Material-semiotic practices of water quality testing and standards: the constitution of water contamination in Walkerton, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

During the summer of 2000, Walkerton, a normally quiet town in the heart of rural Ontario, became the unfortunate site of Canada's worst outbreak of drinking water contamination. This case, however tragic, provides an opportunity to critically examine the complex interplay between science, policy, and multiple forms of knowledge and practice that occurs in the contentious arena of water quality testing and safety standards in Ontario. What becomes obvious from this story is that conventional reductionist approaches and ideologies have been less able to contribute to our understanding of the growing problems associated with contemporary water quality practices because they conceal the process that underlie their development - a hybrid process that is as much about ethics and politics as it is science. Understanding water quality testing and safety standards' hybrid nature and their material–semiotic practices is imperative in acknowledging the risks and responsibilities associated with public health and environmental policy.