Inventory of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Environmental and Occupational Health Data
Sources and Surveillance Activities

Inventory of Data Sources

Drinking Water Web System (DWWS) (Ontario)

Contacts
Cammy Mack
Group Leader
Laboratory Inspection Program
Laboratory Services Branch
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
125 Resources Road
Etobicoke, ON
M9P 3V6
Tel: (416) 235-6005
E-mail: cammy.mack@ene.gov.on.ca

Wilson Soon
Database Administrator
Information Technology Lead
IMTB/ CMD
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
40 St. Clair St. W, 11^th Floor
Toronto, ON
M4V 1M2
Tel: (416)-314-1979
E-mail: wilsonsoon@ene.gov.on.ca

Database URL
Drinking Water Information System
www.environet.gov.on.ca

Organization Maintaining the Database
IMTB / CMD, Ontario Ministry of the Environment

The DWWS is a stand-alone system which has been managed from a business perspective in the Laboratory Services Branch. Effective June 1, 2003, the DWWS will be part of a much larger database handled by the Ministry's Information Management and Technology Branch (IMTB; contact: Wilson Soon - see above).

Purpose of Database
To store data on drinking water sample test results in order to monitor Ontario drinking water quality.

Content
Data on drinking water quality in Ontario. Data types: biological, microbiological, chemical, radiological. Person-level data with identifiers; personal data includes: individual's name, name of employer, telephone number, and e-mail address. There are approximately 30 million data records in the database.

This system collects adverse test results/events relating to drinking water from regulated Waterworks in the province of Ontario.

Year Database Established
2001

Coverage Period
2001 to 2003

Data Updates
Irregularly

Data Provider
Drinking Water Testing Laboratory, Ontario Ministry of the Environment. The original data sources are Waterworks facilities in Ontario.

Data Availability
The main users of the information in the database are Ontario Waterworks and laboratories; the only others having direct access to the database are MOE Internet users. Security protocols restricting access to this database are in place (Oracle Database Security). There are also protocols or guidelines restricting the use or disclosure of the data.

Reports
Administration Reports in electronic and printed formats; for internal use. Data can be exported in various forms: spreadsheet, data dump, formatted text output.

Additional Comments
The database is undergoing major change and was slated to become part of a much larger project currently underway at the Ministry of the Environment on June 1, 2003.

The data are collected under the authority of Ministry of the Environment legislative Acts - i.e., the Safe Drinking Water Act and other associated Ontario regulations.

Keywords for searches: DWWS, drinking water, drinking water sample results.

Documentation on the database is available (format unspecified).