| (k) Interconnection. No physical connection between the distribution system of a public drinking water supply and that of any other water supply shall be permitted unless the other water supply is of a safe, sanitary quality and the interconnection is approved by the executive director. (l) Flushing of mains. All dead-end mains must be flushed at monthly intervals. Dead-end lines and other mains shall be flushed as needed if water quality complaints are received from water customers or if disinfectant residuals fall below acceptable levels as specified in §290.110 of this title (relating to Disinfectant Residuals). (m) Maintenance and housekeeping. The maintenance and housekeeping practices used by a public water system shall ensure the good working condition and general appearance of the system's facilities and equipment. The grounds and facilities shall be maintained in a manner so as to minimize the possibility of the harboring of rodents, insects, and other disease vectors, and in such a way as to prevent other conditions that might cause the contamination of the water. (1) Each of the system's ground, elevated, and pressure tanks shall be inspected annually by water system personnel or a contracted inspection service. (A) Ground and elevated storage tank inspections must determine that the vents are in place and properly screened, the roof hatches closed and locked, flap valves and gasketing provide adequate protection against insects, rodents, and other vermin, the interior and exterior coating systems are continuing to provide adequate protection to all metal surfaces, and the tank remains in a watertight condition. (B) Pressure tank inspections must determine that the pressure release device and pressure gauge are working properly, the air-water ratio is being maintained at the proper level, the exterior coating systems are continuing to provide adequate protection to all metal surfaces, and the tank remains in watertight condition. Pressure tanks provided with an inspection port must have the interior surface inspected every five years. (C) All tanks shall be inspected annually to determine that instrumentation and controls are working properly. (2) When pressure filters are used, a visual inspection of the filter media and internal filter surfaces shall be conducted annually to ensure that the filter media is in good condition and the coating materials continue to provide adequate protection to internal surfaces. (3) When cartridge filters are used, filter cartridges shall be changed at the frequency required by the manufacturer, or more frequently if needed. (4) All water treatment units, storage and pressure maintenance facilities, distribution system lines, and related appurtenances shall be maintained in a watertight condition and be free of excessive solids. (5) Basins used for water clarification shall be maintained free of excessive solids to prevent possible carryover of sludge and the formation of tastes and odors. (6) Pumps, motors, valves, and other mechanical devices shall be maintained in good working condition. (n) Engineering plans and maps. Plans, specifications, maps, and other pertinent information shall be maintained to facilitate the operation and maintenance of the system's facilities and equipment. The following records shall be maintained on file at the public water system and be available to the executive director upon request. (1) Accurate and up-to-date detailed as-built plans or record drawings and specifications for each treatment plant, pump station, and storage tank shall be maintained at the public water system until the facility is decommissioned. As-built plans of individual projects may be used to fulfill this requirement if the plans are maintained in an organized manner. (2) An accurate and up-to-date map of the distribution system shall be available so that valves and mains can be easily located during emergencies. (3) Copies of well completion data such as well material setting data, geological log, sealing information (pressure cementing and surface protection), disinfection information, microbiological sample results, and a chemical analysis report of a representative sample of water from the well shall be kept on file for as long as the well remains in service. (o) Filter backwashing at surface water treatment plants. Filters must be backwashed when a loss of head differential of six to ten feet is experienced between the influent and effluent loss of head gauges or when the turbidity level at the effluent of the filter reaches 1.0 nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU). (p) Data on water system ownership and management. The agency shall be provided with information regarding water system ownership and management. (1) When a water system changes ownership, a written notice of the transaction must be provided to the executive director. When applicable, notification shall be in accordance with Chapter 291 of this title (relating to Utility Regulations). Those systems not subject to Chapter 291 of this title shall notify the executive director of changes in ownership by providing the name of the current and prospective owner or responsible official, the proposed date of the transaction, and the address and phone number of the new owner or responsible official. The information listed in this paragraph and the system's public drinking water supply identification number, and any other information necessary to identify the transaction shall be provided to the executive director 120 days before the date of the transaction. (2) On an annual basis, the owner of a public water system shall provide the executive director with a written list of all the operators and operating companies that the public water system employs. The notice shall contain the name, license number, and license class of each employed operator and the name and registration number of each employed operating company. See §290.47(g) of this title (relating to Appendices). (q) Special precautions. Special precautions must be instituted by the water system owner or responsible official in the event of low distribution pressures (below 20 pounds per square inch (psi)), water outages, microbiological samples found to contain E. coli or fecal coliform organisms, failure to maintain adequate chlorine residuals, elevated finished water turbidity levels, or other conditions which indicate that the potability of the drinking water supply has been compromised. (1) Boil water notifications must be issued to the customers within 24 hours using the prescribed notification format as specified in §290.47(e) of this title (relating to Appendices). A copy of this notice shall be provided to the executive director. Bilingual notification may be appropriate based upon local demographics. Once the boil water notification is no longer in effect, the customers must be notified in a manner similar to the original notice. (2) The flowchart found in §290.47(h) of this title shall be used to determine if a boil water notification must be issued in the event of a loss of distribution system pressure. If a boil water notice is issued under this section, it shall remain in effect until water distribution pressures in excess of 20 psi can consistently be maintained, a minimum of 0.2 mg/L free chlorine residual or 0.5 mg/L chloramine residual (measured as total chlorine) is present throughout the system, and water samples collected for microbiological analysis are found negative for coliform organisms. (3) A boil water notification shall be issued if the turbidity of the finished water produced by a surface water treatment plant exceeds 5.0 NTU. The boil water notice shall remain in effect until the water entering the distribution system has a turbidity level below 1.0 NTU, the distribution system has been thoroughly flushed, a minimum of 0.2 mg/L free chlorine residual or 0.5 mg/L chloramine residual (measured as total chlorine) is present throughout the system, and water samples collected for microbiological analysis are found negative for coliform organisms. (4) Other protective measures may be required at the discretion of the executive director. (r) Minimum pressures. All public water systems shall be operated to provide a minimum pressure of 35 psi throughout the distribution system under normal operating conditions. The system shall also be operated to maintain a minimum pressure of 20 psi during emergencies such as fire fighting. (s) Testing equipment. Accurate testing equipment or some other means of monitoring the effectiveness of any chemical treatment or pathogen inactivation or removal processes must be used by the system. (1) Flow measuring devices and rate-of-flow controllers that are required by §290.42(d) of this title shall be calibrated at least once every 12 months. Well meters required by §290.41(c)(3)(N) of this title shall be calibrated at least once every three years. (2) Laboratory equipment used for compliance testing shall be properly calibrated. (A) pH meters shall be properly calibrated. (i) Benchtop pH meters shall be calibrated according to manufacturers specifications at least once each day. Cont'd... |
