Alternate Testing and Analysis Method Clause Samples

Alternate Testing and Analysis Method. Northern villages do not have the means at their disposal to check in a timely fashion the salubrity of their drinking water. To correct this situation, we suggest that each water plant be equipped with a Colilert system, which allows to perform 24-hour tests for total coliforms and E. Coli. This technology, approved by the US-EPA and Health Canada, is currently in used in: • 46 American states; • several Canadian provinces, including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia since 1995; • 235 Aboriginal communities under federal jurisdiction in Canada. In fact, the most telling number may be that between 60 and 70% of all water samples collected in North America are tested using this technology. The main advantages of this method are as follows. • A flexible and simple method The method requires minimal equipment and its inherent simplicity makes it ideal for anyone to learn procedures and interpret results. The use of this technology could improve current monitoring of the water supply and would provide northern villages with a tool to respond adequately to a variety of situations, including requests from residents worried that their own reservoir may be contaminated. • Results obtained in 24 hours As stated previously, obtaining the results from laboratory analysis may take up to a week. With the Colilert method, a sample may be taken at any time, and the results known the next day. This means that a notice to boil could be lifted within 48 hours instead of the present minimal period of seven days. • No more samples rejected because of transportation delay The use of the Colilert method would eliminate countless notices to boil water because the samples could not reach the laboratory in time. This technology has been on the market since 1992 and has proven its worth across the entire continent. However, unlike its neighboring counterparts in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, or the federal regulating bodies, the Government of Quebec has been slow in adjusting its regulations to the advent of new technologies.