Title: Section 5-1.30 - Providing treatment for public water systems

5-1.30 Providing treatment for public water systems. The supplier of water shall provide such treatment as necessary to deliver to the consumer a water conforming to the requirements of this section and determined using an approved method, with method modifications as listed in the Tables in section 5-1.52 of this Subpart, and by an approved laboratory as described in section 5-1.74 of this Subpart.

(a) Minimum treatment for a ground water source shall be disinfection by chlorination or other microbial contaminant treatment acceptable to the State in accordance with the provisions of section 5-1.22 of of this Subpart. If chemical disinfection is used, the disinfectant residual concentration must be maintained at all times and under no circumstances shall be less than the required concentration for more than four hours. Unless other corrective action is approved by the State, any ground water source where fecal contamination has been observed, or where a significant deficiency may be causing or has the potential to cause the introduction of contamination into the water delivered to customers, must be treated to remove or inactivate 99.99% (4-log) of viruses. Continuous monitoring of active microbial treatment processes is required, except as provided in section 5-1.52 table 15 of this Subpart.

(b) Minimum treatment for surface water sources or ground water sources directly influenced by surface water shall be filtration and disinfection techniques, approved by the State in accordance with section 5-1.22 of this Subpart, capable of at least 99 percent removal of Cryptosporidium oocysts, 99.9 percent removal and/or inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts, and 99.99 percent removal and/or inactivation of viruses, between a point where the raw water is no longer subject to recontamination by surface water runoff and a point downstream before or at the first consumer. Compliance with this treatment technique is required for surface water sources or within 18 months after ground water sources are determined to be directly influenced by surface water, unless the department determines that the supplier of water can meet specific avoidance criteria as defined in subdivision (c) of this section. Required performance monitoring shall be conducted in accordance with section 5-1.52 Table 10A of this Subpart. Compliance with these treatment technique requirements shall also include:

(1) filtration facilities designed and operated to meet performance standards in accordance with section 5-1.52 table 4A of this Subpart;

(2) For systems using chlorine, the free chlorine residual disinfection concentration in the water entering the distribution system must be at least 0.2 milligrams per liter and may not be less than the required minimum concentration for compliance for more than four hours. Systems using other chemical disinfectants shall maintain residual disinfection levels entering the distribution system comparable to requirements for systems using chlorination. Continuous monitoring is required, except as provided in section 5-1.52 table 15 of this Subpart; and

(3) By June 8, 2004, any system that recycles spent filter backwash water, thickener supernatant, or liquids from dewatering process must return these flows through the processes of a system's existing conventional or direct filtration system.

(c) A public water system that uses a surface water source or a ground water source directly influenced by surface water which fails to comply with any of the following avoidance criteria shall develop and submit to the State, within three months of such failure to comply, a written plan for installing filtration and disinfection. Also, filtration and disinfection shall be installed, in accordance with subdivision (b) of this section, within 18 months of such failure to comply.

(1) Raw water fecal coliform concentrations must be equal to or less than 20 colonies per 100 milliliters or total coliform concentration must be equal to or less than 100 colonies per 100 milliliters in at least 90 percent of measurements made over the previous six months that the system was in operation. Monitoring shall be conducted in accordance with section 5-1.52 table 11A of this Subpart. If both fecal and total coliform analyses are performed, the fecal coliform results will take precedence.

(2) Raw water turbidity levels must not exceed five nephelometric turbidity units unless the department determines that the turbidity was caused by an unusual and unpredictable event. No more than two such events in the previous 12 months or no more than five events in the previous 120 months that the system was in operation are allowed. An event means a series of consecutive days during which at least one turbidity measurement each day exceeds five nephelometric turbidity units. Monitoring is to be conducted in accordance with section 5-1.52 table 10A of this Subpart.

(3) Disinfection must be sufficient to ensure at least 99.9 percent inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts, 99.99 percent inactivation of viruses, and 99 or 99.9 percent inactivation of Cryptosporidium (per section 5-1.83(c)(2) of this Subpart), between a point where the raw water is no longer subject to recontamination by surface water runoff and a point downstream before or at the first consumer. Actual CT values must be equal to or greater than the required values found in section 5-1.52 Tables 14A through 14K of this Subpart, except for one day in each month that the system served water to the public, or except where the State determines that an additional failure in one month in the previous twelve months was caused by circumstances that were unusual and unpredictable. The supplier of water must calculate the CT values of the system for each day the system is in operation to document satisfactory disinfection. The necessary parameters and related monitoring frequencies to conduct this evaluation include:

(i) temperature of the disinfected water measured at least once per day at each residual disinfectant concentration sampling point;

(ii) pH of the disinfected water, measured at least once per day at each chlorine residual disinfectant concentration sampling point by systems using chlorine;

(iii) the disinfectant contact time (T), determined daily during peak hourly flow; and

(iv) the residual disinfectant concentration (C), before or at the first customer, measured daily during peak hourly flow.

(4) The disinfection system must have redundant components to ensure continuous disinfection. Auxiliary power with automatic start and alarm is required at all disinfection facilities where a power outage would result in a loss or reduction in the ability of the system to maintain a disinfection concentration as required by this Subpart.

(5) For systems using chlorine, the free chlorine residual disinfection concentration in the water entering the distribution system must be at least 0.2 milligrams per liter and may not be less than the required minimum concentration for compliance for more than four hours, unless the State determines that any such failure was caused by circumstances that were unusual and unpredictable. Systems using other chemical disinfectants shall maintain residual disinfection levels entering the distribution system comparable to requirements for systems using chlorination. Continuous monitoring is required except as provided in section 5-1.52 table 15 of this Subpart.

(6) The disinfection residuals or the heterotrophic plate count results in the water in the distribution system must meet the requirements outlined in subdivision (g) of this section and section 5-1.52 table 11 of this Subpart unless the State determines that the failure to meet the requirements was not caused by a deficiency in the treatment of the source water.

(7) The watershed control program must provide natural or man made barriers to the occurrence, transport and/or survival of Cryptosporidiumoocysts, Giardia lamblia cysts and viruses. The watershed control program must include, but is not limited to the following:

(i) ownership or protective controls of the watershed, except where the supplier of water submits written justification to show that the travel time of the water to the intake is greater than 60 days under all but emergency conditions. Protective controls can include written agreements with landowners within the watershed but must include as a minimum the absence of any bathing beach as defined in Part 6-2 of this Title, except for a bathing beach owned and/or maintained by an individual for use by the individual's family or friends;

(ii) no new sewage discharges to any watercourse shall be allowed where the time of travel from the point of discharge to the intake is 60 days or less. Existing sewage discharges with a current State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, where the time of travel from the point of discharge to the intake is 60 days or less, shall, as a minimum, have secondary treatment followed by sand filtration and disinfection at facilities designed to achieve 99.9 percent removal and/or inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts and 99.99 percent removal and/or inactivation of viruses by June 29, 1993. Existing or new sewage discharges with a SPDES permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, where the time of travel from the point of discharge to the intake is greater than 60 days, shall, as a minimum, have secondary treatment followed by sand filtration and disinfection at facilities designed to achieve 99.9 percent removal and/or inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts and 99.99 percent removal and/or inactivation of viruses by June 29, 1993 or a later date set forth in a plan submitted to the commissioner and approved using the criteria for the long term plan as described in section 5-1.30(c)(7)(vii) of this Subpart. The sewage treatment facilities required herein shall be operated in conformance with their design specifications and the conditions of their SPDES permit;

(iii) watershed rules and regulations promulgated and enforced in accordance with Title I of Article 11 of the Public Health Law; including as a minimum prohibition or controls on waste discharges which contain or potentially may contain Cryptosporidiumoocysts, Giardia lamblia cysts and/or viruses;

(iv) identification and evaluation of pertinent geological, hydrological and physical characteristics or features and potential conditions or activities which may influence water quality;

(v) a monitoring and surveillance program to assess water quality and water quantity trends;

(vi) an annual report submitted by the supplier of water to the department describing watershed activities, especially activities that affect water quality, identifying new and existing water quality concerns and remediation efforts taken and any other reports required pursuant to adopted watershed rules and regulations. The annual report must be submitted to the department no later than the 10th of October of each year; and

(vii) a long term plan for the implementation of the watershed control program, including a description of the commitment of human and financial resources for such program shall be submitted to the commissioner for approval from systems that serve more than 100,000 persons, obtain water from a watershed or watersheds that involve multiple political subdivisions and own less than 25_percent of the land in the watershed. The approval shall be based on the exercise of a reasonable discretion by the commissioner in reviewing and accepting the proposed levels of human and fiscal resources to be committed for successful implementation of the plan, measured by projected cost of the administration, inspection, enforcement, land acquisition, sewage treatment plant upgrading and other activities and/or services related to such watershed control program, including the resolution of inherent water quality and quantity questions and the reliability of the method of funding. Failure to obtain the approval of the long term plan or failure to secure the required human or financial resources will result in a requirement to provide filtration, in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart. The approval of the long term plan shall be for a period of ten years, subject to further review and approval for successive ten year periods. Notwithstanding any approval granted pursuant hereto, if Federal or State law or regulation shall henceforth unconditionally mandate filtration of surface water sources, then any such approvals shall forthwith cease and terminate with filtration thereafter to be provided, in accordance with the provisions of this Subpart, when reasonably feasible.

(8) The public water system must not have been identified as a source of a waterborne disease outbreak since 1980.

(9) The public water system shall comply with the trihalomethane, haloacetic acid, bromate, and chlorite maximum contaminant levels and the maximum residual disinfectant levels in accordance with section 5-1.52 of this Subpart.

(10) The public water system must not exceed a total coliform treatment technique trigger in accordance with section 5-1.52 of this Subpart in eleven months of the twelve previous months that the system served water to the public on an ongoing basis, unless the State determines that failure to meet this requirement was not caused by a deficiency in treatment of the source water.

(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in sections 5-1.12, 5-1.23, 5-1.51 or 5-1.77 of this Subpart, if the public water system fails to comply with the treatment technique and/or the monitoring requirements of subdivisions (a), (b), (c) or (g) of this section, fails to install the filtration and/or disinfection treatment required by this section or fails to comply with the avoidance criteria requirements contained in subdivision (c) of this section, the system violates this Subpart and shall make State and public notification, including any required mandatory health effects language. Pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section, if at any time the raw water turbidity exceeds five nephelometric turbidity units, the system shall consult with the State within 24 hours of learning of the exceedance. Based on this consultation, the State may determine that the exceedance constitutes a public health hazard, as found in section 5-1.1(bz)(4) of this Subpart, which requires a Tier 1 notification. When consultation does not take place within the 24 hour period, the water system must distribute a Tier 1 notification no later than 48 hours after the system learns of the violation. Ground water systems that are required to provide 4-log virus treatment, surface water systems and Ground Water Under the Direct Influence of surface water (GWUDI) systems that use chemical disinfection must notify the State whenever residual disinfectant levels in the water entering the distribution system are less than the specified concentration pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section. Any water system that uses chemical disinfection must make State notification whenever disinfectant residual levels entering the distribution system are not restored within four hours.

(e) The State may grant a waiver, on the submission of a written application, renewable for a period of up to three years, to the disinfection rule established by this section for a ground water source if:

(1) the record of the microbiological and physical characteristics for the ground water source or sources not directly influenced by surface water demonstrates that they conformed to the MCLs of this Subpart, for the 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for waiver; such record shall be established under procedures provided by the department;

(2) an environmental laboratory approved pursuant to Subpart 55-2 of this Title, is used by the supplier of water to provide monitoring of drinking water quality and delivery of drinking water in conformity with this Subpart;

(3) an active cross-connection control program to prevent the backflow or entry of undesirable and toxic substances into the water distribution system is adopted and maintained by the supplier of water, and such cross-connection control program shall include the maintenance of adequate distribution system pressures, in accordance with section 5-1.27 of this Subpart;

(4) watershed rules and regulations to protect such ground water source are adopted pursuant to the provisions of article 11 of the Public Health Law, updated as necessary, and administered by the supplier of water, or other watershed controls satisfactory to the State are adopted, updated and administered;

(5) all water storage facilities are adequately protected pursuant to section 5-1.32 of this Subpart; and

(6) all sources of the water supply are properly located, constructed and effectively protected and maintained.

(f) The State may waive the requirements of paragraphs (e)(3) through (6), of this section for a ground water source at a noncommunity water system or a community water system serving fewer than 50 dwelling units, based on periodic evaluation of a sanitary survey and the geology of the area; the chemical characteristics of the water; the location, construction and protection of the ground water source; and the method of water storage and distribution.

(g) When a chlorine-based chemical disinfectant is used, the residual disinfectant concentration in the distribution system, measured as free or combined chlorine shall be maintained at detectable concentrations at representative points in the distribution system, in accordance with the monitoring requirements in section 5-1.52 Table 11 of this Subpart. No more than five percent of the free chlorine residual samples shall be undetectable in any two consecutive months that the system serves water to the public. Chlorine residual or heterotrophic bacteria analyses shall be performed in accordance with section 5-1.52 Table 11 of this Subpart. Monitoring for heterotrophic bacteria may be substituted for free chlorine residuals. A heterotrophic plate count result equal to or less than 500 colonies per milliliter is considered to be equivalent to a measurable free chlorine residual.