Protection

Protection refers to proactive/preventative measures and emergency response. Proactive/preventive measures reduce the risk to consumers and reduce the liability to the waterworks system owner. This response anticipates events or situations that may compromise the safety of drinking water. Emergency response involves plans and actions to deal with incidents that arise from unforeseen incidents such as equipment failure or extreme weather events.

Proactive/Preventative Measures

Examples of proactive/preventative measures include:

• Source Water Protection
• Facility operator certification
• Laboratory Data Quality Assurance Policy

Emergency Response

Examples of responses to unforeseen incidents are:

• Communication and Action Protocol for Failed Bacteriological Results in Drinking Water for Waterworks Systems Authorized under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act
  

  When a bacteriological sample indicates the presence of coliform bacteria, corrective action including additional monitoring is required. This direction is outlined in Section 6 of the Communication and Action Protocol for Failed Bacteriological Results. Re-samples taken under these provisions must be identified on the Provincial Public Health Laboratory's Request for Microbiological Analysis of Water (requisition) form as RESAMPLE's. The original requisition form ID number and the Alberta Environment Reference (Call ID) number must be noted on the requisition using a neon yellow label. The label should be Neon Yellow, 2 5/8" x 1", 30 per page (3 columns of 10 rows). Download the template for printing these labels.

• Action Protocol for Exceedances of Chemical Health Parameters in Drinking Water