Environmental Enforcement and Laboratory Services
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Environmental Enforcement and Laboratory Services (EELS) is responsible for environmental protection through monitoring, enforcement, and laboratory analysis in support of Regional, Provincial and Federal legislation including:
- Sewer Use By-law
- Environmental Protection Act
- Safe Drinking Water Act
- Nutrient Management Act
- Water Resources Act
- Standards Council of Canada
- Canadian Association of Laboratory Accreditation (CALA)
- Clean Water Act, Grand River Source Protection Plan
Environmental enforcement
Spills response
Report a spill immediately if you witness or suspect a spill has occurred or is about to occur.
We provide 24-hour emergency response to environmental spills. Responsibilities include:
- Prompt investigation of reported spills
- Containment or cleanup measures to minimize damage to the natural environment
- Notifying affected parties if a chemical spill could affect the Region of Waterloo Mannheim and/or Brantford drinking water treatment plants
Sewer Use discharge permits
Businesses must follow the Region of Waterloo Sewer Use By-law 21-036 and apply for a permit.
The Region of Waterloo Sewer Use By-law 21-036 By-law regulates and controls the discharge of water and wastewater into the sanitary and/or storm sewer distribution system and protects the wastewater treatment system and water quality of the Grand River.
Laboratory Services
Each year we release water quality reports that compare the level of quality for the drinking water in Waterloo Region to the Ontario Drinking Water Standards in the legislation O.Reg.169/03.
Ontario's Safe Drinking Water Act requires municipalities to test drinking water for numerous parameters on a predetermined schedule. We proactively perform more testing than is required by the legislation and include additional non-regulated parameters in the drinking water monitoring program. An accredited lab must perform the testing.
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks also requires municipalities to produce annual water quality and summary reports. These reports summarize the results of all required drinking water tests and confirm the drinking water supplied by the Region of Waterloo and area municipalities is safe and meets all health-related Ontario Drinking Water Standards.
We are an accredited laboratory for the Region of Waterloo that provides:
- Accreditations:
- ISO 17025
- registered with Canadian Association for Laboratory Association (CALA) since 1996
- licensed by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change in 2003 for drinking water analysis
- Biological testing:
- E. coli.
- Total Coliforms
- Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC)
- Microcystin
- Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
- Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand (CBOD)
- Inorganic testing:
- nitrate
- nitrite
- chloride
- fluoride
- sulphate
- nutrients
- metals
- Organic testing:
- chlorination by-products
- pesticides
- herbicides
- 1-4 Dioxane
- industrial contaminates
- gasoline by-products
Client Connect for Laboratory Information Management System
Only available to Region of Waterloo Environmental Enforcement and Laboratory Services clients with approved logins. Enter the LIMS Client Connect website to access your data and related documents.
