Drinking Water

You can stay up-to-date on the safety of your drinking water by:

• Viewing the drinking water sample results we track for small to medium-sized community water systems and for selected beaches
• Finding out if your drinking water system is on a drinking water advisory
• Visiting HealthLinkBC for information about disinfecting your drinking water and other related topics

If you have concerns about your drinking water, read the steps listed below.

Private drinking water is a well or surface water intake that serves only one single-family home. There is minimal regulatory oversight on private drinking water. The homeowner is responsible for ensuring the water is safe for drinking, cooking and household sanitation. Private water system owners have a responsibility to maintain information and apply reasonable steps to monitor their source water and stay informed. This becomes a legal requirement for the landlord where renting. Those that use private water sources should be aware of hazards and take steps to ensure their tap water is safe.

Monitor your source water. Surface water and well water sources should be tested. Please see the resource section below on how to test your water and for private drinking water testing labs. Surface water sources and many ground water sources should be disinfected. For more information, visit Disinfecting Drinking Water. Learn more about registering your well and Water Licenses & Approvals. 

Private water users should be cautious and ensure that strategies and treatments are employed at all times to address all potential hazards in the water supply, including algal toxins.

If you suspect your water is impacted by an algae bloom report the bloom to Algae Watch (gov.bc.ca).
Certain blooms may contain toxins. Review Cyanobacteria Blooms (Blue-green Algae). During a cyanobacteria bloom, consider using an alternate source of drinking water for you, your family, and any pets or livestock. Boiling the water will NOT remove toxins. 

There are occasions (e.g. spills, pollution) when Environmental Public Health becomes aware of risks (bacteriological, chemical, or physical) to source water. Interior Health posts advisories for regulated systems (not private drinking water) on Drinking Water for Everyone.

• Drinking Water for Everyone
• Ministry of Health - drinking water quality
• Health Canada – water quality guidelines
• Health Canada – private well water safety
• Disinfecting Drinking Water (HealthLink BC)
• Water Well Disinfection (gov.bc.ca) - How to disinfect your well with a simple chlorination method
• Well water testing (HealthLink BC) - What to test for in your well water and how to get your well water tested
• Labs available for testing drinking water (PHSA) - A list of labs approved by the public health authority officer for drinking water microbiology testing
• Public Beaches - monitoring and health information on Algae Blooms
• Algae Watch Observation Map (gov.bc.ca) for reported blooms