Drinking Water Report

Ontario's chief drinking water inspector says the quality of the water coming out of the province's taps is improving.

John Stager says 99.8 per cent of the 520,000 water samples collected last year met rigorous provincial standards.

Stager delivered his annual report in Walkerton, Ont., where an E. coli outbreak in 2000 left seven people dead and thousands ill.

He also noted in his speech at the Walkerton Clean Water that99.4 per cent of non-municipal residential water systems also met provincial standards.

Stager credited the improvements to a team approach involving governments, private system operators and the medical community.

He said a drinking water safety net introduced after the Walkerton tragedy is `all about all of the partners working together.'