Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 (S.O. 2002, c. 32).

The purpose of the present Act is to regulate issues related to drinking-water, such as supply, testing and high quality assessment. The Act contains at the outset a definition clause relating to various terms employed therein such as, for example, “agency”, “alteration”, “deficiency”, “distribution system”, “drinking- water”, “drinking- water test”, ”drinking- water testing licence”, “fragmentation”, “laboratory”, “raw water supply”. According to section 11, every owner of a municipal drinking-water system or a regulated non-municipal drinking-water system shall ensure that: 1) all water supplied meets the requirements of the prescribed drinking-water quality standards; 2) at all times the drinking-water system, i) is operated in accordance with the requirements under this Act, ii) is maintained in a fit state of repair, and iii) satisfies the standards prescribed; 3)the drinking-water system is operated by persons having the required expertise for their operating functions; 4) any sampling, testing and monitoring required under this Act is complied with. The Act consists of 170 sections divided into 12 Parts as follows: Interpretation (I); Administration (II); General requirements (III); Accreditation of operating authorities (IV); Municipal drinking water systems (V); Regulated non-municipal drinking water systems (VI); Drinking water testing (VII); Inspection (VIII); Compliance and enforcement (IX); Appeals (X); Offences (XI); Miscellaneous (XII).