"Welcome to church -- don't drink the water." Signs like this may greet rural churchgoers throughout the region because of stringent new Ontario water rules that will force tiny congregations and community centres to choose between their pocketbooks and their very existence.
   Without dramatic changes to the safe-water legislation, well inspection and water testing will cost thousands of dollars per facility.
   Some places say they will shut down rather than pay.
   Gone may be the church socials, community strawberry suppers, seniors' card parties and slo-pitch games at the local ballpark.
   "If you want to be community-minded, it's going to cost you mega-bucks," says Pat Taylor, clerk-administrator of West Perth, which has seven community centres and baseball diamonds that will have to meet water assessment, quality and reporting rules.
   Even provincial Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky has told The Free Press the rules need a close second look, though she emphasizes safe drinking water will be paramount in any amendments.
   Terrified by the thought of a recurrence of the Walkerton water crisis -- in which seven people died and thousands became ill because of contaminated communal wells and grossly inadequate reporting systems -- the former Conservative government passed legislation that affects or will affect anyone who drinks water anywhere in Ontario.
   With the not-so-catchy name O. Reg. 170 (3) and a user "kit" that's 181 pages long, the regulations came into effect for all water users last June. The implications are only filtering down to small communities.
   Some of these facilities may appear to be no more than isolated crossroads -- but rural leaders say these gathering places are the glue that keeps hamlets and farm relationships from falling apart under urban pressure.
   For them, the new rules boil down to this:
   Non-municipal, non-residential drinking-water systems must be inspected by engineers, certified clean and free of surface-water infiltration, fitted with chlorination or ultraviolet purification systems if necessary and be tested weekly by a certified water sampler. All that has to happen even if they've had many months of clean tests.,
   "There needs to be some relief for our smaller churches or we're going to lose them," said Rev. Kent Garrett, pastor at Hebron and Hickson United churches near Woodstock.
   Hickson's well was drilled this year and Hebron's was dug six years ago and they're both tested regularly. But each will have to spend as much as $10,000 just to comply.
   Each church has about 40 worshippers most Sundays. While Hebron and Hickson can manage the cost, others are hurting, Garrett said.
   "People are really anxious."
   "A ballpark figure is $3,000 to $8,000" just to get a professional engineer's assessment of a single well's safety and water quality, said Pat Milliken, farm and rural resource minister with the London conference of the United Church.
   Adding ultraviolet or chlorine treatment would cost thousands more and requisite weekly testing at least $1,000 a year, she said.
   Multiply that cost by dozens of little churches and dozens more community centres in the region.