20 Years of the Clean Water Act 

2026 marks 20 years since Ontario introduced the Clean Water Act, 2006, a major step forward in protecting our drinking water at its source. 

The Clean Water Act was developed following the Walkerton tragedy in 2000, when contamination of the community's drinking water resulted in seven deaths and thousands of illnesses. The legislation established a stronger, preventative approach to protecting drinking water sources across Ontario. 

Protecting water at the source 

We often think of drinking water protection as something that happens at a water treatment plant. While treatment is an important part of keeping our water safe, protection starts much earlier, with the lakes, rivers, and groundwater that supply our drinking water. 

Source Water Protection helps identify areas where drinking water sources are more vulnerable and activities that could pose a risk to them. Source Protection Plans establish policies to help manage these risks and protect the quality and quantity of our drinking water sources. 

Here in the Thames Sydenham Source Protection Region, source water protection is a collaborative effort involving municipalities, conservation authorities, businesses, farmers, property owners, and residents. Working together helps ensure that local drinking water sources are understood, protected, and available for future generations. 

Everyday activities can have an impact on our water sources. Storing fuel or chemicals, using pesticides and fertilizers, managing septic systems, and storing road salt are examples of activities that may pose a risk to drinking water in vulnerable areas. Source protection policies help ensure these activities are managed appropriately. 

Everyone has a role 

Protecting drinking water is not just the responsibility of governments or water treatment operators. We all have a role to play. 

Property owners can help by properly maintaining septic systems, safely storing fuel and other chemicals, responsibly using fertilizers and pesticides, and regularly testing private well water. Small actions can make a big difference when they are taken across our communities. 

Twenty years of the Clean Water Act is an opportunity to recognize how far Ontario's drinking water protection system has come and to look ahead to the work that remains. Protecting our drinking water requires continued collaboration, education, and action from everyone who lives and works in our watersheds. 

Clean drinking water starts with protecting the source. Together, we can help keep our water safe for generations to come. For more information visit www.protectourwater.ca