Aqua Man recently retired but fear not, your questions about all things water can now be directed to the new Aqua Talk feature “Aqua Answers.” This new title is intended to serve as a respectful, gender neutral name to reflect the diverse water professionals and champions in Colorado.
Dear Aqua Answers,
I heard recently that operators now need to report storage tank rule violations to the state, and not wait for the sanitary surveys that take place every few years. Is that right?
Hope N. De'Fecte'
Dear Hope,
Yes. That is correct. However, that requirement is not new. Revisions to the storage tank rule were proposed as a result of our recent work with stakeholders prior to the August 2020 rulemaking before the Water Quality Control Commission. During that process, everyone agreed that within the storage tank rule, we should reference back to an existing requirement in the regulations that covers reporting violations. Section 11.35(2)(c) of the Colorado Primary Drinking Water Regulations (Regulation 11) already required that suppliers report all violations within 48 hours, unless a different timing is specified in the regulations. This means that violations of the storage tank rule were already required to be reported within 48 hours. It was agreed to reference back to this requirement in the storage tank rule. The purpose of this change was to add clarity and help avoid finding out about a violation until a sanitary survey that takes place a couple of years later, which makes the timing of public notice more awkward and more challenging for the public.
Hope, as I am sure you know, we are working with water systems across Colorado and at all levels to institute a Culture of Health. The Culture of Health needs to be adopted at the state level, but even more importantly by all the people working that design, operate, manage and own public drinking water systems. We all need to work together to help make sure that drinking water is always safe, and that if there is an issue we will let people know. So, yes it is important to make sure that storage tanks are free from defects to keep drinking water safe. But it is also important to work with us at the health department to implement all the drinking water rules and report violations to us in accordance with the regulations. Thank you so much for your question!
Aqua Answers
