Colorado Certified Water Professionals

New online portal - phase one

March 1, 2019 brought big changes for water operators in Colorado. The Colorado Certified Water Professionals Program began phase one of a two-phased implementation of the new online portal. During phase one, operators can log in to the CCWP Portal to verify correct migration of their certificate data and enter data to complete their profiles.  

Operators will use their email addresses as the username for logging in to the operator portal, and their operator ID numbers as the temporary passwords.

Troubleshooting log-in problems

Every operator needs to have a unique email address.

• If you don’t have a unique (unshared) email address, you need to get one.
• You can sign up for a free email address with Google or a number of other service providers.

Go to the CCWP Portal log in page.

• Enter the following as your one-time username:
  operator.[your operator ID number]@coloradocwp.com.
• Use your operator ID number as your temporary password.
• Your operator ID number is on your wallet-sized operator card.
• You can look up your operator ID using the operator look-up function on the CCWP web. (If there are multiple operators with your name, cross-reference with the expiration date of your certificate.)
• After you verify your certificate information, enter your email address into your profile so it will work as your username the next time you access the portal.
• Change your password by clicking your username in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Please note that your certificate number will not match the number on your paper certificate. Certificate numbers changed during data migration. To verify your certificate, please confirm your certificate category, class and expiration date.

If troubleshooting on your own does not work, please contact the CCWP office. 
DO NOT CREATE A NEW PORTAL ACCOUNT.

Contact

Colorado Certified Water Professionals Office
info@coloradocwp.com  
719-225-7339 

What's next?

Phase two is anticipated to begin before the end of May. During phase two, operators will be able to submit applications and make payments through the CCWP Portal.

➽ Nancy Horan, Facility and Operator Outreach, Certification Board Liaison

Quiz Answers - 2018 - 4

Answers to the 2018 Issue 4 drinking water quiz:

1. What year did recent flooding occur that prompted creation of the Natural Disaster Grant Fund? (b. 2013)

a. 2012.

b. 2013.

c. 2014.

d. 2015.

2. True or False: A treatment technique violation that then requires Tier 2 public notice within 30 days occurs when you fail to conduct the required quarterly finished water tank inspection. (a. True)

a. True.

b. False.

3. The new operator portal will: (e. All of the above)

a. Allow operators to submit payments online.

b. Allow operators to submit applications online.

c. Help operators track the status of applications.

d. Help operators keep track of training units.

e. All of the above.

4. True or False: The Lead Grant Program is still accepting applications. (a. True)

a. True.

b. False.

5. Which of the following are needed for all systems applying for reduced annual lead and copper sampling? (e. All of the above)

a. Approved LCR sites in the portal.

b. Customer sampling guidance. 

c. Lead and copper sample tap results.

d. Application.

e. All of the above. 

6. What was the division’s main concern with adding toilet and urinal flushing as an approved use under reg 84? (c. cross connection into the drinking water supply system)

a. Dogs drinking out of the toilets.

b. Aerosols from flushing.

c. Cross connection into the drinking water supply system.

d. Exposure to contaminants of emerging concern

7. What should I be looking for when purchasing a bleach product to disinfect my water? (a. regular or germicidal)

a. Regular or germicidal.

b. Lemon scented.

c. Splash-less.

d. WD-40 certified.

8. True or False: Operators in responsible charge may need to upgrade their certifications due to facility classification upgrades. (a. True - operators in responsible charge must hold certificates at or above the classification of their facility. However, if the existing facility does not undergo any substantial modifications, the operator will have two years to upgrade the certificate.)

a. True.

b. False.

9. True or False: Reclaimed water can be used for edible crop irrigation since the legislation passed. (b. False - regulations need to be developed before edible crops can be irrigated with reclaimed water.)

a. True.

b. False.

10. What types of facilities are required to have a written operating plan? (c. All facilities and systems that delegate tasks to operators who are not designated as ORCs.)

a. All facilities and systems that require certified operators

b. All small facilities operated by a single individual

c. All facilities and systems delegating tasks to operators who are designated ORCs.

d. None of the above

11. True or False: I may be eligible for an assistance grant if my water system is struggling with completing its first comprehensive storage tank inspection. (a. True)

a. True.

b. False.

Samplegeddon - 2019

Our last issue included an article regarding Samplegeddon. What is Samplegeddon? In 2019, nine-year, six-year, three-year, annual, six-month, and quarterly monitoring compliance schedules will converge - that's Samplegeddon. This only happens every nine years! As a result, the department is working diligently to remind water systems of their monitoring requirements.

Based on the figure below, as of January 15, 2018:

• Overall, approximately 60% of systems have completed their three, six, and nine year sampling schedules. However, this means that 40% of systems still have not met their monitoring requirements.  
• Great news - a majority of systems have sampled for nitrite, which is on a nine-year schedule! However, 15% of systems are still outstanding.   
• The area with the most uncompleted sampling is for synthetic organic chemicals. To date, only 43% of systems have collected their required samples.

To avoid any potential monitoring and reporting violations, please remember to:

• Review your system’s monitoring schedule to ensure samples will be collected at the appropriate sample point, during the correct collection period, and that there are not separate requirements for specific analytes within a group. Have enough sampling bottles on hand to address each requirement as it arises - you may even want a few extra.
• Collect and deliver your samples to a certified laboratory early in your compliance period. Be sure that the chosen laboratory will be able to process your sample results and report them to the department by January 10, 2020. Laboratories may be extra busy as the deadline approaches; do what you can to avoid surprises or delays! Submitting samples early helps ensure that they will be received by the department on time, and it may also ensure adequate time to re-sample or correct reporting errors if needed.
• Confirm that sample results have been received and accepted by checking your system’s online monitoring schedules. Schedules are updated every Wednesday night to reflect changes.
• Contact your drinking water compliance specialist with any questions or concerns.
• Submit your data early. Remember, the best way to submit drinking water data to the department is through the drinking water portal.
• 
  

➽ Nicole Graziano and Jamie Duvall, drinking water compliance assurance section 

UCMR 4 - preliminary results

A preliminary look at Colorado and national UCMR 4 sample results

The EPA collects data on chemicals and substances that may be present in drinking water but are not currently covered by EPA drinking water regulations. This data is used for monitoring the occurrence of unregulated drinking water contaminants.

Every five years, the EPA issues a list of new substances of concern which is the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR). All systems serving over 10,000 and some others must monitor for these substances. The monitoring test results from these systems help the EPA determine whether to regulate these substances in the future. All sample results are available to the public on the EPA's UCMR webpage. Many of these substances can present acute, lifetime or cancer risks, and have health-based reference concentrations. UCMR 4 was published to the Federal Register on December 20, 2016, and covers 2017-2021. 

Between 2018 and 2020, over 100 Colorado public water systems will complete this testing as part of UCMR 4. A listing of all UCMR 4 substances and their health-based reference concentrations is available on our compliance forms webpage.

Local results

The EPA started posting UCMR 4 sample results to their website in October 2018. Initial sample results from Colorado public water systems show detection of manganese, the brominated haloacetic acid groups, and 1-butanol. None of the results exceeded available health-based reference concentrations. There were no results for the cyanotoxin groups caused by harmful algal blooms.

National results 

Initial sample results show:

• For the cyanotoxin groups, 0.8% of public water systems exceeded the health-based reference concentration of 0.3 µg/L for total mycrocystins. There were five detects for anatoxin-a and one detect for cylindrospermopsin which was below the health-based reference concentration.
• 1% of drinking water systems exceeded the health-based reference concentration of 300 µg/L for manganese.
• No systems exceeded a reference concentration for 10-4 cancer risk (1 in 10,000) for the pesticide, alcohol, and other semivolatile chemical groups.
• 5.4% of public water systems exceeded the regulated haloacetic acid (HAA5) concentration of 60 µg/L. HAA5 is the only regulated substance being monitored for as part of UCMR 4.

 You can find the full UCMR 4 data summary on EPA's UCMR 4 webpage.

➽ David Dani, local assistance unit

Program Manager's Message

Applying a culture of health to unregulated contaminants

Welcome to the new Aqua Talk blog! Let's dive right in and discuss an important issue...

In the third Aqua Talk issue of 2018 I wrote about establishing a culture of health across the entire community of people involved with providing safe drinking water to the public, including state and local health departments, public water system owners, operators and utility staff. But how do we apply a culture of health when it comes to unregulated contaminants? 

Regulations have their pluses and minuses, but one of the benefits we get from regulated contaminants under the Safe Drinking Water Act is a sort of play book or recipe regarding how to address them. Specifically, for regulated contaminants the sample locations, frequencies, lab methods, maximum contaminant level (MCL), compliance determination method, e.g. annual average, best available treatment technologies, etc. are all spelled out so we have a guide to follow so that we can protect public health. That specific approach does not exist when it comes to unregulated contaminants. 

Are we on our own to figure things out?

It might be easy to answer yes to the above question. However, I would like to point out that when issues with unregulated contaminants have arisen in Colorado, the Safe Drinking Water Program has formed strong partnerships with EPA, the local health department, the involved water systems and their personnel and others to do our collective best to deal with the situation. It is still quite difficult and involves public communication. Together these partners have not completely solved the problems, but we have put funding toward additional sampling to understand the issue, and have taken steps to reduce public exposure – thereby helping protect public health.

Remember, the public does not place as heavy an emphasis on regulated versus unregulated contaminants. Safety is paramount. So the answer is that partners engage to understand and address the problems as quickly and as best they can while providing information to the public.

PFAS, Legionella, manganese and cyanotoxins

The main unregulated contaminants that we are concerned about include per- and polyfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS), Legionella, manganese and cyanotoxins. The department does not have sufficient resources to provide comprehensive and proactive services to help water systems with these contaminants but we are staying connected to or participating in national efforts involving them and will help water systems to address problems if they arise. Manganese and cyanotoxins are part of EPA’s fourth Unregulated Monitoring Contaminant Rule (UCMR4) and are currently being tested by numerous water systems around Colorado. 

We are working closely with EPA to monitor results and inform water systems if we see potential problems with UCMR4 contaminants. It is important for water systems to realize that there are required actions when contaminants are detected under UCMR4 including reporting detections in the next Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). The department also recommends that water systems seek to understand more about these contaminants if detected above a health reference concentration and work with the department to assess risk and respond if needed.

For cyanotoxins, we plan to continue working with our partners to implement Colorado’s guidance for drinking water and recreational water bodies. In late 2020 as resources permit we hope to be able to work with water systems and building and health facility owners to develop guidance or best practices regarding Legionella. For PFAS, we will be working with interested water utilities to develop a response toolbox and working to incorporate consideration of potential PFAS contamination sources into source water protection planning. 

The department is also reaching out to facilities that could be a source of PFAS contamination including airports, fire training areas, and industrial and manufacturing facilities that may have used or produced PFAS-containing products. Based upon what we learn, we will prepare an inventory of those facilities with high potential for PFAS releases across the state. We will also identify public drinking water systems near these locations to better understand the scope of PFAS impacts on drinking water systems. This effort will take considerable time and resources.

More problems with unregulated drinking water contaminants are likely to be found. By working together we can provide a credible response that stems from our culture of health.

➽ Ron Falco, safe drinking water program manager