Practices for collection and handling of drinking water samples
Get information on the collection, labelling, storage, transportation and chain-of-custody of all drinking water samples that fall under Ontario’s Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 and associated regulations.
About the guide
This document provides guidance to ministry staff on submitting drinking water samples for analysis to the ministry’s Laboratory Services Branch, including sample container, preservative and holding time requirements.
Purpose
This document provides guidance for:
- water treatment plant owners/operators or anyone who may collect and submit a sample to a licensed drinking water testing laboratory in Ontario to meet Ontario’s environmental regulatory and approval requirements
- provincial officers sampling to verify the integrity of a drinking water system’s self-monitoring information, or in response to adverse water quality notifications
Outcomes
This guide provides information to anyone who collects and submits a sample to a licensed drinking water testing laboratory in Ontario, as well as to all licensed laboratories.
This sampling guide was made so that the requirements of O. Reg. 248/03 section 9.(1)(a) can be met.
Updated: June 24, 2021
Published: March 14, 2017