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6. drinking water Quality Management System Annual report for 2008
Services
Rapport annuel 2008 du
système de gestion de la qualité de l’eau potable
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Committee recommendationS
That Council:
1. Receive the Drinking Water Quality
Management System Annual Report for 2008 Services;
2. Approve the delegation of authority to
Operational Top Management, as defined in the report, to approve minor
revisions to the Operational Plan as described in Document 3 of this report;
and
3. Endorse the minor wording changes, as
set out in Document 3 of this report, to the Quality Management System Policy.
RecommandationS DU Comité
3. appuie les changements mineurs, tels
que décrits dans le Document 3 du présent rapport, au libellé de la Politique
relative au système de gestion de la qualité.
Documentation
1.
Deputy
City Manager's report, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability,
dated 23 November 2009 (ACS2009-ICS-ESD-0003).
2. Extract of Draft Minutes, 8 December 2009.
Report to/Rapport au:
Planning
and Environment Committee /
Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement
November 23, 2009 / le 23 novembre 2009
Submitted by/Soumis
par: Nancy
Schepers, Deputy City Manager/
Directrice municipale adjointe,
Infrastructure
Services and Community Sustainability/
Services d’infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités
Contact Person/Personne ressource:
Dixon Weir, General Manager/Directeur général
Environmental
Services/Services environnementaux
(613)
580-2424 x22002, Dixon.Weir@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2009-ICS-ESD-0003
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SUBJECT:
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drinking water
Quality Management System Annual report for 2008 Services
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OBJET:
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Rapport annuel 2008 du système de gestion de la qualité de l’eau
potable
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REPORT
RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Planning and Environment Committee and
Council:
1.
Receive the Drinking Water Quality Management
System Annual Report for 2008 Services;
2.
Approve the delegation of authority to
Operational Top Management, as defined in the report, to approve minor
revisions to the Operational Plan as described in Document 3 of this report;
and
3.
Endorse the minor wording changes, as set out
in Document 3 of this report, to the Quality Management System Policy.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité de
l’urbanisme et de l’environnement et le Conseil municipal :
1.
Que le Conseil prenne connaissance
du rapport annuel 2008 sur le système de gestion de la qualité de l’eau
potable;
2.
Que le Conseil approuve la
délégation de pouvoirs aux cadres supérieurs de
l’exploitation, tel qu’il est défini dans le présent rapport, en vue de l’approbation des modifications
mineures au Plan opérationnel, tel qu’il est décrit dans le Document 3 du
présent rapport;
3.
Que le Conseil appuie les
changements mineurs, tels que décrits dans le Document 3 du présent rapport, au
libellé de la Politique relative au système de gestion de la qualité.
BACKGROUND
On November 28,
2008, City Council endorsed the City’s Drinking Water Quality Management System
(QMS) also known as the Operational Plan (ACS2008-ICS-WWS-0020), which
is in conformance with Ministry of Environment standards. The City of Ottawa obtained its
accreditation as an Operating Authority by the Canadian General Standards Board
on April 29, 2009 (this was conveyed to Mayor and Members of Council under a
memo, Municipal Drinking Water Licences, dated August 18, 2009).
A requirement of
the Operational Plan is for the QMS Representative to ensure the management
review results, including identified deficiencies, decisions and action items,
are conveyed to Corporate Top Management and to the Owner (through
Council). The main purpose of this
report is to provide the Owner with an update on the implementation and the
performance of the QMS.
As the Owner of
the municipal drinking water systems, Council has a number of duties and
responsibilities under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which are related to
sections 11, 13, 16 and 17. The duties
of the Owner related to the Standard of Care are under section 19.
This section of
the Act (Standard of Care) is expected to come into force on January 1,
2013. On April 6, 2009, staff delivered
a presentation to members of Council outlining these duties and
responsibilities during a special meeting of the Planning and Environment
Committee.
As the Owner,
Council can be assured that the Standard of Care under the Safe Drinking Water
Act is being met by having Municipal Drinking Water Licences in place for all
of its drinking water systems. The
elements of the Licence include:
- Permit to take water
- Drinking water works permit
- Operational Plan
- Financial Plan
- Accredited operating authority
On August 18,
2009, the Environmental Services Department circulated a memo to Mayor and
Members of Council providing them with a status update on its Municipal
Drinking Water Licences. In summary,
the Owner has met the first three (3) elements listed above. The City has obtained licences for all of
its drinking water systems. There are 2
outstanding items that are required for the licences and they include the
submission of a Financial Plan and the full scope accreditation of the
Operating Authority.
The Financial Plan is a long-term financial plan intended to
demonstrate sustainability and it is the subject of a separate report that will
be forthcoming by Q1 2010 and will confirm that the Owner is on track for
complying with the submission deadline of July 1, 2010. On April 29,
2009, the City of Ottawa obtained its limited scope accreditation as an
Operating Authority. In order to
receive its full scope accreditation, the Operating Authority must have a
successful on-site external audit of its Operational Plan conducted by the
Canadian General Standards Board. The
Operating Authority is also on track for submitting its application for the
external audit to the Board by April 29, 2010.
Drinking Water Quality Management System Report 2009
As mentioned
previously, the City of Ottawa has an Operational Plan that meets the MOE’s
standards, and the Operating Authority has been working since the beginning of
the year to implement the operational procedures. The following table describes the QMS management structure and
roles and responsibilities:
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Definitions of
the QMS management structure
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Top Management
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Operational Top Management
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Operating
Authority
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Please refer to Document 1 for the
associated organizational charts that further define Top Management, the
Quality Management Representative and the Operating Authority.
Every year, Top
Management must conduct a management review of the following items:
a)
Incidents of regulatory non-compliance
b)
Incidents of adverse drinking water
tests
c)
Deviations from critical control point
limits and response actions
d)
Efficacy of the risk assessment
process
e)
Results of audits (internal and
external)
f)
Results of relevant emergency response
testing
g)
Operational performance
h)
Raw water supply and drinking water
quality trends
i)
Follow-up action items from previous
management reviews
j)
Status of management action items
identified between reviews
k)
Changes that could affect the QMS
l)
Summary of consumer feedback
m) Resources needed to maintain the QMS
n)
Results of the infrastructure review
o)
Operational Plan currency, content and
updates
p)
Summary of staff suggestions
Please refer
to Document 2 for the minutes of the management review meeting of Corporate Top
Management.
In summary, there were no major issues of
non-compliance or incidents of adverse drinking water tests that resulted in
adverse health impacts. Compliance
related issues are detailed every year in the Summary Reports that are provided
to Council by March 31st of each year. The latest report was delivered to Members of Council on March
31, 2009 (2008 Summary Report) and was listed as Information Previously
Distributed (ACS2009-ICS-WWS-0009) at the Planning and Environment Committee on
April 14, 2009.
The Owner, Top Management and Operating Authority
have all endorsed the Operational Plan and are committed to continual
improvement. The management review
indicated that additional resources would be required to sustain the QMS. In particular additional resources are
required for delivering the Drinking Water Operations Branch asset management
program. Additional resources will be
identified in the 2010 operating budget pressures.
The Operational Plan is a document that is available
for public review. Once the Operating
Authority has obtained its full scope accreditation, the external website will
be updated to indicate how the public can review the Plan. It should be noted that element eight of the
Operational Plan is not available for public review as it contains confidential
information regarding the risk assessment of the city’s drinking water systems.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no rural implications associated
with any of the recommendations in this report.
CONSULTATION
Public consultation is not required.
COMMENTS BY THE WARD COUNCILLOR(S)
On November 28,
2008, City Council endorsed the City’s Drinking Water Quality Management System
(QMS) also known as the Operational Plan (ACS2008-ICS-WWS-0020). It is a requirement of the Quality
Management System to provide an update to the Owner (Council).
LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are no legal/risk management
impediments to implementing any of the recommendations in this report.
CITY
STRATEGIC PLAN
This report corresponds to the Governance
Priority, G1 – Increase the appropriate delegation of authority to Standing
Committees, ward Councillors and staff to improve Council’s ability to provide
strategic direction and reduce transactional approvals.
TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS
N/A
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
This report has
no financial implications.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document
1 – Organizational charts of the DWQMS management structure
Document 2 – Minutes of the Management Review meeting
of Corporate Top Management (June 18, 2009)
Document 3 – Delegation of Authority to Operational Top Management to
approve minor reisions to the Operational Plan and minor changes to the QMS policy
DISPOSITION
That staff implement recommendations 2 and 3,
as approved by Committee and Council.
Document 1
Corporate Top Management
Operational
Top Management
Operating Authority
Document 2
Period of
this review: Calendar Year 2008
Meeting Date: June 18, 2009
Meeting
Time: 9:00
a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Attendees: Dixon Weir, Tammy Rose, Wayne Newell, Nancy
Schepers, Allison Black (minutes)
Regrets: Lawrence
King, John Moser
Supporting documents:
·
Operational Top
Management Review minutes
·
Key Performance
Indicator (KPI) Summary
·
Power Point
presentation
Agenda Items
i)
Introductions
ii)
Background
iii)
Status of DWQMS
Accreditation
iv)
Management Review
Items a-p Report (Key Findings)
a)
Incidents of
regulatory non-compliance
b)
Incidents of
adverse drinking water tests
c)
Deviations from
critical control point limits and response actions
d)
Efficacy of the
risk assessment process
e)
Results of audits
(internal and external)
f)
Results of
relevant emergency response testing
g)
Operational
performance
h)
Raw water supply
and drinking water quality trends
i)
Follow-up action
items from previous management reviews
j)
Status of
management action items identified between reviews
k)
Changes that could
affect the QMS
l)
Summary of
consumer feedback
m)
Resources needed
to maintain the QMS
n)
Results of the
infrastructure review
o)
Operational Plan
currency, content and updates
p)
Summary of staff
suggestions
v) New
Business
q)
QMS Policy -
proposed revision
r)
Approval process
(minor revisions of the Operational Plan)
s)
DWQMS Full Scope
Accreditation timeline
t)
Report to Council (format, items to
provide)
Background Discussion
The
Drinking Water Quality Management System (DWQMS) management structure was
reviewed and Operational Top Management and Corporate Top Management were
defined.
Status of DWQMS
Accreditation
Our first stage of DWQMS Accreditation was achieved on April 29, 2009 when Ottawa became an ‘Accredited Operating Authority’ (Limited Scope – Entire DWQMS).
Limited Scope Accreditation involves a desk top audit of the DWQMS
Operational Plan only.
The Operating Authority must apply for ‘Full Scope – Entire DWQMS’
accreditation within 12 months (i.e. no later than April 2010). We must be fully
implemented no later than end of 2009 to provide sufficient evidence for the
external audit that is a requirement of Full Scope Accreditation.
License Application Update
Our draft Municipal Drinking Water Licenses (MDWL) and Drinking Water
Works Permits (DWWP) are undergoing final review by City staff. The MDWL and DWWP will replace the existing
Ontario Certificates of Approval for each of our drinking water systems.
Staff have
reviewed the differences between the existing Certificate of Approval process
and the new license and permit applications.
As a result the Transfer of Review Program
for water will cease and replaced with pre-approved
authorized works (watermains) under the DWWP.
Pre-authorizations must meet minimum criteria and is subject to MOE
annual inspections. This impacts on developers
and the City’s Panning & Growth Management Department, and also impacts on
where the documentation is filed.
Management Review Items a-p Report
a) Incidents of regulatory
non-compliance
i)
MOE Inspection Reports
All drinking water facilities were in full compliance with MOE
requirements during the review period, with one exception at Carp well
system. In this instance, well system
logs did not record all communication failures of the
free chlorine analyzer at the Carp Arena.
We have since revised and implemented procedures to avoid a future
occurrence. MOE has
acknowledged and accepted the corrective action.
ii)
Operator Certification Records
The previous management
review noted a number of expired operator licenses. Since that time, new processes have been put in place to ensure
that all operator licenses are current.
This includes a new Operator Certification
Expiry report issued quarterly by the Training Coordinator, earlier submission
of renewal documentation and informing Operators that the maintenance of valid
licenses is their responsibility.
iii) Water Flow Rates
All
facilities were in full compliance with permitted water flow rate limits.
iv) Water Quality Testing Records
Ontario Regulation 170/03
requires water quality testing of drinking water. Ottawa has a robust program that exceeds minimum sampling
frequency requirements. In 2008, all
requirements were met with the following exceptions: Vars
Well, Dec. 21-28 (chlorine residual tests); King’s Park Well #1 (follow up
sampling - radiological result over screening value); and Britannia &
Lemieux Is. WPPs (periodic non-functional filter turbidity analyzers which may
go undetected for a period of time).
Procedures will be put in place to ensure that these exceptions do not
reoccur (see OTM action items and action items below).
v) Community Lead Testing Regulation
Over 360 residences,
buildings and distribution points were sampled for lead in 2008. All drinking water systems complied with the
regulation. Minor non-compliance was
related to notification time limit for customers. Internal procedures have been revised to ensure notification within
prescribed time limits.
Revised MOE Orders for waste management at the Britannia & Lemieux
Island Water Purification Plants (WPP) were issued on June 27, 2008 by the
province. Full compliance was achieved
before the Aug. 31, 2008 deadline and MOE has since lifted the Orders.
MOE requires that Operations Manuals and all
documentation be in place before commissioning of new facilities. This documentation was not finalized and the
associated training not completed prior to commissioning the Waste Management
Facilities, which resulted in an MOE investigation. The manuals and training have now been completed.
An amended
Environment Canada Inspector’s Direction was issued in 2005 for a spill of
sludge effluent from filter backwash at the Lemieux Island WPP. Compliance was achieved Aug. 31, 2008 when
we complied with the provincial order.
Environment Canada has formally cancelled its investigation into the
spill.
Regulatory requirements for annual & summary
reports stipulate that annual reports be made available to public, that
summary reports be provided to the Owner (Council) and that these reports be
available by the end of the first quarter for the previous calendar year. All annual reports were completed, submitted
and disclosed within the prescribed time limits. The annual reports are posted on the City’s webpage
Sixteen Adverse Water
Quality Incidents (AWQIs) were identified in 2008, which is a decrease from 87
AWQIs identified in 2006 and 29 in 2007.
The reduction can be attributed to the implementation of improved
disinfection strategies. All MOE notification requirements for AWQIs were met and corrective
actions and resampling was conducted for each incident. None of these incidents resulted in adverse
health impacts and none were persistent (i.e. flushing & re-sampling
resolved the issue).
A total of 41
Critical Control Limit (CCL) deviations for
the Critical Control Points (CCP) within the central water treatment and
distribution systems were identified in 2008.
In all cases, MOE water quality standards were consistently met and both
water purification plants were in compliance with their Certificates of
Approval. In general, plant operators
took appropriate actions to mitigate the problems and restore the treatment
process. For 2 of the 41 events
however, operational water quality targets were not met. Further analysis is being conducted to
determine root causes and preventative measures for these two events.
It should be noted
that although operational targets were not met, the quality of the drinking
water was in compliance with the water quality regulations at all times.
The DWQMS Risk
assessment process was reviewed in 2008 and modifications were made to list of
CCPs. Staff have recommended a more
comprehensive review in 2009, which will be conducted in November 2009.
The results of the 2008 Internal Audit were reported in the last review
period. Management responses and action
items were subsequently developed for each finding. Of the ten non-conformances with the DWQM
Standard, 60% have been addressed and over half of the 59 ‘opportunities for
improvement’ have also been addressed.
Outstanding actions items will be completed by the end of 2009.
No non-conformances were
noted during the external accreditation audit (this was a desk top audit of our
Operational Plan, IERP and associated SOPs), however three minor opportunities for
improvement were suggested. These will
be addressed in the next edition of the DWQMS Operational Plan. As mentioned previously, no external on-site audits have been conducted to date.
Sixty-six Key Performance Indicators are being
tested to track operational performance within the Operating Authority,
addressing customer services, water distribution, water production and water
quality. Data has been gathered for
2006-2008, however targets have not yet been set. The KPIs will be refined in 2009. Staff are developing responses to any evident
negative trends (e.g. slight increase in response time to customer complaints
or water quality concerns).
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Action Item
CTM g-1 – Develop targets for each Operational KPI and report at the next
management review.
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Tammy Rose
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Q1 2010
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The 2008 raw water trends were typical of past years. The current treatment process is robust is
able to deal with all fluctuations. Key
results for 2008 included elevated levels of
Crypto/Giardia in raw water in the first quarter, the first ever detection of
pesticides (in 1 of 4 samples) and the occasional detection of pharmaceuticals
in raw water. It is important to note
that Tritium results were consistently well below the current health standard.
The Provincial
standard for tritium is proposed to change from 7,000 Bq/L to a running-annual
average of 20 Bq/L, based on a lifetime cancer risk. The MOE-accredited laboratory’s analytical method detection limit
is 1,000 Bq/L, which creates a challenge.
Our annual average is currently 5-8 Bq/L (analyzed by federal Radiation
Protection Bureau – detection limit 4 Bq/L).
A current discussion paper released by the Ontario Drinking Water
Advisory Council does not include corrective action requirements.
AECL Chalk River, the
primary source of tritium, is a federal facility, therefore under federal
regulations. A remaining action item
from the September 2008 management review meeting is to meet with AECL to
ensure that Ottawa receives regular reports on discharges to the Ottawa River,
including timely reports of spills (this action item is being tracked through
the DWQMS continual improvement process).
Our experience to
date indicates the need for additional resources to fully implement the
DWQMS. These resources are required primarily for
continual improvement of the QMS. We
have redirected existing resources to support QMS implementation, which has
created gap in asset management program delivery.
A regulatory
compliance position (non-QMS) is also being recommended. Pending the final reorganization, we
anticipate requesting an additional 3.0 FTEs in the 2010 budget.
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Action Item
CTM m-1 – Identify new required resources for the DWQMS to bring forward in
the 2010 budget.
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Tammy Rose
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Oct. 31, 2009
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Growth related and
non-growth related infrastructure needs are considered in the annual
review. The growth related review
considered the Official Plan, the Infrastructure Management Plan (IMP), the
Development Charges study, etc.
The non-growth review included an assessment of
renewal, upgrades, optimization and reliability improvements required under the
distribution
rehabilitation, distribution operational improvements and production facilities
asset management programs. For distribution
projects we are working on better defining the needs list in order to identify
priorities.
For production projects, consistent
under-spending supports the need for additional FTEs to implement
projects. More rigor in tracking asset
management for production facilities is required. This will be achieved through the development of an asset
management strategy.
City
of Ottawa Quality Management System Policy
The City of
Ottawa is committed to consistently delivering drinking water of the highest
quality to the people of Ottawa. In particular, the City makes the following
commitments:
1.
To
provide a reliable supply of safe
drinking water to the consumer;
2. To
meet
or exceed, applicable
legislation and regulations;
3.
To implement, maintain and continually improve the Quality
Management System, infrastructure and
technology;
4.
To deliver excellent customer
service through responsiveness, accountability and innovation.
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Action Item
CTM q-1: Propose these changes to the
Planning and Environment Committee (PEC)/Council.
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Tammy Rose
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Q4 2009
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Operational Top Management
recommends that we allow minor revisions to operational plan to be made with
reduced approval/endorsement requirements.
Minor changes would be delegated for approval to Operational and
Corporate Top Management, instead of bringing forward all changes to
PEC/Council.
Substantive changes to the Operational Plan would still require full
approval by Council.
Our
Limited Scope – Entire DWQMS accreditation is valid for 12 months. OTM approved applying for Full Scope –
Entire DWQMS accreditation in early April 2010 to allow sufficient time to
fully implement the DWQMS.
The report to
Council is to include the CTM meeting minutes and all recommendations. This should be further discussed with Peter
Hume, the PEC Chair.
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Action Item –
Consult with Nancy Schepers & Peter Hume to determine best way to bring forward.
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Dixon Weir
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Q4 2009
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i.
CTM Approvals
Corporate Top Management approved:
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The 2009 management review summary report and
recommendations;
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Proposed revisions to the QMS Policy;
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The proposed change to the approval process
for minor revisions of the Operational Plan;
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The timeline for applying for Full Scope –
Entire DWQMS Accreditation;
Delegation of
Authority to Operational Top Management to
Approve Minor
Revisions to the Operational Plan
The purpose of
the proposed delegation of authority for approval is to allow for minor
revisions to the Operational Plan to be approved by Operational Top Management
and only seeking Council endorsement for significant revisions.
Minor
revisions of the Operational Plan, or individual files making up the
Operational Plan would require Operational Top Management approval, whereas all
major revisions of the Operational Plan require Corporate Top Management
approval and Council endorsement. Minor
revisions would include updates to tables, corrections of editing errors,
changes to names or terms, etc. Major
revisions would involve a substantive change to one or more System Procedures.
Minor Changes to the QMS Policy
City
of Ottawa Quality Management System Policy
The
City of Ottawa is committed to consistently delivering drinking water of the
highest quality to the people of Ottawa. In particular, the City makes the following
commitments:
1. To provide a reliable
supply of safe drinking
water to the consumer;
2.
To meet
or exceed, applicable
legislation and regulations;
3. To implement, maintain and continually improve
the Quality Management System, infrastructure
and technology;
4. To deliver excellent
customer service through responsiveness, accountability and innovation.
