History of Disinfection Waivers and Where We Go From Here

 Hello everyone, 

In the Fall 2013 issue of Aqua Talk we ran a brief article regarding the history of disinfection waivers in Colorado and where we were planning to go in the future. We thought it would be a good time now to provide an update. 

In 1955 the State Board of Health recognized the tremendous risk reduction from waterborne disease that results from disinfecting drinking water, and adopted a resolution recommending that all drinking water supplied to the public contain at least 0.1 parts per million of free available chlorine. In 1967 the State Board of Health required disinfection of all drinking water unless that requirement was specifically waived by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment based on evidence that the drinking water was free of contamination.  

Over the years from 1967 to about 2000, approximately 126 disinfection waivers were granted across the state including 62 community water systems serving 60,695 people. The department lacked a systematic process for reviewing the status of these waivers on a periodic basis. The department began to review the status of disinfection waivers in about 2007, which was before the 2008 Alamosa waterborne disease outbreak. We found that many of these systems had already begun to disinfect their drinking water. 

In 2010, the Water Quality Control Commission banned new disinfection waivers and imposed more appropriate requirements on systems with disinfection waivers if they wished to retain them. After that, the division began systematically reviewing all the disinfection waivers in the state to make sure that they complied with the requirements and working with systems to get disinfection installed if their disinfection waiver was withdrawn. We continued implementing this rule, and systems that struggled with bacterial contamination had their waivers withdrawn. We also started to periodically review the waivers every year. By late 2010, the number of disinfection waivers fell to less than 40 public water systems. 

From late 2010 through about 2013, the division implemented the new requirements regarding disinfection waivers and many systems chose to begin disinfecting while several disinfection waivers were withdrawn as well. By late 2013 only about 15 disinfection waivers remained in place. Since then, the division continued to review disinfection waivers and withdraw waivers when circumstances merited, typically when multiple positive total coliform or E. coli events occurred without there being an adequate way to assure that such events would not recur.

As of 2023, only two (2) of the approximately 2,075 public drinking water systems in Colorado have disinfection waivers, and they are both at community water systems. The systems are the Towns of Ward in Boulder county serving about 230 people and Sanford in Conejos county serving about 850 people. Without further regulatory changes, those systems will retain their waivers as long as they continue to meet the regulatory requirements. We review the status of disinfection waivers annually, whenever there are total coliform rule violations or positive bacterial tests, and during sanitary surveys. The graph below displays the history of disinfection waivers in Colorado from the high point of 2007 to 2023.

➽ Ron Falco, P.E. Safe Drinking Water Program Manager

➽ Bryan Pilson, Technical and Regulatory Implementation and Coordination Unit manager

Coming Down the Pipe - TMF R541 Observation

During sanitary surveys, the Field Services Section (FSS) has encountered serious significant deficiencies at water systems such as tanks with collapsing roofs, major water loss in raw water transmission lines and distribution systems, or evidence at water treatment plants of a substantial lack of preventative maintenance. Many of the systems experiencing these major issues are small community water systems struggling to manage a water system and keep up with replacement of aging infrastructure. Fundamental to this issue is Technical, Managerial, and Financial (TMF) Capacity of a public water system (PWS). TMF capacity, also known as Capacity Development, is part of the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments. Capacity Development is a process for PWSs to build technical, managerial and financial (TMF) capacity to be able to continuously provide safe drinking water to the public. Activities involved with developing adequate TMF capacity include items such as asset management, financial planning and water rate setting in addition to managerial and technical capacity as shown below:  

Source: US EPA - Building the Capacity of Drinking Water Systems

As inspectors work with PWSs during the sanitary survey process, they may ask basic questions regarding TMF actions that the PWS has implemented. If a PWS has TMF capacity areas of improvement, a new observation will be listed in the inspection report. This observation will be coded as R541 TMF and will explain the importance of TMF and provide links to resources that are available to PWSs. Water system operators may find it helpful to review this observation with system ownership and management to gain support to undertake needed TMF capacity development activities and get help as discussed below.  

Please note that Regulation 11.4.1 also requires all new community or non-transient, non-community water systems commencing operations after October 1, 1999 to receive Department approval of a TMF capacity assessment using the criteria found in the New Public Water System Capacity Planning Manual (Drinking Water Policy 11). Please reach out to the WQCD Engineering Section at CDPHE.WQEngReview@state.co.us for any questions regarding new PWS TMF requirements.

Resources: 

• Colorado has a Capacity Development Program to assist public water systems in building TMF capacity. TMF coaching is available from our Local Assistance Unit by filing out the coaching request form.
• Additional TMF capacity resources are available on EPA’s TMF for small systems website

➽ Heather Young, PE, CWP, Field Services Section Manager

➽ Tom Valenta, Field Unit III Work Group Lead 

Upcoming Regulatory Changes for the 2020s

In January 2023 we published a recycled Aqua Talk article about upcoming drinking water regulatory changes that were expected in the 2000s. The article was recycled from our December 2000 newsletter. Back then the newsletter was called Tapping In.  In February 2023 we again published a recycled Aqua Talk article about upcoming drinking water regulatory changes. This time the article was the October 2008  Aqua Talk article entitled “New Rules in Challenging Times” about our then-recent adoption of the Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, Stage 2 Disinfectants/Disinfection By-Products Rule, and the Groundwater Rule. These rules were significant and  together applied to all the public water systems in Colorado. In both the early and late 2000s the challenges faced in the U.S. were largely economic, and there were also security concerns. 

As we move forward in the 2020s, we again face tremendous challenges in our country and the water industry. The challenges are too numerous to fully elaborate, but many stem from the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic upheaval, including serious supply chain issues. We are also faced with more severe security threats than ever before. Colorado water utilities have been targeted with ransomware attacks and other physical security incidents have occurred as well.

On top of all this, as noted in the lead-in paragraph of the January 2023 recycled article, the 2020s promise to be a decade of substantial changes to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. I believe that these will be the most significant and intense set of new and updated drinking water rules we have experienced since the early 2000s. In the early 2000s Colorado was well-positioned for a number of these rules because of the way we approached drinking water regulations over a long period of time, such as our disinfection and certain surface water treatment practices, combined with intense planning to get ahead of, or at least early starts on, the arsenic rule, radionuclides rule and groundwater rule. Now, in 2023, I believe that we are once again well-positioned to tackle a number of the challenges associated with the upcoming rules. We have instituted special projects since the late-2010s that will help us with preparations for the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) via the Lead Outreach and Verification Effort (LOVE) project, surface water treatment via the Disinfection Outreach and Verification Effort (DOVE) project, and extensive PFAS sampling. We also have a considerable influx of federal funding dollars via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to help with the investments that water utilities will need to make in this decade. Additionally, we recently completed the development of a Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) Rule that will support Colorado’s water supply future. The table below summarizes all these new (DPR and LCRR are either completed or underway) and new rules in the 2020s. As of this writing, the EPA’s draft PFAS rule has not been published. The modest change to the Backflow Prevention and Cross Connection Control (BPCCC) Rule slated for August 2023 is not shown. 

Please note that states typically have two years, from the date of a final federal rule to adopt and implement it, with compliance dates usually starting soon thereafter. So, for the PFAS rules, states would have until Fall 2025 to adopt the rule. However, some rules have had “early implementation” requirements in the past. Each rule is unique. 

As you can see, this is quite a list. While utilities must comply with these rules, states must be able to adopt and adequately enforce the rules to maintain primary enforcement authority or “primacy”. To gain primacy for each rule, detailed “primacy packages” need to be prepared by the state and reviewed by EPA to gain approval. In talking with many of my colleagues across the U.S., many states have experienced such a degree of staff turnover in the last several years, that a number of states have no staff that have previously prepared a primacy package for EPA. But rest assured in Colorado, we still have many experienced staff that have conducted stakeholder engagement processes and prepared primacy packages. As always, we will be engaging stakeholders in developing these rules, a process well underway for LCRR, and also importantly identifying assistance, policy and training needs during those processes as well. 

We will strive to help water systems meet these rules and requirements as best as our funding and resources enable us to. But I urge you to learn about these new rules as soon as you can, so that you can best prepare your water system for the challenges that it may face in addressing them and keeping tap water safe for your customers. Thank you.

➽ Ron Falco, P.E. Safe Drinking Water Program Manager

You’ve met your AWIA requirements - now what?

As many of you know, on October 23, 2018, America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) was signed into law. AWIA Section 2013 required community drinking water systems serving more than 3,300 people to develop or update risk assessments and emergency response plans (ERPs) and submit a statement of certification for each document to the EPA. The deadline for both the risk assessment and emergency response plan has come and gone. Many systems may be asking, What now?

EPA built a framework to help drinking water and wastewater systems build resilience, which involves the following elements: 

• Assess
• Plan
• Train 
• Respond
• Recover 

So, now that you have assessed risks to your system and written a plan you can move forward with training your staff on emergency planning, responding to emergencies as they arise, and recovering from unexpected upsets.

Below are some resources to help you with each of these aspects of emergency management: 

1. Train 

• Resiliency Training For The Water Sector
• Develop a training and exercise plan
• Conduct tabletop exercises
• Find training opportunities

2. Respond

• Response On-The-Go Tool
• Print a checklist to help you respond
• Monitor severe weather
• Respond to supply challenges

3. Recover

• Mitigate natural disasters
• Find federal funding for your utility
• Decontamination resources
• Learn about the Public Assistance Program
• Get reimbursement tips

How to keep your plan up to date?

Another aspect of keeping you and your team prepared for any situation is to periodically review your risk assessment and emergency management plan. A crucial part of your emergency planning is creating and sustaining partnerships in your community and in your county. Your major partners include: 

• Local Emergency Planning Committee
• Local police departments, fire department, emergency medical services 
• Other local critical infrastructure: gas, electric, etc. 
• Critical customers: child care facilities, hospitals, dialysis centers, schools, etc.

Thank you for all that you do to protect the public health of your communities, especially during emergencies! 

➽ Kyra Gregory, Drinking Water Training Specialist 

Drinking Water Sanitary Survey Follow Ups and Compliance - What you need to know

The Field Services Section (FSS) works with public water systems on sanitary survey inspections to ensure the production and distribution of safe drinking water. Just as water systems have inspections on a routine basis, our program also gets “inspected” by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 to ensure that we meet federal requirements. Starting in 2021, EPA Region 8 conducted an audit of 86 sanitary surveys across 43 large community public water systems in Colorado. In September 2022, EPA Region 8 provided their final report. Overall, the report highlighted some of the WQCD sanitary survey processes as best practices such as public notice for field based violations, our online records system and our sanitary survey report quality. The report also  includes areas where we need to improve on sanitary survey follow ups. Going forward, we'll be working on those areas of improvement with a focus on the items below.

Type 45 Violations for Unresolved Significant Deficiencies:

Regulation 11, Section 11.3(72) defines a significant deficiency as: any situation, practice, or condition in a public water system with respect to design, operation, maintenance, or administration, that the state determines may result in or have the potential to result in production of finished drinking water that poses an unacceptable risk to health and welfare of the public served by the water system. Water systems have to either fix significant deficiencies and violations no later than 120 days after the date of the inspection letter or request a corrective action plan (CAP). If the water system does not fix a significant deficiency by 120 days or an approved CAP schedule, a violation (type 45 violation) occurs.

The EPA audit found that the WQCD was not consistently issuing 45-violations when necessary and must issue compliance advisories and treatment technique (type 45) violations in situations where a significant deficiency is overdue and unresolved. Please note that type 45 violations require Tier 2 public notice by the supplier within 30 days of receipt of the violation letter from the Compliance Assurance Section and every 90 days thereafter as long as the significant deficiency remains unresolved. Please avoid this situation and protect public health by fixing significant deficiencies. For significant deficiencies that need more time for engineering evaluations, financing and construction, a Department-approved CAP may be an option. 

Department-approved corrective action plans (CAPs):

For significant deficiencies and field violations that need more than 120 days to fix, the water system can request a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). The CAP request must include the actions the supplier will take to fix the significant deficiencies and/or violations and the schedule for completing the actions. Field Services then reviews the CAP proposal and, if appropriate, issues an approval letter. Any changes to the CAP or CAP schedule also need to be approved prior to the CAP expiring. If you are in compliance with your CAP, you may avoid the Type 45-violation with Tier 2 public notice. However, it is very important to know that community water systems still have to include any unresolved significant deficiencies and their approved CAP schedule in their annual Consumer Confidence Report.

CAP schedules are normally limited to a year unless special circumstances such as financing, engineering design and construction need additional time. Also, interim measures to protect public health may be required at any time during the CAP process. The EPA audit identified that extended timelines CDPHE allowed for unresolved significant deficiencies as a concern. As part of our follow up improvements, CAPs that are expired will no longer be repeatedly renewed. Please reach out to your inspector if you have any questions about CAPs. 

Thank you for all you do to protect your customers by resolving significant deficiencies and field violations. To see the compliance status for your water system, please look at your monitoring schedule available online at the division's monitoring schedule webpage. If you need help on technical issues or sanitary survey significant deficiencies and violations, please reach out to your inspector or sign up for individualized coaching here.  For any questions or concerns about sanitary surveys, please email our Field Services team at cdphe_wqcd_fss_questions@state.co.us.

Thank you for all your efforts to protect public health!

➽ Heather Young, PE, CWP, Field Services Section Manager

➽ Nicole Graziano, PE, Compliance Assurance Section Manager

New Rules in Challenging Times - Recycled from our October 2008 newsletter

Hello everyone, 

As discussed briefly in a recent Aqua Talk article, the 2020s promise to be a decade of substantial changes to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. I believe that these will be the most significant and intense set of regulatory changes we have experienced since the 2000s. So, look for an upcoming article summarizing the Upcoming Regulatory Changes in the 2020s, one of which - the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions is already in process. In the meantime, we wanted to share an article that ran about 15 years ago regarding tackling new rules in challenging times. Those were challenging times - remember the Great Recession? Well, the 2020s have brought their own set of challenges as we grapple with a host of new drinking water rules: pandemic with an immediate economic crisis followed by ongoing supply chain issues, staff shortages, inflation and economic risks. We thought we would share this article from the past as a reminder that we have tackled new rules during challenging times before. We believe that by working together we can rise again to meet the needs of keeping drinking water safe. Thank you.

➽ Ron Falco, P.E. Safe Drinking Water Program Manager

New Rules in Challenging Times - Originally published 2008

Ron Falco, P.E.

Since 2007 the Drinking Water Program has adopted the Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, Stage 2 Disinfectants/Disinfection By-Products Rule, and the Groundwater Rule. These are major new rules that will apply to every public water system in the state. We are striving to help water systems meet the federal early implementation requirements of the first two rules, and I urge all public water systems to conduct the necessary monitoring and distribution system analysis so the correct approach can be used for your system. Failing to meet the early implementation requirements can have negative consequences going forward. For example, failing to monitor your surface water as required can lead to a higher bin classification than truly necessary, which may in turn lead to a requirement to install additional treatment. We are also reaching out to groundwater systems in advance of the December 2009 effective date for that rule.

In the coming year, the program will also be required to adopt the minor Lead and Copper Rule revisions to avoid seeking an extension with EPA. In response to the Alamosa outbreak, we will be working with stakeholders to update and revise our regulatory approach to disinfection waivers. A number of water systems have also asked that we update and revise Article 12 regarding cross connections. 

All of these changes will certainly keep program staff and public water systems very busy. I wish to thank all of the water systems that have helped us develop our regulatory language and implementation strategies. Please contact us if you wish to participate in any of these efforts or have some feedback that you would like to provide. We will be facing these new challenges at a time when economic uncertainty makes it especially difficult to obtain the necessary resources to complete the job at hand today, let alone the resources needed to prepare for tomorrow. We are available to help you and we will continue to sponsor training events all around the state. Through it all, I know that we will all do our best to maintain our vigilance and protect public health. Thanks.

 

Having trouble finding a certified operator? Use the division's list of Colorado contract operators

Every day, communities depend on water operators for safe drinking water and environmental protection. For some parts of the state, finding a certified operator can be difficult. Contract operators can help reduce the financial burden on small systems, and allow for the sharing of expertise in areas with a scarcity of qualified personnel. 

If your facility is having difficulty finding a certified operator, whether it be a new facility having to meet regulatory requirements, facility reclassification, or you are simply needing to hire a contract operator until your current employee/operator tests up to the appropriate level, the division’s website provides a list of contract operators providing services in Colorado. Please note that this is a voluntary listing of organizations and individuals and participation does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement from the state. The list is updated periodically to reflect changes and to improve accuracy. 

The list provides the operator’s contact information, the geographical area in Colorado the operator provides services, as well as their current highest-level certifications by certificate type (e.g. drinking water treatment, wastewater collections, industrial). The list is in a table format, defaulting to sorting the information by area served. However, a viewer can sort and filter the information in the table any way they choose. 

For example, if you are in need of and searching for a Class ‘A’ Drinking Water Treatment operator, you can sort the information in the table by simply clicking on the column header for ‘DW Treatment’ (as depicted below by the red circle). 

You can also filter the information by using one of the three drop-down menu options at the top (‘Area Served’, ‘Contract Operator’ i.e. entity name, or individual operator ‘Name’). 

For instance, if you wish to only view those contract operators providing services in certain parts of the state, use the ‘Area Served’ drop-down menu. First, deselect (or uncheck) the box next to ‘Area Served’ and then select the area you wish to view (e.g. ‘West’ for the western part of the state). After selecting your chosen area, click outside of the drop-down box to refresh the table to only reflect contract operators serving that particular area.

If you’re having trouble viewing the table information on the webpage or simply prefer to view it in full-screen mode, you have the option to open the table in a new window. 

Important things to keep in mind

The Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC) is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facility, must know and understand the requirements of applicable permits, laws, and regulations, and may supervise other operators working in the facility. If any tasks or activities are delegated to others, Regulation 100 requires a written delegation plan to be in place. Failing to have one in place can not only result in a facility being out of compliance with Regulation 100 but in potential disciplinary action against the operator. 

Per Regulation 100.10.1(c), there must be a written agreement between the ORC and the facility owner. For assistance in retaining an ORC and/or preparing the written agreement, please refer to the ORC Hiring and Contract Guide and other valuable resources on the division’s ORC webpage. Moreover, the division is offering free training to help interested persons navigate the Guide and to better understand how to apply it to their specific situations. Registration for the training is available on the division’s Training Opportunities, Recognition, and Resources for Water Systems webpage, or by performing a Google search for “CDPHE training opportunities.” 

The ORC Hiring and Contract Guide empowers facility owners to knowledgeably select the best candidates for the role of ORC and to negotiate fair, clear, and effective agreements with their ORCs.

If you are a contract operator and wish to have your information reflected on the List of Contract Operators, please complete and submit the Contract Operator Listing Form. The department will verify your information and certifications prior to adding them to the list.   

➽ Jessica Morgan, Facility and Operator Outreach and Certification Board Liaison