How Drinking Water is Protected in B.C.
Last updated on April 7, 2022Provincial Drinking Water Policy
The Drinking Water Protection Act (the Act) outlines general requirements for water suppliers, and the Drinking Water Protection Regulation sets out more specific requirements. Drinking water legislation in British Columbia is outcome based. In other words, recognizing that different water suppliers and drinking water systems have different needs, it allows for some variation in determining what a water supplier needs to do in order to achieve these requirements.
The Ministry of Health administers the Act and develops policy related to drinking water. The regional health authorities implement the Act and provide monitoring of drinking water systems. Find contact information for your health authority's drinking water contact.
Drinking water officers (DWOs) in the regional health authorities have some discretion in making decisions on certain requirements (e.g., how water is treated) for individual systems. The Ministry of Health has developed, with the support of the health authorities, provincial policies to guide these decisions in order to promote effective, consistent and transparent decision-making across the province. These drinking water guidelines, which are found in the Drinking Water Officers' Guide (the Guide), must be considered during decision-making as per ministerial direction.
The Provincial Health Officer monitors DWO's application of the guidelines, and reports on this through its annual drinking water report and reviews of DWO decisions.
For more information about the Ministry of Health’s drinking water program, please contact HP-PHW@gov.bc.ca.
Annual Service Plan for Safe Drinking Water
Download the Ministry of Health's 2021-2022 Annual Service Plan for Safe Drinking Water.
Recommended Reading
- Health Canada Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (Water at the tap)
- B.C. Water Quality Guidelines (Water at the source)