Drinking Water Officers' Guide

The Drinking Water Officers’ Guide (the Guide) contains all provincial health policy related to drinking water. In 2007, the Minister of Health released the document to guide issuing officials (i.e., drinking water officers and public health engineers) in their decision making. An updated version of the Guide was published in 2024.

Structure of the Drinking Water Officers’ Guide

The Guide is divided into four parts: an Introduction, Part A, Part B and Part C (Appendices). The Introduction provides an overview of the Guide including updates in the most recent version. Part A provides guidance on interpreting the requirements in the Drinking Water Protection Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulation. Part B contains a series of guideline documents on technical and procedural issues. The appendices in Part C provide samples of forms and letters required for fulfilling certain sections of the legislation. The health authorities may use and/or require alternate versions of these forms.

New guideline publications are identified as Version 1.0. Sub-numbering (ex. Version 1.2, 1.3) indicates minor document edits. Substantive changes to a guideline are noted by a new version number (e.g., Version 2.0).