Corrosion Control Review

On April 20, 2007, the new Guideline Technical Document for Corrosion Control in Drinking Water Distribution Systems, as approved by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water (CDW), was made available for public comment on Health Canada's web site at the following address:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/consultation/corrosion/index_e.html

Comments can be sent until July 20, 2007, to the CDW Secretariat via e-mail at: water_eau@hc-sc.gc.ca.

On April 24, 2007, the Minister of the Environment wrote to the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council, formally requesting the Council to undertake a review of the Health Canada's Corrosion Control Document, with a view towards:

• Early implementation of corrosion control in Ontario to reduce lead at the consumer’s tap, and;
   
• Advice that Ontario should provide to the Federal Government on the “Corrosion Control in Drinking Water Distribution Systems” Document.

The Council responded to the Minister of the Environment on April 30, 2007, with an estimate of the timelines that it felt it could execute, balancing urgency with the need for the Council to carefully deliberate on this matter.

The Council’s review approach consisted of:

• Forming a Working Group in order to collect relative information and undertake an assessment of the “Corrosion Control in Drinking Water Distribution Systems” Document;
   
• Holding a one-day workshop on May 16, 2007, with four experts in the field of lead corrosion and lead in drinking water (Dr. Marc Edwards, Virginia Tech;  Ian Douglas, Health Canada / City of Ottawa; France Lemieux, Health Canada; and Dr. Michèle Prévost, École Polytechnique de Montréal ).  Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care officials also attended and participated as advisors;
   
• Considering the recent information and work underway with respect to lead in drinking water in the City of London;
   
• Presenting the Working Group’s assessment and preliminary findings to the full Council on May 25, 2007, in order to take advantage of the Members’ direct experience and knowledge, and;
   
• Finalizing the advice, taking into account input from all of the above-noted sources.

On April 26, 2007, Ontario also posted the Control in Drinking Water Distribution Systems Document on its Environmental Registry for public comment up to July 20, 2007 at www.ontario.ca/environmentalregistry (the registry number is 010-0435).

On May 31, 2007 the Council officially transmitted its advice on corrosion control to the Minister of the Environment.  The Council's Summary highlights the assessment and conclusions of the review and notes specific recommendations, focusing on providing advice that can be implemented in Ontario ahead of the adoption of the Health Canada’s “Corrosion Control in Drinking Water Distribution Systems” Document.  In considering this advice, it was noted that there are still many specific details to be considered by the Ministry of the Environment, particularly with respect to corrosion control measures and monitoring programs.

On June 4, 2007, the Ministry of the Environment publicly released the Council's advice via an Information Notice on the Environmental Registry at www.ontario.ca/environmentalregistry (the registry number is 010-0725).

The Council transmitted a further advice letter on sampling stagnation times to the Minister of the Environment on July 6, 2007.

On July 27, 2007, the amendments to Ontario Regulation 170/03 (Drinking-Water Systems) were posted on the Environmental Registry as a Regulation Decision Notice at www.ontario.ca/environmentalregistry (the registry number is 010-0743).