Environmental Science & Engineering - www.esemag.com - January 2004
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ISO 14001 and drinking water quality
By Gary Grant,B.Sc., CEA, EMS(LA), CEAS
A Safe Drinking Water Strategy has been emerging
in Ontario since the drinking water crisis in
Walkerton. A number of regulatory changes were
introduced, including the Safe Drinking Water Act
and, on June 1, 2003, the Drinking Water Systems
Regulation (O.Reg. 170/03) which replaced the Drinking
Water Protection Regulation for Larger Waterworks
(O.Reg. 459/00) and the Drinking Water Protection
Regulation for Smaller Waterworks Serving Designated
Facilities (O.Reg. 505/01).
These regulatory changes establish added onus for monitoring,
reporting, staff certification and requirements for
sustainable management. The Ontario Ministry of the
Environment (MOE) is committed to implementing all 93
recommendations made by Justice O’Connor in the
Walkerton Inquiry.
Seven people died and 2,300 became ill after
Walkerton’s water supply became contaminated with
manure spread on a farm near the town.
Recommendations in the Walkerton Report included
requirements for added responsibility and liability for
municipal councils and senior administrators, and to have
municipalities/operators establish management systems for
their water treatment facilities.
It is obvious to certified environmental auditors and
EMS auditors that implementing an Environmental
Management System in accordance with ISO 14001 at
water treatment facilities will provide a structured system
to manage all of the issues raised by Justice O’Connor,
including operational control, training, legal, and other
requirements, management review, roles and responsibilities,
monitoring, checking, and corrective action.
Although the O’Connor recommendations did not
specifically reference ISO 14001, and other management
systems are being considered, ISO 14001 includes the element
of Legal and Other Requirements which is not covered
under other quality standards such as ISO 9001. A
sound EMS conforming to ISO 14001, which addresses the
regulatory requirements and the views of the public, is
mandatory for avoiding repeats of the Walkerton crisis.
Post-Walkerton has established a public demand for
municipal water treatment facilities to maintain regulatory
compliance, as a minimum. The MOE has adopted a zero
tolerance approach to enforcement of municipal water
treatment facilities and has hired 50 new inspectors to carry
out detailed audits and inspections at each facility in the
province. The MOE has established a Municipal Drinking
Water Inspections Protocol which sets out requirements for
targeting and scheduling, pre-planning, document review,
physical inspection, tracking, and assessment and communication.
The MOE inspections include examination of the
source, treatment, and distribution components of the drinking
water system, whereas previous inspections were limited
to the treatment facility only. The MOE inspection also
requires an inspector to note any best practices to assist in
identifying possible improvement opportunities (for information
purposes).
Some municipalities have already recognized the advantages
of implementing ISO 14001 to control risk and to provide
added assurance to their customers (the public).
Collingwood Utilities is currently implementing ISO 14001
for their water and wastewater treatment facilities, which
will make it one of a handful of communities in Ontario to
accomplish this feat to date. Collingwood Utilities retained
XCG Consultants Ltd. to act as a facilitator to work with
plant staff and the Operations Manager over the course of
12 months to implement ISO
14001. Work included review of
ISO 14001 requirements, gap
analysis to assess how current practices
conform to ISO 14001, establishing
reasonable steps and
timetable for implementing ISO
14001, while recognizing that plant
staff were already busy carrying
out their daily plant operating
duties.
XCG assisted in the development
of user friendly EMS manual/
procedures, preparation of forms
and record lists, and establishment
of objectives, targets, and
Environmental Management programs
to implement improvements
to the Collingwood Utilities operating
practices.
In order to accommodate
Collingwood Utilities’ work schedules,
XCG met on-site with staff
for one day every two to four
months. Tasks were assigned between meetings to keep the
EMS implementation on track. This extended framework
allowed much of the work to be done meeting Collingwood
Utilities’ internal timetable and document drafting/review
using the internet. By establishing an EMS on a pilot scale
for a reasonable size facility as a first effort, Collingwood
Utilities is now in a position where they can take the lessons
learned, and the EMS developed for their water and
wastewater treatment plants and apply this to other facilities.
Implementing EMS will assist municipal staff in meeting
regulatory compliance, and continual improvement
efforts are sustained. This will enable all staff to participate
in the environmental management of their facility, achieving
the environmental quality that the public expects in its
drinking water.
Gary Grant is an Associate at XCG Consultants Ltd. in
Kitchener, Ontario. Contact: ggrant@xcg.com.
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