Testing Ontario water supply.

For weeks after last year's Walkerton, Ont., tragedy caused by E. coil contamination of the town's water supply, the phone did not stop ringing at Near North Laboratories in North Bay.

"The phone rang continuously for the first three weeks" says Michael Puccini, Near North's co-owner and director.

Most of the calls came from the public. The private, accredited laboratory provides water testing services to municipalities, First Nations communities and private facilities throughout northeastern Ontario.

The Walkerton tragedy focused attention not only on municipal waterworks, but on small and private waterworks.

For some, Walkerton was a reminder, while for others it served as a realization of what they should be doing every three or four months, Puccini says.

"(Testing) was something they hadn't done in a while. We did a lot of referrals to the ministry of health facilities," which conduct free water testing for homeowners with private wells, he says. Near North did experience a minor increase in business. The tragedy has not only increased public awareness of the need to test and monitor water, but it has also made the system more transparent and has forced people to re-evaluate how Ontarians should protect water resources, Puccini says.

Changes introduced as part of the province's Drinking Water Protection Regulation announced last August allow full public access to water quality information of all municipal waterworks.

Municipalities were already conducting testing and monitoring as required in their certificates of approval issued by the provincial ministry of the environment, Puccini says.

The regulations also clarify that both the waterworks operator and the laboratory must notify the local medical officer of health and the ministry of environment if potentially unsafe water conditions are identified.

Near North, independently and as part of an association of independent labs, has worked with the ministry to establish monitoring standards and regulations. The lab is accredited by the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories and the Standards Council of Canada.

Puccini sees a shift in water protection and regulation in the coming years. As industrial, commercial and residential demands rise, the publice will realize protecting the original source will be inadequate, he says.