Abstract
In Ontario, small non-community drinking water systems are defined as systems that make drinking water available to the public and are not connected to a community drinking water system. This study, using qualitative research approach, examines the risk awareness and perceptions of small non-community drinking water system owners in providing safe drinking water to their clients and protecting their water source. Our study yields the need for developing a sustainable operation model for small non-community drinking water systems. The study results provide recommendations to the regulatory agency for effective and efficient administration of the program such as offering customized and affordable training opportunities and developing effective communication strategies for owners and operators.
Highlights
Waterborne disease outbreaks occur due to technical and/or operator failure at small, non-community drinking water systems throughout the developed world in places such as the Province of Ontario, Canada (Pons et al, 2015)
The majority of participants reported that their families used the water supplied by small non-community drinking water systems (SDWSs), which brought the conversations to a personal level and constituted a higher level of risk perception
Our results indicated key parameters to establish a sustainable operation for SDWS and led to a series of recommendations we make in this article to revamp the communication strategy for the SDWS owners
Summary
Waterborne disease outbreaks occur due to technical and/or operator failure at small, non-community drinking water systems throughout the developed world in places such as the Province of Ontario, Canada (Pons et al, 2015). What makes water quality management of Ontario’s small non-community drinking water systems (SDWSs), which include facilities such as community centres, golf courses, libraries, motels, restaurants, churches and gas stations, important and relevant is the significantly different regulatory regimes that govern municipal water supplies and SDWSs. SDWSs have essentially been excluded from Ontario’s relatively new source water protection framework. As a result of the current and emerging challenges including climate change effects, sustainable operation of SDWSs is crucial in ensuring the provision of safe drinking water.
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