The Design Criteria for Potable Water Systems (Safe Drinking Water Program Policy 5) serves as a key policy document for the department to make decisions on approval of new designs for water sources, treatment, and storage facilities. The document also serves as a guideline for repairing or upgrading waterworks that are cited as significant deficiencies during the department’s sanitary surveys. While systems are not required to modify their waterworks to meet the design criteria unless their current water works are deficient, they are required to consider the criteria as acceptable fixes whenever their current waterworks are found to be deficient.
The department intends to update the document regularly, approximately every 4 years with input from stakeholders. To assist with updates, we keep a running list of errors and enhancements. The last update was in 2017. The department is initiating a criteria update project in the fall of 2021 to be completed in 2022. The Department has identified the following three key areas of focus for this project but is open to other stakeholder recommendations:
- Updates of known errors and enhancements since 2017 - including such items as wetwells at pump stations being considered finished water storage, typos, etc.
- Updates to sections that pertain to corrosion control and the lead and copper rule.
- Addition of sections pertaining to direct potable reuse and criteria for pertinent treatment processes (e.g. advanced oxidation, ozone/biological filtration, adsorption, etc)
The department will collect initial stakeholder feedback on potential design criteria modifications in September and early October 2021. After collecting initial stakeholder input, the department will host a stakeholder meeting to discuss the identified items and the form of workgroups as needed. The workgroups will meet during Fall 2021 and Winter 2022. In Winter 2022, the division intends to host a second stakeholder meeting to discuss the workgroup outcomes and present the draft design criteria.
The department encourages stakeholders to participate as they are able to ensure we have the best design criteria policy we can. To participate in the stakeholder process, please sign up to receive notices. To provide ideas or feedback on how the design criteria could be updated, please use this google form no later than Thursday, September 30, 2021.
For more information, please contact Melanie Criswell at 720-383-7138 or melanie.criswell@state.co.us.
➽Melanie Criswell, Corrosion Control Engineer
