Funding opportunity

Request for proposals - drinking water training 

We have two 2019 program requests for proposals (RFP) open for you to review. If you know any teachers, trainers, subject matter experts or other professionals that might appreciate this opportunity, please share far and wide!

Public water system training - grant program

The Safe Drinking Water Program has re-instituted an updated Public Water System Training Grants Program to provide an opportunity for qualified applicants interested in partnering with the state to provide training services in high priority subject matters. 

The program is designed to help fill the training gaps identified through studies conducted by our staff. In particular, the program has an emphasis on encouraging public-private partnerships to provide training services to small public water systems in rural areas of Colorado.

The 2019 program request for proposals has been released. We are soliciting qualified applicants interested in partnering with the state to provide these training sessions. This RFP is open to teachers, trainers, and subject matter experts to receive grants to fund regulations training for target audiences on Colorado drinking water regulations. 

Training curriculum must incorporate and teach to content provided by our department. Specific regulatory topics include: 

• Cross connection control. 
• Storage tanks.
• Distribution disinfection.
• Long term monitoring schedules ending in 2019 (Samplegeddon).

e-Learning water and wastewater training for certification applicants

This second request for proposals is to solicit qualified applicants interested in developing and hosting a water and a wastewater comprehensive regulations e-learning training course - available free of charge to all certification applicants.

Our vision is that all public water system training supported by the Colorado Safe Drinking Water Program is consistently relevant, of high quality and well coordinated statewide.

For more information about these two exciting opportunities please visit the drinking water training grant program page. 


➽ Armando Herald, Local assistance unit manager

Funding opportunity

Grant opportunities for lead testing in schools

House Bill 17-1306 directed the Water Quality Control Division to establish a grant program to test for lead in drinking water at public schools. The bill provided the division with $300,000 annually to award and distribute to eligible public schools to implement voluntary lead testing at their facilities. 

We are looking forward to another successful year of the grant funding program and the Request for Application (RFA) period for state fiscal year (SFY) 2019-20 will be announced on April 17, 2019. The initial application period will end on June 17, 2019 at 2 p.m. MST. 

Depending on the grant demand, we may have an open enrollment period sometime after July 15, 2019, but we encourage schools to apply early to secure funding. When the request for the application period is officially announced, the application and additional program information will be on the lead testing in schools webpage.

Eligibility

Eligible schools include public schools that:

• Are not subject to the federal lead and copper rule, 40 CRF part 141, subpart I;  
• Have not tested for lead yet;
• Or are in the process of lead testing its drinking water.

A public school – means a school that derives its support, in whole or in part, from moneys raised by a general state, county, or district tax. Public school includes a public school district; charter school, as that term is defined in section 22-30.5-103(2), C.R.S., including an institute charter school, as that term is defined in section 22-30.5-502(6), C.R.S.; and a board of cooperative services, as that term is defined in section 22-5-103(2), C.R.S.

Details

• The money for this funding opportunity is from the Water Quality Improvement Fund.
• It covers voluntary lead testing in public schools to detect the presence and concentration of lead in drinking water. 
• A total of $300,000 has been allocated for State fiscal year 2019-20. 
• Public schools can apply for reimbursement of up to 100 samples per school or to a maximum amount of $5,000 per school. 
• The funding period is anticipated to begin July 15, 2019 not to exceed June 30, 2020.

Why is this funding important?

Lead is a toxic metal that can affect almost every organ and system in the body, particularly the central nervous system (brain). Children six years and younger are particularly at risk for lead poisoning because their brains are still growing. Lead can be introduced into drinking water one of two ways: It can be present in the supplier’s source water or it can be introduced by water interacting with the plumbing material (e.g. pipes, fixtures, solder) that may contain lead. 

The source of lead in drinking water is most often from old plumbing, not the water supply. Lead in drinking water is a specific concern due to aging infrastructure and older buildings. Buildings built before 1986 are more likely to have fixtures and solder that are high in lead content, or even lead pipes.

Not all schools are required by law to test their water for lead. Our program encourages schools to sample for lead and the program assists the schools to test their water supply and always provide safe drinking water sources.

Questions?

Contact us at cdphe_wqcd_lead_grant@state.co.us.


➽ John Duggan, source water work group lead

Success stories

Bringing a recently regulated public water system into compliance

Wellhouse before design approval and modifications

During the year, the department routinely activates anywhere between 10 to 30 “unregistered” public water systems. These are systems that have been in routine operation, but have not been regulated. Many of these systems struggle with meeting the drinking water regulatory requirements (e.g. installing disinfection, hiring an operator, developing a monitoring plan, sampling, etc.). In 2017, due to customer complaints, the department activated an unregistered system in Teller County that is a year-round campground and serves approximately 20 residents and 50 transients. Initially, the owners feared the cost of installing treatment and ensuring compliance with the drinking water regulations would force them to shut the campground down.

In July 2017, the system was placed on a boil water advisory due to confirmed E. coli in the distribution system and lack of chlorination for their groundwater well. The advisory was escalated to a bottled water advisory in October 2017 due to high levels of nitrate in addition to the detected E. coli in the drinking water. The system was issued a formal enforcement order in April 2018 for numerous unresolved violations, including ongoing failure to disinfect the drinking water.

The system contacted the department’s local assistance unit in late March 2018 for assistance with completing plans and specifications for a new treatment system and well/wellhouse upgrades. During five separate coaching visits, the coach worked with the campground owners to complete a design submittal for a new treatment system, ensure proper chlorinator installation, and inspect the final project after completion. As of October 2018, the system has an approved chlorination system installed and in operation. This project would not have been possible without the extensive collaboration between the water system owners and the department’s drinking water compliance assurance section, the engineering section, the field services section, and the assistance coach. Through the collaboration efforts, the water system realized the compliance issues were solvable and could be completed without hindering their business.

Wellhouse after design approval and installation of treatment system

The system’s disinfection treatment project also included wellhead and source water protection improvements to address both nitrate and E. coli issues, and expansion of the existing treatment building to accommodate a contact time pipeline. After over 16 months of being on a boil water advisory due to E. coli in the distribution system, the advisory was rescinded in early November 2018 as the department determined the system is operating properly and providing safe drinking water to the public. The department is continuing to work with system to meet the drinking water regulatory requirements and to close the enforcement order in the near future.

➽ Haley Orahood, compliance assistance and Mike Bacon, local assistance coach

Simple Fixes

Backflow prevention and cross-connection control report

The department would like to remind all public water systems that the annual backflow prevention and cross-connection control (BPCCC) report is due May 1 of each year. Colorado Drinking Water Regulation, Section 11.39 (5 CCR 1002-11) requires that suppliers create a report to demonstrate compliance with the BPCCC Rule. The annual report summarizes the performance of the public water system’s program. For compliance year 2018, the supplier must develop a written annual BPCCC report by May 1, 2019, and for each calendar year thereafter and keep a record of the report for department review. The department will review annual BPCCC reports during sanitary surveys and reserves the right to request a report at any time.

Backflow prevention hardware

Please note that unless a violation is identified in the annual report, it is not required to be submitted to the department. If you have questions while completing the report or are unclear if a violation has occurred please contact the departments BPCCC specialist, Jorge Delgado at 303-692-3511 or at jorge.a.delgado@state.co.us. The department would like to commend many suppliers who have come forward and self-reported BPCCC violations. Such actions are necessary in promoting a culture of health and providing consumers with the appropriate public notice and potential health risk.

If a BPCCC violation occurred, Regulation 11.39(7) requires that the violation must be reported to the department no later than 48 hours after the violation occurs. The department requests that the supplier submit a copy of the annual BPCCC report, which should document the identified violations (per Regulation 11.36(2)(b)). The annual report should be submitted via the department’s drinking water portal found at wqcdcompliance.com/login. Please mark the report to the attention of Jorge Delgado. Additional guidance with sample calculations for the annual BPCCC report can be found on our website, titled BPCCC Program Report Guidance. 

➽ Jorge Delgado, P.E., senior field engineer