Northern Health is looking pretty good according to the latest progress report on the Water Protection Act.

“We haven’t had any outbreaks of illness connected to water systems, and we have had the lowest number of boil water advisories” says Doctor David Bowering, Medical Health Officer for Northern Health.

What makes those facts even more impressive is that Northern Health has one of the largest numbers of small water systems spread throughout a vast land area. “Smaller water systems ( fewer than 300 connections) provide greater challenges, because there are more difficulties in upgrading infrastructure and its is difficult to find properly trained service operators”

Of the 49 boil water advisories issued in the past year, 33 involved systems that served temporary populations like parks, or lodges that are only open for part of the year and the remaining 16 involved small businesses. “In all, these boil water advisories involved water delivery to ½ of 1% of the northern population.

Bowering says he has worked in public health for years, and has noticed a marked improvement in water quality issues “We are now looking at it from source to tap, the whole system.  We have recognized you cannot manage a system in isolation.” he says a memorandum of agreement will soon be signed with various Provincial Ministries like Agriculture, Forestry and Mining whose operations have a potential impact on water quality.

For the North, there is one area about water quality that is trickling through the cracks.

Private wells.

Currently there is no regulation which requires a developer or home builder to ensure the quality of water in an individual well meets any standards. “We recommend that builders have the water tested, but there is no regulation requiring them to do so.”

The report released this week indicated this was one of the gaps in the system.

For Bowering, the report released this week (click here for the full document) shows that when it comes to protecting the quality of our water, there  is progress being made   " We’re on the right track”