The approval information below is intended for drinking water systems that are not municipal residential drinking water systems.
- Municipal residential drinking water systems must meet the approval requirements of the municipal drinking water licensing program.
- Private well owners can find information about their responsibilities in our private well section.
For drinking water systems other than municipal residential drinking water systems, formal approval from the ministry is not required to establish or alter your system. You may however need to meet the requirements of the Drinking Water Systems Regulation.
There are two instances listed below where a formal approval from the ministry may be required.
Applying for regulatory relief and system fragmentation
In some instances, system owners may want or need to apply for relief from the Drinking Water Systems Regulation and/or relief from the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (system fragmentation).
To learn about these options, see:
- Guide for applying for fragmentation and relief from regulatory requirements
- Application for fragmentation or relief from regulatory requirements
- Guide for requesting regulatory relief from lead sampling requirements
Other environmental approvals
In some instances, an environmental compliance approval may be required from the ministry if the drinking water system:
- releases contaminants (pollutants) into the air, onto land, or into water OR
- stores, transports, or disposes of waste.
Visit the ministry’s Environmental approvals section to learn more about these types of approvals.
If you have questions, call the approvals and licensing help line, open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-877-955-5455 or send an email to mdwlp@ontario.ca .
