UBC water consumers often express interest in the source and quality of their drinking water on the Point Grey campus.

To ensure the quality of drinking water supplies on campus, UBC regularly collects and samples drinking waters, assessing quality against Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality as published by Health Canada on behalf of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water.

The information below -- brought to you by Risk Management Services, UBC Building Operations and UBC Utilities -- outlines UBC water sources, water treatment, water quality and the results of drinking water sampling and testing performed. For more information about tests done prior to June 2010, please contact environment@riskmanagement.ubc.ca.

Results from the most recent testing in November 2011, confirmed that drinking water tested from a variety of sampling points across campus met federal, provincial and municipal health and safety standards.

Water Source

Drinking water for UBC's Point Grey Campus (and other Metro Vancouver locations) comes from Metro Vancouver's water system. Five hundred and eighty-five square kilometres of mountainous land is closed to public access to protect the large supply lakes that collect water from snowmelt, creeks and streams that are the water source for the Lower Mainland municipalities.

This water is delivered to UBC through many kilometres of water mains and pipes.

Sampling and Testing

Water quality is regularly tested by Metro Vancouver at the source, at treatment facilities and at various distribution points. At the Point Grey campus, the distribution system drinking water is tested weekly. A minimum of two times per year, water quality is tested at the tap and/or at drinking water fountains in buildings around on the campus. Sampling locations will vary to ensure a cross-section of locations are selected and so that different areas of campus are adequately represented.

Samples collected in each target building are measured for standard parameters contained in the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. These measurements include microbiological parameters (total coliforms, e-coli, turbidity), chemicals (lead, copper, arsenic, zinc, iron, vinyl chloride, etc) and physical parameters (pH, odor).

Please note: For best water quality during the summer months flush the tap water for minimum 60 seconds and feel to ensure the water are cool.

Summary of November 2011 Testing: Results and Discussion

All drinking water samples and parameter found deviating from the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality in November 2011 are related to aesthetic objectives and have no health impact. 

Note that after a 60-second flush of water, the water quality became normalized and test results were within the guidelines for copper and pH. Water consumers need to flush water for one minute to ensure the freshest possible supply.

For certain buildings the 60-second flush samples still deviated from the standard for temperature, note that temperature is an aesthetic parameter with no health implication.

Of the 26 samples (13 locations, tested twice each):

• All 13 locations showed temperature values above the recommended 15 degree aesthetic objective initially but only 1 had elevated temperature level after a 60-second flush of water.
• 1 building showed pH levels slightly below the recommended aesthetic objective values, but this value increased to a level within the standard after a 60-second flush of water.
• 1 building showed copper concentrations above the aesthetic objective value in the first flush sample.