Water Haller –Continuing to advocate for our sector

Lead: By the time you get this e-Bulletin, I will be in a meeting with Health Canada and several members of our CWWA Drinking Water Committee. After discussing the details of the proposed changes to the guidelines, we hope to discuss how such changes will be rolled out in each province. This is not just another regulation that we can deal with at the plant with a new filter. Rather, this is a complex issue requiring time, money and authority to engage the property owners. Our greatest concern is how these changes will be perceived in the media if we were all to become non-compliant overnight. The last thing we all need is to shake public trust and confidence in their municipal drinking water.

WSER: We continue to monitor the implementation of the effluent regulations – in particular, the 2020 deadlines – and we seek some flexibility from Environment Canada to recognize timing and financing issues. See my article in Water Canada magazine this month.

Wipes: The international working group continues its efforts to develop an international standard for "flushable" that we can use to create a Canadian standard. We still need municipal support to pay the cost of developing the Canadian standard so I encourage you to get your community onboard.

Climate Change: After participating in the National Round Table on Flooding, we are expected to be named to the ongoing advisory committee to the minister and we are participating in ongoing research with the federal government.

Security: We completed the national research project on resiliency with Dalhousie University and Public Safety Canada to identify where we are and perhaps where we need some work. We are now working with Public Safety Canada on next steps to put this new information to good use.

All these issues AND MORE will be considered in detail at the Window on Ottawa here in June (5th & 6th) and we’ll explore them even further at the National Conference in Montreal November 4th to 7th.