Report to: General Committee                                Date Report Authored: December 21, 2009

 

 

SUBJECT:                          2009 Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) Drinking Water Distribution System Inspection

PREPARED BY:               Fiona McArthur, Ext 2449

                                            Waterworks, Water Quality Coordinator

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

 

1)                  That the report titled “2009 Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) Drinking Water Distribution System Inspection” be received;

2)                  And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Not Applicable.

 

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to provide Council with an update on the findings of the Ministry of the Environment’s (MOE) inspection of the Markham Water Distribution System for 2009.

 

 

BACKGROUND:

The Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 (SDWA) states that a provincial officer may, at any reasonable time, conduct an inspection for the purpose of determining compliance with regulatory requirements contained within the Act, or any of the associated regulations. Traditionally, the MOE has conducted an annual inspection of Markham’s Water Distribution System.

 

The MOE conducted an announced, focused inspection on Tuesday, October 6, 2009.  The MOE inspector reviewed Waterworks procedures, policies and records for 2009 pertaining to the system both on-site and off-site following the physical inspection.  During the inspection, collection of samples processed by the MOE revealed the presence of fecal streptococci at a single sampling station.  The location was flushed and re-sampled and the issue was immediately resolved as per standard procedure.

 

The MOE inspection report was received on November 16, 2009 (see attachment “A”).  Markham was found to be in 100% compliance with the MOE’s Drinking Water Systems Regulation 170/03.  A recommendation which identified an area (proactive leak detection) for further improvement of Markham’s drinking water quality assurance was received. 

 

 

 

 

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

During the course of the inspection, the Town of Markham was found to be 100% in compliance with the MOE’s Drinking-Water Systems Regulation 170/03.

 

The MOE Inspector provided a single “Best Practice Issue and Recommendation” as set out below.  This recommendation was provided by the MOE to identify an area where drinking water quality assurance could be further improved or protected.  Please note the “Recommended Actions” convey information that the owner or operating authority should consider implementing in order to improve procedures and policies already in place and are not considered violations.  The recommendation is addressed and detailed in this report.

 

Following the completion of the audit, we became aware of a single instance where a reporting deficiency occurred with respect to our responsibilities to the MOE.  On September 10, 2009 an operator conducting hydrant flushing as part of a proactive water quality program recorded a combined chlorine reading of 0.14 mg/L.  Under the regulations, Markham, a distribution system using chloramination, is required to maintain a combined chlorine reading of greater than or equal to 0.25 mg/L at all times.  The operator did not recognize the need to report this information to his supervisor and as a result, the adverse water quality incident was not reported.  It is important to note that the operator conducted all corrective actions that would have been required to maintain a safe drinking water supply.  Upon detection of this deficiency, the adverse water quality incident was recorded retroactively.  Markham notified the MOE, as well as our Drinking Water Inspector.  Waterworks has conducted a root cause analysis and corrective actions are being implemented to ensure that a repeat of the incident will not occur.  The operator has been advised accordingly and we are awaiting further direction from the MOE.

 

The Town’s response and action plan developed as a result of the 2009 MOE inspection is outlined below and has been forwarded to the MOE.

 

 

MOE BEST PRACTICE ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

1.            MOE’s Recommendation No. 1 - System Efficiencies Recommendation:

 

(a)          It is recommended that the Town of Markham continue in its proactive leak detection program to identify factors contributing to unaccounted water loss.

 

Minimizing leakage, or water loss, improves the efficiency of the Drinking Water Distribution System and is an important part of water conservation.  The Town of Markham is intending to carry on working in this area in 2010 and going forward by implementing a District Management Area (DMA) technique.  This will allow for pressure management, flow monitoring, rehabilitation and repair programs.  Focused leak detection will follow from analyses of DMA and flow monitoring data.

 

DMA can support active leak detection by enabling flow trend analysis which will help us to:

·              identify more quickly when a burst occurs, reducing “awareness time’

·              identify smaller, harder to detect bursts (e.g. a single supply pipe burst)

·              find bursts more quickly, reducing “location time”

·              maintain total water system within DMA’s leakage at a lower level

 

The Town of Markham will initiate a multiple year project in 2010. We are planning to carry out an active leak detection program in prioritized, identified areas to locate and repair watermain leaks.

 

Also, Waterworks is intending to break down its water use into a variety of components that can be tracked, as well as better accounting for authorized unmetered water consumption. Doing so will help us to better understand the real water loss in Markham.

 

 

 

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)

Not Applicable                        

 

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS

Not Applicable

 

ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:

Not applicable

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Not applicable.

 

The report presented herein, communicates the results of the 2009 MOE Inspection held on October 6, 2009 and action items identified by Waterworks to the Drinking Water System Owner.

 

The undersigned represent the Top Management of Town of Markham’s Drinking Water Distribution System and by signing below, the Top Management of the Operating Authority has reviewed the MOE Best Practice Issues and Recommendations as identified in the MOE Inspection and as well any action items as identified by Waterworks.

 

RECOMMENDED

                            BY:    ________________________          ________________________

                                      Jerry Klaus,                                        Peter Loukes, P. Eng.

                                      General Manager, Waterworks           Director, Operations

 

 

 

 

 

                                      ________________________         

                                      Brenda Librecz

                                      Commissioner, Community & Fire Services

 

                                     

                                      ________________________         

                                      John Livey

                                      Chief Administrative Officer

 

 

 

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment “A” – Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Markham Distribution System / Drinking Water System Inspection Report, October 6, 2009.