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Document ID ca-gcdwqgtd-2014-02-05-2 Title Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality: Guideline Technical Document – Turbidity URL https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/guidelines-canadian-drinking-water-quality-turbidity/page-3-guidelines-canadian-drinking-water-quality-turbidity.html Jurisdiction /ca Subdomain(s) Drinking water, Water treatment, Monitoring and analytics Language en Status completed Analyzed at 2026-03-17 14:27:34.604226+00:00 Relevance Provides technical guidelines and treatment limits for turbidity in drinking water.

Q Qualitative Requirements (5)

Req ID Category Intent Legal Status Name Subdomain(s) Context Conditions Confidence
#Q001treatmenttreatmentrecommendedMinimum Treatment for Surface Water and GUDIdrinking waterGenerally, minimum treatment of supplies derived from surface water sources or groundwater under the direct influence of surface water (GUDI) should include adequate filtration (or technologies providing an equivalent log reduction credit) and disinfection.Applies to supplies derived from surface water sources or groundwater under the direct influence of surface water (GUDI)high
#Q002operationaloperationalrecommendedFiltration System Turbidity Targetdrinking waterTo maximize protection of public health from microbial contamination, filtration systems should strive to achieve the turbidity target of 0.1 NTU.Applies to filtration systemshigh
#Q003designoperationalrecommendedFiltration System Optimization and Designdrinking waterHowever, filtration systems should be designed, operated and appropriately optimized to decrease turbidity levels as low as reasonably achievable and strive to achieve a treated water turbidity target from individual filters of less than 0.1 NTU at all times.Applies to filtration systems and individual filtershigh
#Q004operationaloperationalguidanceTurbidity Target Best Practice for Unfiltered Systemsdrinking waterWhere filtration is not required to meet pathogen removal goals, it is best practice to keep turbidity levels below 1.0 NTU to minimize the potential for interference with disinfection.Where filtration is not required to meet pathogen removal goalshigh
#Q005operationaloperationalguidanceTurbidity Good Practice for Distribution System Entrydrinking waterIn addition, to minimize particulate loading and effectively operate the distribution system, it is also good practice to ensure that water entering the distribution system has turbidity levels below 1.0 NTU.Water entering the distribution systemhigh

P Quantitative Requirements (4)

Req ID Category Intent Legal Status Name Subdomain(s) Limit Type Limit Value Context Conditions Confidence
#P001physicaltreatmentrecommendedTurbidity target for filtration systemsdrinking watertreatment_goal0.1 NTUTo maximize protection of public health from microbial contamination, filtration systems should strive to achieve the turbidity target of 0.1 NTU.Applies to filtration systemshigh
#P002physicaltreatmentrecommendedTreated water turbidity target (individual filters)drinking watertreatment_goal< 0.1 NTUfiltration systems should be designed, operated and appropriately optimized to decrease turbidity levels as low as reasonably achievable and strive to achieve a treated water turbidity target from individual filters of less than 0.1 NTU at all times.From individual filters at all timeshigh
#P003physicaltreatmentrecommendedTurbidity (non-filtered systems)drinking waterOG< 1.0 NTUWhere filtration is not required to meet pathogen removal goals, it is best practice to keep turbidity levels below 1.0 NTU to minimize the potential for interference with disinfection.Where filtration is not required to meet pathogen removal goalshigh
#P004physicaloperationalrecommendedTurbidity (entering distribution system)drinking waterOG< 1.0 NTUto minimize particulate loading and effectively operate the distribution system, it is also good practice to ensure that water entering the distribution system has turbidity levels below 1.0 NTU.Water entering the distribution systemhigh

D Definitions (0)

No definitions.