PROPOSED GROUND WATER RULE

1
PROPOSED GROUND WATER RULE

• US EPA
• Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water

2
OVERVIEW

• Rule Development Background
• SDWA Mandate
• Public Health Risks
• Baseline Information
• Number and Size of Systems
• Location of Systems
• Existing State Requirements
• Regulatory Approach
• Rule Development Process
• Guiding Principles
• Applicability
• Regulatory Provisions

3
RULE DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUNDSDWA MANDATE

• Subsection 1412(b)(8) of the Safe Drinking Water
  Act (SDWA)
• ...promulgate national primary drinking water
  regulations requiring disinfection as a treatment
  technique for all public water systems, including
  surface water systems and, as necessary, ground
  water systems.
• and
• (as part of the regulations) promulgate
  criteriato determine whether disinfection shall
  be required as a treatment technique for any
  public water system served by ground water.

4
RULE DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUNDPUBLIC HEALTH RISKS

• CDC Outbreak Data 19711996
• 318 of 371 outbreaks associated with ground water
  systems
• Of those 318 microbial outbreaks
• 86 were associated with source water
• 11 were associated with the distribution system
• 3 were of unknown cause
• Of those involving source water, just under half
  were systems practicing disinfection

5
RULE DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUNDPUBLIC HEALTH RISKS
(cont.)

• Occurrence Studies
• 13 Independent studies
• AWWARF study is the most comprehensive
• 448 wells sampled in 35 States
• Hydrogeologically representative
• Analyses of AWWARF study data indicate viral
  pathogens are detected in 431 of wells

6
BASELINE INFORMATIONNUMBER AND SIZE OF SYSTEMS
157,000 total ground water systems
CWSCommunity Water System NTNCNon-Transient
Non-Community TNCTransient Non-Community
Percent Disinfecting
CWS 68
NTNC 28
TNC 18
Note disinfecting systems may not be achieving
4-log inactivation of viruses
7
BASELINE INFORMATIONNUMBER AND SIZE OF SYSTEMS
(cont.)
100
90
System Size byPopulation Served
80
70
gt10K
3.3K-10K
60
1K-3.3K
50
500-1K
40
101-500
lt100
30
20
10
0
Percent of Population
Percent of Systems
8
BASELINE INFORMATIONLOCATION OF SYSTEMS
4 states with fewer than 500 systems 10 states
with 5001,000 systems 31 states with 1,0018,000
systems 5 states with more than 8,000 systems
9
BASELINE INFORMATIONEXISTING STATE REQUIREMENTS

• Disinfection
• 5 States require across-the-board
• 49 States require some disinfection. Almost all
  others require under certain conditions
• Sanitary Surveys
• 49 States require under TCR rule
• GAO Study suggests not sufficient
• Well Construction and Siting
• 48 States have well construction standards and 47
  have minimum setback distances from microbial
  sources

10
REGULATORY APPROACH RULE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

• Workgroup Process established April 1997
• SBREFA Consultations
• Stakeholder Meetings
• ASDWA Early Involvement Meetings
• Draft Ground Water Rule Preamble

11
REGULATORY APPROACHREGULATORY PROVISIONS
Source Water Monitoring
Compliance monitoring
Sanitary Survey
Corrective Actions
Sewer Line
Sensitivity Assessments
12
REGULATORY PROVISIONSRULE APPLICABILITY

• The Ground Water Rule applies to
• PWS that use ground water as the only source
• The ground water sources for mixed source PWSs
  which do not receive treatment in compliance with
  Subpart H
• The Ground Water Rule does not apply to
• Systems using ground water under the direct
  influence of surface water (GWUDI) as a source
• Private wells

13
REGULATORY PROVISIONSSANITARY SURVEYS

• Purpose
• A comprehensive examination of a water system to
  identify potential sources of contamination
• Scope
• All ground water systems
• Frequency
• Every 3 years for CWS 5 years for NCWS

14
REGULATORY PROVISIONSSANITARY SURVEYS
(continued)

• Eight Elements of a Sanitary Survey
• Source
• Treatment
• Distribution system integrity
• Finished water storage
• Pumps, pump facilities, and control
• Monitoring, reporting, and data verification
• Water system management and operations
• Water system operator compliance with State
  requirements

15
REGULATORY PROVISIONSSANITARY SURVEYS
(continued)

• States must identify significant deficiencies
• State must have corrective action authority
• Systems must fix significant deficiencies or
  apply treatment

16
REGULATORY PROVISIONSHYDROGEOLOGIC SENSITIVITY
ASSESSMENT

• Purpose
• To identify sensitive sources that will be
  required to perform routine monitoring
• Scope
• Non-disinfecting ground water systems
• Frequency
• One-time assessment

17
REGULATORY PROVISIONSHYDROGEOLOGIC SENSITIVITY
ASSESSMENT (continued)

• Two key components of a hydrogeologic
  assessment
• State determines whether a systems wells are
  located in a sensitive aquifer type (karst,
  gravel, or fractured bed rock)
• State determines whether a hydrogeologic barrier
  is present that protects wells in a sensitive
  aquifer type
• States may use information collected through the
  SWAPP for the hydrogeologic sensitivity
  assessment

18
REGULATORY PROVISIONSSOURCE WATER MONITORING

• Two types of source water monitoring
  requirements
• Routine source water monitoring
• Triggered source water monitoring

19
REGULATORY PROVISIONSROUTINE SOURCE WATER
MONITORING

• Purpose
• To determine if a sensitive source has fecal
  contamination
• Scope
• Hydrogeologically sensitive sources
• Frequency
• Monthly for at least one year
• Begin 1 month after being notified that source is
  sensitive

20
REGULATORY PROVISIONSTRIGGERED SOURCE WATER
MONITORING

• Purpose
• To determine if a TC positive sample is caused by
  source water contamination
• Scope
• Systems that do not disinfect
• Frequency
• Triggered by a total coliform positive sample
• Must sample source water within 24 hours

21
REGULATORY PROVISIONSSOURCE WATER MONITORING
METHODS

• Fecal indicator analytical methods -- specified
  by the State
• E. coli
• Coliliert test
• Colisure test
• MI agar
• m-ColiBlue24 test
• EColite test
• Enterococci
• Multiple tube technique
• Membrane filter technique
• Enterolert
• Coliphage
• EPA method 1601
• EPA method 1602

22
REGULATORY PROVISIONSCORRECTIVE ACTION

• Purpose
• To protect public health by eliminating or
  preventing exposure to pathogens
• Scope
• Systems with significant defects
• Systems with source water which tests positive
  for fecal indicators
• Frequency
• Corrective actions must be completed within 90
  days or on a State approved schedule

23
REGULATORY PROVISIONSCORRECTIVE ACTION
(continued)

• Corrective action approaches include
• Correct the significant deficiency
• Eliminate the source of contamination
• Provide an alternative source of water
• Provide treatment that reliably achieves 4-log
  inactivation or removal of viruses

24
REGULATORY PROVISIONSCOMPLIANCE MONITORING

• Purpose
• Ensures reliable disinfection treatment (4-log
  inactivation or removal of viruses)
• Scope
• Systems that notify the State that they currently
  achieve 4-log inactivation
• Systems that select disinfection as a corrective
  action
• Frequency
• Continuously for systems serving 3,300 or more
  people
• Daily for systems serving 3,300 or fewer people

25
REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

• To facilitate EPAs ability to respond to
  individual comments
• Indicate what you support as well as what you
  disagree with
• Cite, when possible, the paragraphs or sections
  in the proposal or supporting documents you are
  commenting on
• Use a separate paragraph for each issue discussed
• Please describe any assumptions you have used and
  provide copies of any technical data to support
  your comments

26
REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

• Public comments on the Rule should be sent to
• By regular mail to
• EPAs Drinking Water Docket W-98-23
• 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
• Washington, DC 20460
• or via e-mail to ow-docket_at_epa.gov
• The public comment period ends August 9, 2000

27
SCHEDULE

• May 10, 2000 Proposed Rule
• 90 day public comment period ending August 9,
  2000
• Fall 2000 Final Rule
• Fall 2003 Effective date of the Rule

28
FOR MORE INFORMATION

• Website http//www.epa.gov/safewater/gwr.html
• EPAs Safe Drinking Water Hotline
• 1-800-426-4791
• - Eric Burneson, burneson.eric_at_epa.gov or
  202-260-1445
• - Tracy Bone, bone.tracy_at_epa.gov or 202-260-2954

29
(No Transcript)