Report to/Rapport au:
Planning and Environment Committee /
Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement
and Council / et au conseil
18 October 2010 / le 18 octobre 2010
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
SUBJECT: |
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OBJET: |
Rapport annuel 2009 du système de gestion de la qualité de l’eau potable |
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Planning and Environment Committee and Council receive the 2009 Drinking Water Quality Management System Annual Report.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement et le Conseil municipal prennent connaissance du rapport annuel 2009 du système de gestion de la qualité de l’eau potable.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A requirement of the Ontario Drinking Water Quality Management Standard (DWQMS) Operational Plan is for the Quality Management System (QMS) Representative to ensure annual management review results are conveyed to Top Management and the Owner (Council). This report fulfills that requirement.
This report contains a summary of information that Top Management must review annually in accordance with the Management Standard.
The DWQMS is the key tool that supports and ensures that Council, as the Owner of the drinking water systems, is meeting its duties and responsibilities under the Safe Drinking Water Act and Standard of Care.
The DWQMS has been inherently designed for continual improvement, which is the foundation of the DWQMS Policy endorsed by Top Management and Council.
The current review considers the entire 2009 calendar year (the “review period”) and where appropriate, touches on activities continuing in 2010. The review encompasses all six drinking water systems owned and operated by the City of Ottawa, namely: the central system (Britannia and Lemieux Island Water Purification Plants and central water distribution system) and the Carp, Richmond-Kings Park, Munster Hamlet, Greely-Shadow Ridge and Vars well systems.
The DWQMS sets out a mandatory list of 16 issues to be examined during annual reviews and reports. These are dealt with specifically in the Discussion section of this report.
The detailed results have been reviewed by Top Management in accordance with the DWQMS management review system procedure.
Highlights of the review findings are:
- The City’s seven drinking water production facilities scored 100 per cent across the board after detailed Ministry of the Environment inspections;
- The water quality testing program meets or is better than regulations;
- Maintenance procedures are appropriate;
- Any shortcomings are minor and addressed in an appropriate and timely manner;
- The operator certification program is working; and
- Staff is following procedures and showing a commitment to continual improvement.
In short, the 2009 Annual Report shows the DWQMS has been implemented successfully, identifies no major issues, and reinforces the fact that the City of Ottawa produces and supplies some of the best-quality and safest drinking water in the world.
Financial Implications:
This report has no financial implications.
Public Consultation/Input:
Public consultation is not required.
RÉSUMÉ
L’une des exigences du plan d’exploitation établi en vertu de la Norme de gestion de la qualité de l'eau potable de l’Ontario (NGQEP) est que le représentant du système de gestion de la qualité (SGQ) de l’eau potable doit veiller à ce que les résultats de l’examen annuel de la gestion soient transmis à l’exploitant du système d’eau potable et à la direction (par l’intermédiaire du Conseil). Le présent rapport vise principalement à présenter à l’exploitant un compte-rendu de la mise en place et du rendement du SGQ.
Dans les lignes qui suivent est résumée l’information dont la direction doit prendre connaissance chaque année conformément aux Normes de gestion de la qualité de l’eau potable de l’Ontario.
Le SGQ de l’eau potable est la pièce maîtresse du Conseil qui, en tant qu’exploitant des réseaux d’eau potable, mise sur ce système pour honorer ses devoirs et ses responsabilités définies par la Loi de 2002 sur la salubrité de l’eau potable, notamment à l’article concernant le degré de diligence.
Le SGQ de l’eau potable, dans sa structure même, est spécialement conçu pour l’amélioration continue, qui est la pierre angulaire de la politique en la matière approuvée par le Conseil et la direction.
L’examen porte sur toute l’année civile 2009 (la « période d’évaluation ») et, le cas échéant, sur les activités qui se poursuivent en 2010. La direction a examiné la version détaillée des résultats comme l’exige la procédure systématique d’examen de la gestion du système de gestion de la qualité (SGQ) de l’eau potable. Cet examen couvre les six réseaux d’eau potable que possède et exploite la Ville d’Ottawa, à savoir : le réseau central (usines de purification de l’eau de Britannia et de l’île Lemieux et réseau central de distribution de l’eau) et les systèmes de puits de Carp, de Richmond-Kings Park, de Munster Hamlet, de Greely-Shadow Ridge et de Vars.
Selon le SGQ, l’examen et le rapport annuels doivent porter sur 16 points qui sont abordés plus précisément dans la section « Exposé » du présent rapport.
Les résultats détaillés ont été examinés par la direction conformément à la procédure du système d’examen de la gestion.
Les principaux points des conclusions de l’examen sont :
- Les installations de production d’eau potable ont obtenu une note parfaite sur tous les points suite aux inspections du ministère de l’Environnement;
- Le programme d’analyse de la qualité de l’eau satisfait à tous les règlements ou les dépasse;
- Les procédures d’entretien sont adéquates;
- Les lacunes cernées sont mineures et ont été corrigées rapidement;
- Le programme d’accréditation de l’exploitant est efficace;
- Le personnel suit les procédures et fait preuve d’un engagement à l’amélioration continue.
Bref, le rapport annuel de 2009 montre que les NGQEP ont été appliquées, qu’aucun problème majeur n’a été cerné et renforce le fait que la Ville d’Ottawa produit et fournit une des meilleures et des plus sécuritaires eaux au monde.
Répercussions financières
Le présent rapport ne fait état d’aucune incidence financière.
Consultation publique et suggestions
Aucune consultation publique n’est requise.
BACKGROUND
On November 28, 2008, City Council endorsed the City’s 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 interim accreditation[1] as an Operating Authority from 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 are conveyed to Top Management and to the Owner (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 described in sections 11, 13, 16 and 17 of the Act. 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:
- A permit to take water;
- A drinking water works permit;
- An operational plan;
- A financial plan; and,
- An accredited operating authority.
The final requirement is for the Operating Authority to receive its Full Scope Accreditation, and in order to receive it, 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 submitted the application for the external audit to the Board on April 26, 2010, and is waiting for further information on the timing for this audit.
Since the 2008 Annual Report, the City submitted a Financial Plan to demonstrate its long-term sustainability to the Province. For more details on the Financial Plan, please refer to report ACS2010-ICS-ESD-0021 which was approved by Council on June 23, 2010.
DISCUSSION
The following table describes the QMS management structure and roles and responsibilities:
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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The following is a summary of information that Top Management must review annually in accordance with the Ontario DWQMS. The current review considers the entire 2009 calendar year (the “review period”) and where appropriate, touches on activities continuing in 2010. The detailed results have been reviewed by Top Management in accordance with the DWQMS management review system procedure. The following 16 aspects must be considered in the annual review:
1. Incidents of regulatory non-compliance
2. Incidents of adverse drinking water tests
3. Deviations from critical control point limits and response actions
4. Efficacy of the risk assessment process
5. Results of audits (internal and external)
6. Results of relevant emergency response testing
7. Operational performance
8. Raw water supply and drinking water quality trends
9. Follow-up action items from previous management reviews
10. Status of management action items identified between reviews
11. Changes that could affect the QMS
12. Summary of consumer feedback
13. Resources needed to maintain the QMS
14. Results of the infrastructure review
15. Operational Plan currency, content and updates
16. Summary of staff suggestions
The review of these aspects encompasses all six drinking water systems owned and operated by the City of Ottawa, namely: the central system (Britannia and Lemieux Island Water Purification Plants and central water distribution system) and the Carp, Richmond-Kings Park, Munster Hamlet, Greely-Shadow Ridge and Vars well systems.
Management Review Items
a) Incidents of regulatory non-compliance
i. Ministry of Environment (MOE) inspection reports: All waterworks were inspected during 2009 or early 2010 by the MOE. There were no items of regulatory non-compliance and no Best Practice recommendations made. For the 2009 inspection year, each water system received an inspection rating of 100 per cent. This represents a considerable achievement for the Drinking Water Services (DWS) staff and its business partners.
ii. Operator Certification Records: All of Ottawa’s water treatment and distribution systems were operated at all times by certified operators. Considerable management effort and documentation is required to provide training and maintain valid certificates for the 170 certified operators and staff are continuing to streamline and document the certification and renewal process.
iv. Water Quality Testing Records: The City of Ottawa water quality testing program has been intentionally designed to provide more than the required amount of sampling and testing to meet regulations. All Ontario requirements for microbiological, inorganic and organic testing were met with two minor exceptions whereby only six of the required seven weekly chorine residual tests for the Vars well system were conducted. In one case this was due to a frozen hydrant, and the other instance was due to the sampling point not being accessible due to the building closure. The robustness of the sampling program will be improved and staff will identify other back up sampling locations in order to prevent a reoccurrence.
v. Community Lead Testing Regulation: As required by the lead testing regulation, community lead testing was carried out during the first quarter of 2009 and again in the summer. The 90th percentile lead concentrations were found to be within the 10.0 mg/L criteria for all six water systems (central = 6.2 mg/L; well systems = 1.4 – 1.7 mg/L).
vi. MOE Orders: There were no MOE Orders in effect in 2009.
vii. Environment Canada Orders: There were no Environment Canada Orders in effect during 2009. The City received a Warning Letter under the Fisheries Act (s. 36(3)) in response to a Dec. 2009 release of water containing sodium hypochlorite (50 mg/l) to the Ottawa River at Lemieux Island. The release occurred during the disinfection of a water main following maintenance. To prevent a reoccurrence, the applicable Standard Operating Procedure was revised and staff has been trained on the revised procedure.
viii. Annual and Summary Reports: O.Reg.170/03 requires the Owner and the Operating Authority to prepare Annual Reports and Summary Reports for each of the waterworks. The seven Annual Reports for 2009 were completed within the required timeframe (by February 28, 2010) and were posted on the City of Ottawa’s website the following week. Furthermore, the Summary Reports for 2009 were completed by March 31, 2010 and were distributed to City Council as required by the regulation.
b) Incidents of adverse drinking water tests
The drinking water regulations identify several Indicators of Adverse Water Quality Incidents (AWQI) for which the waterworks must immediately notify health officials and the MOE, and carry out specific corrective actions. During January to December 2009, there were a total of 13 AWQI, the lowest to date. This improvement can be attributed primarily to operational changes and in part to the implementation of the DWQMS.
For each event, DWS staff immediately notified the City of Ottawa Public Health Department and the MOE as required by the regulation. In all cases, written reports were prepared and sent to the MOE and the Public Health Department within 24 hours of the verbal notification, and corrective actions and re-sampling were carried out to resolve the incident. It should be noted that none of the adverse water quality events resulted in any indication of adverse health impacts or illness to the public.
c) Deviations from critical control point limits and response actions
Through the DWQMS risk assessment process, completed late 2008, five Critical Control Points (CCPs) were identified within Water Production and three CCPs were identified for Water Distribution. Critical Control Limits (CCLs) were subsequently identified for each of these CCPs. The CCLs are self-imposed limits and are typically more stringent than MOE Drinking Water Standards or Municipal Drinking Water licence requirements. The identification of CCPs and associated CCLs results in a more rigorous screening of potential risks to water quality and is one benefit of the implementation of the DWQMS.
Deviations from CCLs do occur from time to time and do not necessarily mean that unsafe drinking water was delivered to the consumer. However, CCL deviations do require prompt action from water system operators to remediate the problem and prevent the passage of potentially unsafe water. A total of 31 CCL deviations were identified in 2009 (14 were identified at the Britannia Water Purification Plant, 17 at the Lemieux Island Water Purification Plant), and no CCL deviations were identified in the distribution system.
Significant improvements were observed in 2009 in identifying and responding to Water Production CCL deviations. A technical working group consisting of Lemieux Island and Britannia Section Managers, Operations Engineers, Water Quality Engineer, Water Quality Supervisor, Water Quality Technologists and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) Coordinator met every two months to review CCL deviations, identify root causes, and assign corrective actions.
d) Efficacy of the risk assessment process
The risk assessment outcomes from 2008 were critically reviewed during the 2009 risk assessment review in order to make the CCPs/CCLs more effective as an operational tool and capture additional risks deemed important for safe drinking water. A revised list of seven CCPs was identified for Water Production and four CCPs for Water Distribution. Standard Operating Procedures are being developed accordingly for the new CCPs, including identification of CCLs. The 11 new CCPs were finalized in Q1 2010 (the discussion of CCL deviations under item c) relates to the former list of CCPs from the 2008 risk assessment).
e) Results of audits (internal and external)
The DWQMS requires the Operating Authority to conduct an internal audit at least once every 12 months. Furthermore, as part of the DWQMS Accreditation process for Operating Authorities, an external audit is conducted by an Accreditation body in response to an Operating Authority’s application for accreditation.
Internal Audit: The 2009 internal audit report noted significant progress in implementing the DWQMS and that most areas of non-conformance identified in 2008 had been corrected. Major non-conformances in 2009 related to: document and records control, risk assessment outcomes and responses, and competencies, including general awareness of the DWQMS. These non-conformances require a sustained, long-term effort in order to fully implement. Minor non-conformances were mainly administrative in nature and should be resolved by the end of 2010.
External Audit: Ottawa received ‘Limited Scope – Entire DWQMS’ accreditation on April 29, 2009 based on a desk-top audit of the DWQMS Operational Plan by the Canadian General Standards Board[2] (CGSB). DWQMS implementation continued during the remainder of 2009 and we submitted our application for ‘Full Scope – Entire DWQMS’ accreditation on April 26, 2010. The final phase of accreditation will involve a desktop review of the updated Operational Plan and an on-site audit of the Operating Authority by the CGSB[3].
f) Results of relevant emergency response testing
On June 10, 2009, an emergency exercise was conducted involving DWS, Customer Services and the Office of Emergency Management. The exercise was successful as it demonstrated overall staff competency and ability to respond to an incident and it also demonstrated staff knowledge of the Incident Management System. Staff demonstrated clear knowledge of the procedures contained in the DWS Incident Escalation and Response Plan.
g) Operational performance
In order to track operational performance, 21 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been developed in the following categories: Customer Services, Water Distribution, Water Production and Water Quality. Trends during 2006-2009 were documented for the management review. Highlights are presented below.
Customer Services KPIs: Per capita residential water consumption continued the steady downward trend in 2009, having decreased by 9.2 per cent over four years. The number of water quality investigations has remained fairly consistent from year to year. However, the number of customer investigations for lead spiked during 2007 and 2009 due to a mail-out of Lead Pipe Replacement Program brochures in those years (approximately 30,000 mail-outs).
The average time taken to resolve customer complaints has been relatively steady for general water quality investigations. This represents the time between the initial telephone call received and the final reporting of results to the customer. For lead testing, this time increased dramatically during 2009 due to the heavy demand in January and February for lead testing arising from the Lead Pipe Replacement Program mail-out. The longer response times were due to inadequate staff resources to handle the sudden influx of requests and deferral of testing to the summer in order to observe the “worst-case” concentrations of lead during warm water conditions.
Water Distribution KPIs: The KPIs for Water Distribution give an indication of the effectiveness and the efficiency of the corrective and preventative maintenance programs. The impact on customers related to the number of incidents and the length of time the customers are impacted per event has decreased over the four years assessed. This coincides with the decreasing Infrastructure Leakage Index trend.
Water Production KPIs: Water Production performance targets are being achieved. During 2009 several major capital improvement projects were completed at both the Britannia and Lemieux Island Water Purification Plants. These projects required resource allocation away from core asset maintenance activities. Over the next few years greater emphasis on the development and implementation of a formal asset management strategy for the Water Purification Plants and remote facilities will assist in rationalizing the long-term resource pressures under a sustained renewal and/or asset growth scenario.
Water Quality KPIs: The 2009 performance measures for Water Quality indicate ongoing high quality drinking water. A 100 per cent rating for microbiological quality indicates that the treatment process effectively removed pathogens at all times. Similarly, a 100 per cent rating for chemical water quality indicates that all water quality tests were within the provincial and federal standards for safe drinking water.
During 2009, there was a one-day precautionary boil water advisory issued for the Shadow Ridge water supply near Greely (24 homes). This was a precautionary measure taken during planned emergency repairs of the station piping system during which the distribution system was supplied from a potable water tank truck through a pump and hose connection. At the time, operating staff had not received laboratory results to confirm that all hose and pump connections had been fully disinfected.
h) Raw water supply and drinking water quality trends
The Ottawa River provides a steady and abundant supply of source water for the treatment plants. Raw water quality monitoring for 2009 covered 420 test parameters. Our source water monitoring program greatly exceeds the MOE requirements and is likely the most extensive in Canada.
In general, raw water trends were found to show typical levels of variation during 2009. There were no indications of raw water quality that would cause difficulties for the treatment process. However, further work will be conducted to identify the sources and extent of microbial contaminants including bacteriological indicators, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia as well as selected trace pharmaceutical compounds.
i) Follow up items from previous management review
There were 68 specific action items arising from the previous management review, of which 80 per cent had been addressed by the end of Q2 2010. Some items must be addressed over the long term, but it is expected that all of the remaining items will be completed by the time of the next management review in 2011. Action items have been prioritized and are being tracked to completion on a continual improvement spreadsheet.
Significant issues still requiring follow up action from the calendar year 2008 review include: (i) regulatory compliance and policy development related to the expiry of operator licences; (ii) process issues related to detection and/or alarming of process water quality associated with CCL deviations and/or AWQIs; and, (iii) updating of production drawings.
j) Status of management action items identified between reviews
No additional management items were identified since the last review.
k) Changes that could affect the QMS
The City’s ESD is currently undertaking a Strategic Alignment Initiative in order to restructure this new department. This restructuring will affect the QMS documentation as name changes to branches and divisions will need to be reflected, as well as organizational changes involving responsibility centres currently referenced in the DWQMS Operational Plan. Other specific elements within the QMS will be reviewed to ensure that any changes are correctly reflected. Changes outside the Department are not anticipated; however, staff will ensure that these changes are reflected in the QMS accordingly as they become evident.
l) Summary of consumer feedback
In 2009, the City of Ottawa received 18,309 customer inquiries related to the quality and quantity of water (telephone inquiries to 3-1-1 Call Centre and Water and Wastewater Customer Information Centre, and emails to Info-Water@ottawa.ca and waterwise@ottawa.ca, applications for various programs). Customer Information Clerks answer water quality questions, interview customers and initiate “service requests”. If a customer service visit is required, results are communicated to the customer after the investigation has been completed. In 2009, customer inquiries generated 2,508 service requests and resulted in a further 1,879 customer visits related to water quality and quantity.
m) Resources needed to maintain the QMS
The 2010 budget identified two additional FTEs as per the recommendations of Top Management from the management review conducted in 2009. These resources support the implementation of the continual improvement process under the DWQMS and involve the dedication of two Operations Engineers to support the Water Treatment Plant Managers.
Additional resource needs relate to implementation of both capital renewal and operational improvements. Over the period of 2005-2009 the project implementation rate for water production was in the 40 to 45 per cent spending range (actual spending to budget authority comparison). In order to address the increasing gap in infrastructure needs and priority within the Water Production facility areas, additional technical support in terms of two additional Operations Engineer positions is required. This would increase the project implementation rate to between 85 to 100 per cent.
n) Results of the infrastructure review
The annual review of the provision of drinking water infrastructure has two objectives: (i) to identify new drinking water infrastructure needs related to growth and system optimization and (ii) to identify upgrades or renewals of existing infrastructure to optimize operations and maintenance.
Growth Related Drinking Water Infrastructure
The 2009 Water Growth Projects budget was $35,000,000, of which 91 per cent was allocated to the 1W-2W Feedermain (twinning of service to Kanata - design completed 2009, tender and construction 2010). Other projects included the Ottawa South Pump Station, Carlington Heights Pump Station, Barrhaven Pump Station conversion to 3C pressure zone and the Orleans Transmission Watermain. None of these other projects commenced in 2009 and the majority of the 2009 budget is actually being spent in 2010. These short deferrals are not expected to impact current service levels for water quality and quantity. However, many of these projects have both a growth component and “benefit to existing” (BTE) aspect. An infrastructure gap is the risk to supply resulting from delays in implementing significant BTE projects.
The Planning and Growth Management Department is experiencing significant challenges in staffing vacant positions with required technical knowledge and competencies. A long-term strategy to invest in staff training is being evaluated to ensure the availability of competent staff. An internship program is also being discussed with Human Resources as a way to ensure future technical capacity.
Non-growth Related Drinking Water Infrastructure - Water Production
The Water Production Infrastructure Renewal Program is meeting the required service levels by virtue of the fact that the operations of the central system (Britannia and Lemieux Island water purification plants) and associated remote facilities have been able to meet City water demands on an annual basis while avoiding the failure of critical assets. An overview of the annual reinvestment rate (allocated budget authority to estimated replacement value) for 2005 to 2009 indicates that the average over that period has been approximately 1.4 per cent of the replacement value. A critical continual improvement item will be the development of a formal asset management strategy to determine the appropriate level of reinvestment. In 2009, a long-term rehabilitation program for SCADA Instrumentation and Control was established to recognize instrumentation infrastructure as a core asset.
In 2009, major capital projects such as the Waste Management Facilities and Lemieux Filter Expansion continued to impact staffing resources capacity. These projects have impeded staff’s ability to undertake effective predictive or corrective maintenance as well as other high priority renewal projects and as such, have resulted in maintenance backlogs and capital investment deferral. For 2010, these deferred Maintenance and/or Capital Investments will be reprioritized for implementation over the next few years.
Non-growth Related Drinking Water Infrastructure - Watermain Rehabilitation Program
For the 2009 construction season, the Watermain Rehabilitation Project List was compared against the Council-approved 2009 capital program. The results indicate that out of 72 high ranking candidate projects:
· 5 were identified for construction in 2009;
· 14 were for construction in 2010;
· 10 were budgeted for construction in 2011-2013; and,
· 43 projects are awaiting integrated need (e.g. water, sewer and road); repairs as needed continue in the interim.
The Infrastructure Services Department continues to refine methodologies for the water distribution asset management plans and develop a long-term risk-based framework for developing strategies and replacement/renewal prioritization. Part of the continual improvement is to incorporate a field condition assessment of the large diameter watermains and also to include a risk-based approach to evaluating priorities to better incorporate the probability of failures and their consequence.
Non-growth Related Drinking Water Infrastructure - Water Distribution Operational Improvements Program
This program addresses annual corrective maintenance requirements for the existing water distribution system in order to provide reliable operation of the network components, to ensure drinking water quality is maintained throughout the system and to preserve and extend the life of the infrastructure. The works completed in 2009 were close to anticipated targets as staffing levels were refocused to ensure success and the small infrastructure renewal program is meeting required service levels.
o) Operational plan currency, content and updates
Since last year’s management review, the DWQMS Operational Plan has gone through two minor revisions. Both versions were posted on Ozone (internal staff website) in a timely manner and updated controlled hard copies were distributed. The current version is based on the audit findings, minor changes to the risk assessment approach and follow-up on CCL deviations and corporate reorganization. This version was submitted to the CGSB with the application for Full Scope accreditation in April 2010.
p) Summary of staff suggestions
Although progress is being made in other continual improvement areas, due to resource limitations and time commitments for the Environmental Services Strategic Alignment Initiative (SAI), it has not yet been possible to fully address staff suggestions made to date. A number of suggestions require the completion of other actions first, such as the SAI, completion of the next risk assessment and the completion of the SCADA upgrade. Others relate to operations and standard operating procedures. These are valid suggestions, but will take time to implement (e.g. a priority list has been developed for various operator training needs which will take several years to complete). These suggestions will be addressed through the DWQMS continual improvement process.
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)
This is a City-wide report.
LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are no legal/risk management impediments to receiving this report.
CITY STRATEGIC PLAN
This report supports Planning and Environment Committee’s strategic priorities (ACS2009-ICS-DCM-0003) for Environmental Services to rebuild the brand and public trust. It also confirms that the residents of the City of Ottawa continue to be supplied with reliable, high quality drinking water.
TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
This report has no financial implications.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 – Organizational charts of the DWQMS management structure
DISPOSITION
That Committee and Council receive this report for information and to satisfy the regulatory requirement under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Document 1
Corporate Top Management
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Operational Top Management
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Operating Authority
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