Training Module 3 The Safe Drinking Water Act

1. Training Module 3The Safe DrinkingWater Act Prepared by RCAP Solutions for the PA Department of Environmental Protection

2. Introduction • Basic introduction to SDWA • Become familiar with your responsibilities • Recognize terms and acronyms

3. Introduction • History of water treatment • 4000 years ago • to • Present day

4. Responsibilities • Environmental Compliance • Board is ultimately responsible • NOT the operators!

5. Responsibilities • EPA delegates authority • DEP is primacy agency for regulations • PENNVEST is primacy agency for SRF

6. Responsibilities • Public Water Systems (PWS) • 15 or more connections • or • 25 or more people • 3 types

7. Responsibilities • 85% of U.S. served by PWS • 66% of PWS serve less than 500 people • Regulations are nearly the same regardless of size

8. Ensuring Safe Water • Water Quality standards • Monitoring and Reporting • Record keeping • Public notification

9. Ensuring Safe Water • >100 substances are regulated • MCL set for each • Stay current on standards!

10. Ensuring Safe Water • Microbial contaminants • Chemical & Radiological contaminants • Treatment technique requirements

11. Ensuring Safe Water • Microbial contaminants: • Total Coliform bacteria • Fecal Coliform and E. coli • Viruses • Protozoa • Bacterial Pathogens

12. Ensuring Safe Water • Chemical & Radiological contaminants: • Inorganic Chemicals • Volatile Organic Chemicals • Synthetic Organic Chemicals • Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts

13. Ensuring Safe Water • Treatment technique requirements • Turbidity • Filtration and Disinfection • Lead and Copper

14. Ensuring Safe Water • Certified operators • Samples and testing

15. Ensuring Safe Water • Record keeping • When in doubt, keep it!

16. Ensuring Safe Water • Record retention requirements

17. Ensuring Safe Water • Consumer Confidence Reports • Provided to customers

18. Exercise 1 • Take a few minutes to complete the exercise in your workbooks

19. Regulatory Compliance • DEP approval • Exceeding the MCL

20. Regulatory Compliance • Violations • Tier 1 • Tier 2 • Tier 3

21. Regulatory Compliance • Enforcement steps • Corrective Action Plans • Civil and Criminal Actions

22. Regulatory Compliance • Citizen Action

23. Regulatory Compliance • Emergencies • Fines

24. Other Provisions • Other monitoring rules • May be specific to type of source and other factors

25. Other Provisions • Groundwater • Well Head Protection • Numerous threats

26. Other Provisions • Surface Water • Special Monitoring, Filtration, and Disinfection requirements

27. Other Provisions • Lead and Copper Rule

28. Other Provisions • Rules • Compliance deadlines

29. Other Provisions • Existing Rules • Future Rules

30. Other Provisions • Funding for outreach and technical assistance • Funding for operator certification

31. Other Provisions • Don’t hesitate to ask • Don’t wait until it’s too late!

32. Exercise 2 • Take a few minutes to complete the exercise in your workbooks

33. Summary • Key points

34. References • Dennis Lee , PA Department of Environmental Protection • Don Schwartz, PA/NJ Program Manager, RCAP Solutions • EPA and DEP • NETCSC