by Stephanie Taylor

K'JIPUKTUK (HALIFAX) - Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment isn’t properly monitoring public drinking water, according to the province’s auditor general.

In the annual report, acting auditor general Alan Horgan and his team concluded that although most municipal facilities complete audits on their water supplies on schedule, a number of registered water treatment centres failed to conduct their audits every three years as required.

Of 38 registered facilities examined, the report said 23 were found to have incomplete audits within the mandated timeframe.

“To ensure that water safety risks are identified, the Department needs to make sure it is meeting its planned facility audit frequency,” the report said.

Instances were also identified where water samples were not properly collected 30 days after a boil water advisory was removed.

A lack of clear guidelines on water testing for inspectors was another concern the report identified. Horgan noted several occasions that inspectors could not produce the proper operator's certification and also stated that no documented policy exists on the nature of how water testing is to be preformed.

This year marks the province’s fifth consecutive year of poor performance.

“Government department and agencies are not taking enough action to correct operational deficiencies they know to exist,” the report reads.

Horgan called for a better implementation process of recommendations and cites that less than half of the recommended changes made in 2011 were put in place.

The report said only eight of the total 301 recommended changes made were reported to the auditor general.

The Department of Internal Services, Department of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, Department of Labour and Advanced Education and Department of Economic and Rural Development were the worst offending departments listed in the report.

The auditor general is an independent office of the provincial legislature that provides annual assessments of all government operations.