'It's essential': northerners wondering about future of free drinking water testing

Public health officials in northern Ontario are worried about the future of free private water testing, despite assurances from province's health minister that the long-running program won't be cut.

For years, the province has covered the cost of testing for people who draw their drinking water from lakes, rivers or wells.

Last year, Ontario's Auditor General reported that Public Health Ontario had submitted a "modernization plan" to the province, including the "gradual discontinuation" of the private water testing program.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones said this spring that keeping the free testing is a priority for her government.

But Dr. Carol Zimbalatti, the medical officer of health for the Nipissing and Parry Sound districts, says she still has questions, especially since the auditor also mentioned the possibility of closing some of the 11 provincial-run testing labs.

"We don't know what the details are of Public Health Ontario's plan to phase out the testing. We don't know what the service delivery model will be," she said.

"We're concerned that if private water testing becomes less accessible due to increased cost or reduced services, it could lead to more cases of water-borne illness."

Local health units provide drop-off locations for the water samples and help cover the costs of transporting them to laboratories.

Zimbalatti says last year the North Bay-Parry Sound health unit collected more than7,800 private drinking water samples 9 per cent of which had signs of bacterial contamination but she believes"only a small proportion are taking advantage" of the free testing.

Public Health Sudbury and Districts reports that it collected 3,300 water samples last year, about 20 per cent of which were flagged for further testing.

It's estimatedthat as many as 3 million people in Ontario manage their own drinking water systems and don't rely on municipal tap water.

Richard Witham is one them. He is chair of the Greater Sudbury Watershed Alliance and gets his water right from Long Lake in the city's south-end.

"It's essential really, because there are a lot of people who rely on that water testing to make sure the purification system in their homes is functioning properly," said Witham.

He says cutting the free testing program "doesn't make any sense" and if the province hands it over to private labs, it could be a "real problem" getting the samples tested within the required two days, especially from rural parts of the north.

"If you're charging for it, then there will be some people who will decide that they're not going to pay for that," Witham said.