The Public Can Request Investigations
Under s.29 of the Drinking Water Protection Act, citizens are entitled to request investigations of drinking water facilities if they perceive their drinking water to be threatened.
Applications for investigations must be made in writing, and include specific facts as to what constitutes the perceived threat. A drinking water officer will proceed with an investigation, if after review an investigation is warranted. The officer must provide the individual who requested the investigation either with notice of refusal to proceed, or the results of the investigation.
Contact your regional health authority for more information on the process. Vancouver Health has developed and posted some helpful forms and information for requesting a section 29 investigation. While not official documents, the questions raise important issues that will help in the investigation.
Chemicals Used in Drinking Water Treatment
Many people express concerns over the treatment process used in rendering their drinking water safe for consumption. Common treatment processes may include physical separation of undesirable materials (by filtration, sedimentation, coagulation), zebra mussel control, or adding chemicals to make the water safer or more palatable. Common chemical additives include chlorination (to disinfect), fluoridation (to reduce tooth decay), or Ph Adjustment. Your drinking water provider can inform you of the treatments used on your water.
There is some debate over the health impacts of these various drinking water treatments. Human health is, of course, in better shape owing to the filtration and treatment of water that often contains many biological contaminants, and sometimes sourced from the same lakes as we dump our sewage, but there is still concern over some chemical additives. The Canadian Cancer Society has taken the position that chlorination of drinking water is ultimately safe, but urges water drinkers to use a water filter system if they are concerned.
Flouridation is a process that has been the subject of some debate. The World Health Organization has developed determined that fluoride may lead to mottling of the teeth, or in extreme cases, crippling skeletal fibrosis. Their general recommendation to countries implementing fluoride treatment in drinking water is to aim for a safe concentration of 1.5mg per litre, well below the concentration necessary to inflict harm on people. The BC policy on fluoridation is to enforce a fluoride level of 0.8-1.0ppm.
