What is known is that the medical health officer did not get the information until it was too late to save the unsuspecting Walkerton residents. A similar event occured last summer in Victoria. The water board received information about contaminated water, yet did not feel the results needed to be brought to the attention of the medical health officer. The water board got away with it, this time, because there were no reports of widespread illness. But eventually, the medical health officer did find out about the test results, and he made one thing very clear.
Contaminated water is a health issue first and an engineering issue second.
The water board is obliged to apprise the medical health officer of all reports indicating a contaminated water supply. Which raises an interesting question. Probably because bureaucrats and elected officials have a vested interest in making the public believe things are running smoothly. Otherwise it might reflect on their performance. Controlling the flow of information is the way bureaucrats and politicians protect their image.