More can be done to ensure water in rural communities is safe, a report from Ontario’s auditor general says.
A look into the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and the collective monitoring of non-municipal water systems found the ministries lacked resources and processes to complete thorough investigations.
Between 2003 and 2022, 35 per cent of water samples from private wells and intakes tested positive for indicators of bacterial contamination, the auditor general’s report says.