards   4478e18 Engineers' Reports   4478e19 Adverse Water Quality Notification Requirements   4478e20 Drinking Water Testing for Chemical Parameters   4478e21 Laboratory Licensing   4478e22 Drinking Water Testing for Microbiological Parameters   4478e23 Warning Notices   4478e24 Treatment Equipment Requirements

Non-Municipal Year-Round Residential Drinking Water Systems

Resources 5362e Providing Safe Drinking Water to the Public: A guide for owners and operators of non-municipal year-round residential drinking water systems A guide for owners and operators of privately owned year-round residential drinking water systems such as apartment buildings, subdivisions, mobile home parks or trailer parks   5477e Treatment Options for Owners of Non-Municipal Year-Round Residential Drinking Water Systems

Drinking Water Systems that serve Designated Facilities

Resources 5361e Providing Safe Drinking Water to the Public: A guide for owners and operators of non-residential and seasonal residential drinking water systems that serve designated facilities A guide for drinking water systems that serve designated facilities such as children’s camps, child and youth care facilities, health care and social care facilities, schools and private schools and postsecondary institutions a university, college or institution with authority to grant degrees

Taking a Drinking Water Sample for Testing

Resources 5744e Taking a drinking water sample for testing: Tips for owners and operators of drinking water systems covered by Ontario Regulation 170/03

Operator Training and Certification Information

Resources 5747e Steps to Become a “Supervised Person” : Qualifications for Testing Chlorine Residual and Turbidity in Drinking Water Systems 5748e Steps to Become a “Trained Person” : Training Requirements for Operators of Small Drinking Water Systems Serving Designated Facilities 5749e Steps to Become a Limited System Operator: Operator Certification Requirements for Small Drinking Water Systems 5452e Training Manual for Supervised Persons Conducting Operational Checks Materials for training a person working under the supervision of a “certified operator” to perform on-site chlorine residual and turbidity testing (only for small municipal residential, small non-municipal non-residential, non-municipal seasonal residential and any of those three systems that serve designated facilities.

Laboratory Licensing

The Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 (SDWA) and the Drinking Water Testing Services Regulation (O. Reg. 248/03) require any laboratory that performs drinking water testing to obtain a licence effective October 1, 2003. In addition, the SDWA requires owners and operatings authorities of drinking water systems regulated under the Drinking Water Systems Regulation (O. Reg. 170/03) to use a licensed laboratory for drinking water testing.

Laboratory Licensing information and document

Legislation / Regulations

Forms

Go to the Drinking Water Submission Forms under O.Reg. 170/03

Related Documents

Resources 5397e Optional Annual Report Template   4178e01 Application for Approval Related to Municipal and Non-Municipal Drinking-Water Systems (October 2003)   4462e Supplement to Application for Approval - Form A DETERMINATION OF THE CATEGORY OF DRINKING-WATER SYSTEM   4463e Supplement to Application for Approval - Form B EXISTING DRINKING-WATER SYSTEM INFORMATION   4468e Supplement to Application for Approval - Form C COST FOR PART V SDWA APPLICATIONS   4467e GUIDE FOR APPLYING FOR APPROVALS RELATED TO MUNICIPAL AND NON-MUNICIPAL DRINKING-WATER SYSTEMS 5677e Drinking Water Treatment Service Providers   4167e TERMS OF REFERENCE for Hydrogeological Study to Examine Groundwater Sources Potentially Under Direct Influence of Surface Water October 2001 4168e PROTOCOL for Delineation of Wellhead Protection Areas for Municipal Groundwater Supply Wells under Direct Influence of Surface Water October 2001

Click here for a list of Medical Officers of Health in Ontario

For a current list of laboratories accredited for and testing Ontario Drinking Water Standard (ODWS) parameters visit the Standards Council of Canada's web site : http://www.scc.ca
email: info@scc.ca
tel.: 1-613-238-3222

Private Wells

Link to a section that contains helpful fact sheets for well owners and information about the legal requirements of well owners and contractors and technicians who construct wells.