End free rural water well testing, Ontario auditor says

Farmers Forum staff

OTTAWA — City residents will continue to get their drinking water tested for free, but rural residents will have to pay for the privilege if the province pulls the plug on free well-water testing as recently proposed.

The well-water testing service has been offered for years through Public Health Ontario, via local health units. After the most recent provincial auditor’s report, the agency seems eager to go ahead with a proposal to close 6 of 11 Public Health Ontario labs and phase-out free well-water tests.

The idea was criticized by Ontario Groundwater Association managing director Dennis O’Grady and opposition parties.