Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations Communities

Short and long term drinking water advisories that are in place in First Nation communities on reserve located in Canada. Drinking water advisories are preventive measures put in place to protect public health from drinking water that could be contaminated. In a First Nation community, a drinking water advisory can affect as little as one building and does not always represent a community-wide drinking water problem. Drinking water advisories are put in place for various reasons. For instance, a community may issue an advisory if there are problems in the overall water system, such as line breaks, equipment failure, or poor filtration/disinfection during water treatment. Communities may also choose to issue a drinking water advisory as a precautionary measure, such as when there are emergency repairs in the water distribution system or if a community does not have a trained Water System Operator or Community-based Drinking Water Quality Monitor in place.