Nova Scotia’s proposed provincial guidelines to protect municipal drinking water systems from the harmful parasite cryptosporidium will affect many communities. The changes to the province’s treatment standards for municipal drinking water systems come after many municipalities have built or renovated multimillion-dollar water treatment facilities as part of the Nova Scotia water protection strategy. Both the federal and provincial governments have been instructing municipalities to use more effective and expensive technologies such as ultraviolet rays, ozone or chlorine dioxide against the harmful micro-organism. Ozone and UV are used extensively both in the US and Canada for treating cryptosporidium.
The provincial legislation enacted in 2002 gave municipalities six years to provide residents with fully treated water. The guidelines were put in place following the deaths of seven people in Walkerton, Ont., in 2000 after drinking water was contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Cryptosporidium can cause severe headaches and diarrhea and can’t be eliminated by chlorinating the water supply.
Municipalities have until March 31, 2010 to offer comment on the proposals. Compliance will likely be required by 2013.