Ontario Updates Protocol for the Sampling and Analysis of Wastewater

 

Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment has posted notice of a proposal to update the Protocol for the Sampling and Analysis of Industrial/Municipal Wastewater to align with current analytical advances and data reporting procedures.

 

The protocol, which was last updated in 1999, is adopted by reference in the nine Effluent Monitoring and Effluent Limits (Municipal and Industrial Strategy for Abatement [MISA]) regulations, under Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act. The protocol comprises:

• techniques to be used to collect effluent samples from different discharge points to be monitored for regulated parameters;
• analytical protocols for analysis, including quality assurance, data reporting, and regulatory method detection limits (RMDLs).
  

Revisions will include, in part: 

• updates to the national accreditation bodies for laboratories and related quality assurance references;
• replacement of previous data reporting system (MISA Data Entry System - MIDES) by the current system (Ministry of the Environment Wastewater System - MEWS);
• more details for the procedure to calculate the toxic equivalency (TEQ) for dioxins and furans; and
• new sampling guidance for toxicity testing using Daphnia magna, rainbow trout and fathead minnows.