The Blue Mountains council is pleased with efforts by Grey Bruce Public Health to ensure the free well water testing program is widely available to all area residents.
Last week, Grey Bruce Public Health announced the launch of its locally developed services to provide all residents of Grey and Bruce counties with equitable and timely access to Public Health Ontario’s well water testing program.
The new service, developed in collaboration with area municipalities, will allow residents on private drinking water systems to pick up sample collection kits and drop off water samples at 14 locations throughout Grey-Bruce.
The Blue Mountains Mayor Andrea Matrosovs highlighted the launch of the program at her council meeting on Oct. 10 and praised the initiative.
“It is good news for our rural residents,” said Matrosovs.
Residents in The Blue Mountains will be able to drop off water samples at the Ravenna Hall each week all day Thursday until Friday morning at 10 a.m. Testing kits, bottles and instructions will be available at Ravenna Hall.
Coun. Gail Ardiel said the program will be a huge benefit for local farmers.
“This is good news for orchard owners, we get our bunkhouse water tested every week,” she said. “This will be a lifesaver for us.”
Across Grey County there are eight total drop-off points. Residents in Grey Highlands can drop off samples at the municipal office in Markdale. Other locations include: Meaford at the municipal office; Owen Sound at the Grey Bruce Public Health office; Chatsworth at the municipal office; West Grey at the municipal office; and Southgate at the municipal office. There are also six locations in Bruce County.
The locations will form two routes serviced one day a week by a local courier contracted by public health. The Bruce County route will be serviced on Wednesdays, while a Grey County route will be serviced on Fridays.
A courier will continue to pick up samples at both GBPH in Owen Sound and in Walkerton five days a week. On Wednesdays and Fridays, the courier will also take samples collected by the local courier to a London lab for testing.
“This made-in-Grey-Bruce service will put Public Health Ontario’s complimentary well water testing program within a 30-minute drive of nearly every household in Grey-Bruce,” said Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Arra in a news release. “We would like to sincerely thank each of our partners, particularly local municipalities, for assisting us in creating a fair and accessible service that adheres to our collective mission of protecting the health of everyone in Grey-Bruce.”
More information and details about the new routes, including the full list of drop-off locations are available here. A map of the drop-off locations can be found here.
Dr. Arra, in a news release from the health unit, said Grey Bruce Public Health’s goal, when developing the new service, was to maintain water sample drop-off locations in existing communities, while re-establishing locations in place before the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new program, there are now drop-off locations in more Grey-Bruce communities than were in place before the pandemic.
Public Health Ontario’s private drinking water testing program analyzes samples for the presence of bacterial indicators of contamination, specifically E. coli and total coliforms. Residents receive test results directly from Public Health Ontario
Grey Bruce Public Health recommends households that draw their drinking water from wells or other private systems test their water at least three times a year, after any work is done to their system, and after significant weather events, such as a fast thaw or severe rain.
Grey Bruce Public Health has long collaborated with Public Health Ontario and other partners to make the well water testing program available free of charge to Grey-Bruce residents. The key to the program’s success in Grey-Bruce – due to the region’s size and rural nature – is having multiple locations where people can drop off water samples.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, policy changes by Grey-Bruce hospitals resulted in a reduction in the number of available pick-up/drop-off locations in Grey and Bruce counties. Several grocery stores, which had been deemed essential businesses, stepped up to serve as temporary locations.
Following the COVID-19 emergency, Grey Bruce Public Health began discussions with Public Health Ontario in hopes of not only re-establishing permanent locations but increasing the number of locations to ensure all Grey-Bruce residents had equitable access to the program. However, PHO informed Grey Bruce Public Health that it did not intend to increase the number of locations and was considering eliminating most local drop-off sites.
Grey Bruce Public Health then decided to create a local solution to ensure the program remained equitable and accessible throughout Grey-Bruce.
