Media Release (Feb. 24) The Town of Fort Erie is pleased to announce the release of the 2016 Annual Water Quality Report to consumers.
“This report confirms our commitment to deliver high-quality drinking water to our customers,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop. “It contains important information about the Town of Fort Erie’s water treatment and distribution system, and how we work in close collaboration with the Niagara Region.”
Fort Erie’s Drinking Water System is a split jurisdictional model between the Niagara Region (NR) and the Town of Fort Erie (TOFE). The NR is responsible for water treatment, trunk watermain facilities, water storage, and residual disinfection. The TOFE owns and operates the Fort Erie Distribution System, purchases water from the NR and supplies it to serviced areas in Fort Erie. It is monitored at the source, during treatment, after treatment and within the distribution system. Samples are taken at the intakes, at the treatment plant and at distribution sites and then sent to certified laboratories for testing. Some tests are conducted on site such as a chlorine analysis.
In 2016, Ministry of the Environment & Climate Change (MOECC) conducted inspection audits in February and November of the Town’s water distribution system. The purpose of an inspection audit is to ensure municipalities are complying with the conditions of the Drinking Water Works Permit (DWWP) issued by the MOECC on an annual basis. The DWWP ensures a municipality has a descriptive scope of its water distribution system and the authority to establish and alter the system.
During the inspections, the MOECC identified one non-compliant issue per visit. Both issues were related to a portion of the Town’s mapping record keeping for new watermain and capital construction projects. This resulted in Town staff developing a new standard operating procedure and project tracking forms to ensure all watermain project works would result in satisfying the conditions of the DWWP. Although these changes satisfied the MOECC enough to be in compliance, during the second inspection, the MOECC challenged staff once again to enhance the newly developed procedure. As a result, staff developed additional process improvements to ensure that it will remain compliant in the future regarding those specific conditions.
Despite receiving two non-compliant issues, the Town received a report rating average of 99 per cent for 2016 and a renewed Certificate of Accreditation as an approved Operating Authority for the Town’s water utility.
A copy of the report, and previous reports, can be made available upon request at no charge. A copy of the report, and previous reports, can be found at www.forterie.ca (Residents > Water & Wastewater) as well as monthly water quality summaries.
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