British Columbia Water Quality Facts and Drinking Water Problems

With some 27,000 km of coastline and a mainland punctuated by rivers, creeks, and lakes, British Columbia enjoys an abundance of both surface and ground water resources. Characterized by dramatic distinctions in landscape and climate, water availability varies widely across the province, from its moderately temperate coastal regions to arid inland valleys and farmland.

The majority of municipal water is sourced from surface and ground–water reserves throughout the province, while dry regions rely on municipalities to source and treat water brought from remote locations where water is more easily accessible. Roughly 600,000 British Columbians depend on ground–water aquifers for their domestic water use, and as a result, water quality issues that surface most often are hard water, poor–quality water, chlorine, limescale build up, and general bad taste.