Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
Ottawa continues to have the safest drinking water in Ontario.
Despite concerns about a massive spill of raw sewage into the Ottawa River two years ago, the province’s chief drinking water inspector has declared city drinking water among the safest in the world.
The Ministry of the Environment inspected all of the city’s water production processes, including treatment, distribution, emergency planning, customer relations, staff training and certification, and water quality monitoring. The MOE gave Ottawa an inspection rating of 95% to 100%.
Most of Ottawa’s drinking water is drawn from the Ottawa River and treated at the city’s two water purification plants, Britannia and Lemieux Island. It is then distributed through a number of pumping stations, reservoirs and 2,700 km of water mains.
Water from these plants is tested regularly to check its physical, inorganic, organic, microbiological and radiological characteristics.
The results are then analyzed to confirm that quality is maintained as the water travels through the distribution system on its way to homes and workplaces.
“We recognize how important drinking water is and we take great pride in the quality of our water,” said Coun. Peter Hume, chairman of the planning and environment committee.
(C) Ottawa Sun