The Drinking Water Systems Regulation (O. Reg. 170/03) regulates municipal and private water systems that provide water to year-round residential developments and designated facilities that serve vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly. Designated facilities include children’s camps, child and youth care facilities, health care and social care facilities, a school or private school, a university, college or institution with authority to grant degrees.

Amendments to O. Reg. 170/03 came into effect on June 5, 2006. The amendments are risk-based and are designed to safeguard the quality of Ontario’s drinking water, while making the regulation more workable and affordable for residential drinking water systems and systems serving designated facilities. They add clarity and flexibility to the testing and operational regimes set out in Reg. 170 and in some cases, could reduce the cost of regulatory compliance.

Updating Information on an Existing Drinking Water System (DWS):

If you already have a DWS number and you are submitting an update to your DWS profile based on your previously submitted "Drinking Water System Categorization Questionnaire", "Drinking Water System Profile Information" and "Laboratory Services Notification", please email only the information that has changed from the earlier submission on the applicable form(s).

Where to send Forms and Notifications:

All Forms should be emailed to Reg170_formsubmission.moe@ontario.ca except in the following cases:

Laboratory Services Notification - fax to the Ministry of the Environment's Laboratory Services Branch at 416-235-6312.

Declaration of Professional Engineer - mail or fax to:

Ministry of the Environment 
Drinking Water Programs Branch
2 St. Clair Avenue West, 18th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M4V 1L5
Fax: 416-314-8716

Notice of Adverse Test Results

Notice of Adverse Test Results and Other Problems and Notice of Issue Resolution at Drinking Water Systems (PIBS #4444e) - fax to the Spills Action Centre at 1-800-268-6061 or (416) 325-3011 and your local Medical Officer of Health (MOH). 

List of Licensed Laboratories

For a current list of laboratories licensed to perform drinking water testing under Part VII of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 please see the following link:  http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/water/sdwa/licensedlabs.php.

Disclaimer

This page has been updated to reflect changes to regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act. It should be noted that these materials are intended to act as guides to the Acts and Regulations and should be used in conjunction with the Acts and Regulations. To be clear about your specific legal requirements, you must refer to the text of O.Reg 170 and the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002.