Public records vs your home tap
The most important limit on this whole site — in one short page.
Public systems
what we summarize
Some buildings
schools / child care
Your home tap
records do not prove this
What public records can do
Ontario publishes real testing and follow-up records for public water systems. Summarizing them shows how the public supply for your area has looked in recent open data. That is useful — it is the same kind of file regulators work from.
What they cannot prove
- Your kitchen tap — nobody sampled your faucet for these files.
- Your building’s pipes — service line, solder, fixtures are the property’s.
- Your exact street — records group by place, not a door-to-door map.
- Right now — open data is not a live alert. For boil-water notices, use official channels only.
How to use both
Read our summary for the public system. If you care about your tap — older building, taste, or a household need — ask your city which system serves you, and consider a tap test if you want certainty.
Report pages explain public system history. They are not a lab test of your household tap.