WHEREAS water suppliers must be permitted and regularly tested for safe drinking water under the Drinking Water Protection Act; AND WHEREAS the Ministry of Health, through the regional health authorities, currently provides testing of drinking water at no cost to some suppliers in the province; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities lobby the provincial government to ensure that the testing of safe drinking water be maintained at no cost to water suppliers.
Ministry of Health One of the principles in the Government of British Columbias Government Action Plan for Safe Drinking Water states that water users should pay appropriate costs. Approximately half the population in the Province of British Columbia Province is currently paying for its water monitoring through its water rates. It would not be appropriate for these ratepayers to subsidize other water supply systems through their provincial taxes. Water monitoring is key to ensuring water quality, and it encourages water suppliers to take ownership of their water quality when they are also responsible for the monitoring. This monitoring is part of operating a water supply system and is most appropriately undertaken by the supplier, with costs borne by water users. Government recognizes, however, that it is expected that many suppliers will also be required to expand their monitoring programs to collect more water microbiology data and to capture real time data related to turbidity, chlorine residuals and treatment effectiveness monitoring. For this reason, health authorities will continue to provide some audit monitoring of water systems for the foreseeable future.