The last 5-10 years have seen significant advances in new molecular methods that more precisely detect what is in our water and measure the impacts on our health at an earlier stage. These new methods promise to reduce or eliminate the need to kill fish to determine the effects of contaminants. These methods are also being used to aid municipalities in rapidly tracing and identifying sources of contaminants, improving beach quality and determining sewage discharge impacts. Regulatory agencies are already exploring how these new methods can be integrated into regulatory frameworks that may change how chemicals are assessed and how standards are set. This session focused on the practical applications and broader implications of these new molecular methods for regulatory agencies, municipalities and citizen scientists to determine what’s in the water.

Speakers:

• Craig Bonneville, EPCOR, Director, One Water Planning
• Tom Edge, McMaster University, Adjunct Professor
• Tim Shanks, City of Winnipeg, Water & Waste Director
• Denina Simmons, Ontario Tech University, Associate Professor

For municipalities, these methods are promising for the management of emerging contaminants, but also raise questions around the role of the utility, particularly in communicating to the public. Depending on the contaminant, a regulatory roadmap may not exist, and it is not always possible to remove them. Regardless of these caveats, these methods provide rapid, sensitive and specific detection of molecules including toxins, disease biomarkers, drugs and chemicals. Close collaboration between researchers and municipalities will be needed now, and into the future, to properly and effectively implement these methods.