Ontario gets an “A” for drinking water protection
This week Ecojustice released its report card on the country’s drinking water. Ontario is at the top of the class!
Ecojustice has ranked Ontario as the top jurisdiction in the country for drinking water protection.
The Ecojustice Waterproof 3 report, which looks at drinking water protection across Canada, highlights that Ontario has “the most ambitious, comprehensive, inclusive and well-funded” program in the country for protecting sources of drinking water.
For the first time, the report has been expanded to include source-water protection efforts. It recognizes that one of the best ways to provide safe tap water is to ensure water does not get contaminated in the first place. It’s also the foundation for the work Ontario has done under our Clean Water Act.
The protection work that’s been done since Walkerton continues. The Clean Water Act helps protect public health and Ontario’s water at its source. The act ensures communities are able to protect their drinking water supplies through prevention — by developing collaborative, watershed-based source protection plans that are locally driven and based in science.
We also have strong legislation, stringent standards, regular and reliable testing, highly trained operators and source protection staff, transparent public reporting, and regular inspections. These are all working together to ensure your water is safe.
Thanks to our strong framework of protection, Ontarians can have confidence that when they turn on the tap they will be getting high quality, well-protected drinking water.
This is the second time that Ecojustice’s Waterproof report has ranked Ontario number one in Canada for drinking water protection.
