Hello everyone,
In the Winter 2009 Aquatalk issue, we ran a Program Manager message about significant deficiencies. This was in the aftermath of the 2008 waterborne disease outbreak in Alamosa, Colorado. We have not had a waterborne disease outbreak at a public water system in Colorado in the 17 years since. Water utilities and the Safe Drinking Water Program have worked together since 2009 to correct thousands of significant deficiencies across the state. But we thought it would be a good time to rerun this article (with a few updates) as a reminder of how important it is to address significant deficiencies and avoid complacency despite our strong recent track record. We have had situations of reported illnesses likely associated with drinking water problems, but the exact combination of epidemiological evidence needed to confirm a waterborne disease outbreak did not materialize.
The Safe Drinking Water Program periodically conducts sanitary surveys at all public water systems in Colorado. During the survey, we review source(s), treatment, distribution system, finished water storage, pumps and controls, monitoring and reporting data, system management and operation, and operator certification
compliance. The Safe Drinking Water Program believes that the benefits of conducting sanitary surveys include providing compliance and technical assistance, communicating with water systems to better clarify current and upcoming regulations, and conducting a detailed review of all the elements listed above to help ensure that the water system is able to provide safe drinking water to its customers.
After the survey is complete, a sanitary survey report letter is sent to the water system. The sanitary survey letter will notify you if your system has any significant deficiencies. Significant deficiencies are conditions or practices at a water system that may result in the production of finished water that represents an unacceptable health risk to the public. Occasionally, we find situations that represent an imminent, acute health threat to public health. These instances require the immediate attention of both the water system and the state.
However, more typically, the sanitary survey letter will include a specific time frame for the water system to correct the significant deficiency or contact us regarding its plan to correct the significant deficiency. This follow-up is required in the Colorado Primary Drinking Water Regulations. Due to the public health risk that significant deficiencies represent, it is imperative that public water systems correct significant deficiencies and that the Safe Drinking Water Program verifies that these issues are addressed. Section 11.38(3) of the regulations requires a public water system to respond in writing to significant deficiencies and violations from Sanitary Survey reports no later than 45 days after receiving the report. The response must indicate what actions the system will take to address the significant deficiencies and violations noted in the survey letter and include a proposed schedule for completing those actions.
Therefore, I encourage you to locate your last sanitary survey letter from us and review it to see if any significant deficiencies were noted. If there were significant deficiencies, are you sure that they were corrected? I recommend verifying that the deficiencies were corrected and contacting the person who conducted the sanitary survey, if necessary. If the deficiencies have not been corrected, then I recommend contacting the person who conducted the survey and developing a plan to correct the deficiencies. When the deficiencies are corrected, please provide documentation of the correction, including photos, by uploading them to the Drinking Water portal. This will confirm that the deficiency is resolved.
By working together to identify and correct significant deficiencies, the Safe Drinking Water Program and public water systems can help ensure that the public always receives safe drinking water.
➽ Ron Falco, P.E. Safe Drinking Water Program Manager
