Small Water Systems

The Community Network was built with you and your team in mind


Are you responsible for ensuring clean, safe drinking water for a small water system community in BC? The BC Small Water Systems Community Network was designed for water purveyors (Owners) such as yourself and your team (volunteers and staff). The development of this platform has been supported by our Small Water Systems Owners working group, who provided feedback about features on the platform, privacy settings and the Community Code of Conduct, in addition to any number of insights on other aspects of the platform.

From this feedback, we learned:

  • Owners wanted private, transparent discussions with peers
  • Owners wanted to be protected from marketing, sales or regulatory scrutiny
  • Owners were excited to have a central location to find resources

It was important from the beginning that there be a way for Owners to have conversations with their peers apart from other members of the Community Network, and focus on sharing experiences and ideas with others with similar challenges. We also heard that Owners were excited by the opportunity come together with the possibility of consolidating voices for issues of concern within a space of their own. In order to facilitate these needs, the Community Network developed a private area called the Owners Lounge. 

Owners also felt that the Supporter community, of all types, were very important to the Community Network. However they wanted to be able to engage with Supporters on their terms and without feeling like they were being judged or sales pitched. Clear guidelines regarding solicitation were developed within the Community Code of Conduct to mitigate some of the concerns.

Additionally, the platform was built with the functionality for all members to use an Alias in the public areas and to manage their privacy settings, so that they can choose to show more information to their small water systems peers than the Community Network public. 

To help facilitate increased, productive and valuable engagement among all members, the platform was developed with several places where everyone can provide information, resources, contribute to discussions and let the community know of opportunities and upcoming events. 

The outcome of all of this work is a platform that provides the opportunity for small water systems purveyors and their teams to access resources and engage on their own terms.

Tell me more about the Owners Lounge

Water purveyors and their teams, who are connected to a Small Water System organization, have the ability to access the private Owners Lounge, a closed discussion area that allows secure conversations with their peers, discussing challenges, experiences and ideas without fear of solicitation or reprisal. Based on feedback, this area:

  • Has an implied confidentiality agreement – conversations within the Owners Lounge stays in the Owners Lounge

  • Requires everyone use their real names and systems so that there is shared transparency among the users


The Owners Lounge is peer moderated and available only to Authorized SWS Members.

How do I become an Authorized SWS Member?

Authorized SWS Members have access to the Owners Lounge. Additionally, they have access to an extended Community Directory, as members can choose to reveal additional information to fellow Authorized SWS Members.

You can become an Authorized SWS Member when you are connected to a Small Water System organization using the following steps:

     1) Register as a member of the Community Network
     2) Ensure your small water system is registered in the Community Network as an organization and
     3) Gain approval from your system’s Primary Contact.

You can request approval to connect to an organization once you have logged into the Community Network platform, from the Profile menu and clicking on Connections.  

How do I register my small water system as an organization?

When you register your small water system as an organization in the Community Network, you create the mechanism for providing the additional benefits available for Authorized SWS Members. It ensures the legitimacy of the people who have access to this private area.

There is an additional benefit to registering your small water system within the Community Network. You can choose to highlight information about your system, add your website link and contact information for the Community Network public or just Authorized SWS Members as a mechanism for connecting with other similar systems.

Each organization has a Primary Contact who approves requests for others to become connected. The Primary Contact can use their own discretion for approving requests depending on the size and structure of their organization.

You can add your small water system as an organization once you have logged into the Community Network platform, from the Profile menu and clicking on Connections. This area lets you search to see if your organization already exists and to submit your organization's information if it doesn't.

Once the information is submitted, it will be reviewed and approved by platform administrators. To ensure that the only legitimate small water systems are registered, you may be asked to submit documentation to validate your system's correct status.