Drinking Water Standards

The Nuisance and General Sanitation Regulation, under the Public Health Act, requires that water accessible to the public, that may be used as drinking water, be potable in all settings. Part 2 of the Regulation sets basic requirements for potable water; however, it does not include enough detail for operators to know if they are meeting the expectations. Alberta Health intends to create standards for non-municipal drinking water systems based on the Guidelines that are overseen by Alberta Health Services (AHS) and incorporate them into the Regulation. 

In the interim, Alberta Health has published the Public Health Guidelines for Non-Municipal Drinking Water so operators can see what the expectations for potable water will be and work toward the requirements that will be in the standards. The practice notes in the guidelines only provide tips for additional assurance of safety and are not intended to be requirements in the future standards.

The Guidelines apply to systems regulated under the Nuisance and General Sanitation Regulation, and are systems that are not overseen by Alberta Environment and Parks under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry or by the Government of Canada.

Specifically, the Guidelines, and eventually the standards, will apply to the following locations which provide drinking water to the public:   

• a public place using water from a stand-alone cistern;
• a public place located on federal land with water from any source;
• a public place located on a farmstead, with water from any source (e.g., staff accommodation or food processing);
• a public place located entirely on a single parcel with a groundwater source;
• a truck-fill station, using a groundwater source, that is not connected to a municipal drinking water system; and  
• water trucks/tanks used to transport potable water.

To better understand the impact on operators of adopting the Guidelines as a standard under the Regulation, we are inviting operators to provide their feedback through the survey below. 

The Guidelines are available here.