Lori Mathieu, Section Chief, Drinking Water Section &

1. Overview of DPH Drinking Water Section Roles and Local Health Roles for Regulating Small Public Water Systems Lori Mathieu, Section Chief, Drinking Water Section & Steve Knauf, Chief Sanitarian, Chatham Health District

2. Outline • Definitions and Jurisdictions • DPH Roles • Local Health Roles • Overlap and Working Together

3. CT DPH Drinking Water SectionResponsibilities • Regulate over 2,500 Public Water Systems with 4,400 sources • 2.9 million CT residents served – 3.5 million total population • 96 systems serve over 1,000 people • 461 systems serve under 1,000 people - small community systems • 2,028 non-community systems

4. Private Well Program • At DPH, the Private Well Program is under the Environmental Health Section • Currently staffed by Cliff McClellan • Provides technical assistance to local health departments in regards to private wells

5. Definitions and Jurisdictions • Public Water Systems PHC Section 19-13-B102 Enforced by DPH • Private Wells PHC Section 19-13-B101 Enforced by Local Health Departments DPH has a small private well program • PHC Section 19-13-B51 (well siting & construction applies to both public and private wells)

6. Public Water System • A water company that provides water service to 15 or more consumers or 25 or more persons per day for at least 60 days of the year • Residential population determined by design criteria (For each home: 2 persons for 1st bedroom and 1 person for each additional bedroom)

7. Public Drinking Water Regulations • 3 Types of PWSs: • Community • Non-Transient Non-Community • Transient Non-Community • Ongoing water quality monitoring program • PWS required to report test results to the DPH-Drinking Water Section-done electronically

8. Community • Provides water service to 15 or more consumer residences or 25 or more residential persons per day for at least 60 days per year • Chronic exposure to the water by the population served • Approximately 600 in CT • DPH inspects every 3 years

9. Non-Transient Non-Community • Provides water to 25 or more of the same non-residential persons for at least 6 months of the year • Examples include schools, factories, daycares, office buildings • Chronic exposure to the water by the population served • Over 600 in CT • DPH inspects every 5 years

10. Transient Non-Community • Provides water service to 25 or more non-residential persons, not necessarily the same persons, for at least 60 days per year • Examples include restaurants, gas stations, highway rest areas, state parks, municipal recreational facilities • Acute brief exposure to the water by population served • Over 1500 in CT • DPH inspects every 5 years

11. What is not necessarily regulated as a public water system… • Wells serving mass gathering locations such as fairgrounds (unless they serve something other than the fair with 25 or more people for over 60 days per year) • Water company (serving 2 or more service connections) is defined however there are no associated water quality monitoring requirements).

12. Local health roles • Licensing food service establishments • Siting private wells • Licensing temporary events • Fairgrounds if applicable • Town facilities served by wells, possibly

13. Overlap and Working Together • Creation of new public water systems under the CPCN process • Conversion from private to public well • Re-activation of previously regulated systems when they get re-occupied • Food service establishments served by wells

14. What is a “Water Company”? as far as PURA is concerned: Connecticut General Statutes (CGS) Section 16-262m(a): “…a corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, municipality, other entity or person, or lessee thereof, owning, leasing, maintaining, operating managing or controlling any pond, lake, reservoir, stream, well or distribution plant or system employed for the purpose of supplying water to 15 or more service connections or 25 or more persons on a regular basis.”

15. Review requirements for a new Water Company CGS Section 16-262m(b) (in part): “No water company may begin the construction or a water supply system, and no water company, except a water company supplying water to 250 or more service connections or 1000 persons, may begin expansion of a water supply system without having first obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity...”

16. Local Planning/Zoning Responsibility CGS Section 8-25a: Proposals for developments using water: “No proposal for a development using water supplied by a company incorporated on or after October 1, 1984, shall be approved by a planning commission or combined planning and zoning commission unless such company has been issued a certificate pursuant to section 16-262m. The municipality in which the planning commission or combined planning and zoning commission is located shall be responsible to the operation of any water company created without a certificate…if the water company at any time is unable or unwilling to provide adequate service to its consumers.”

17. What does that mean?? If a development project will result in 15 or more service connections or if it will serve 25 or more persons, then the project will be creating a new water company.

18. CPCN Process • Local health invited to well site visit for all CPCN projects (Phase IA) • Keep in mind that this a multi-step process • Phase IB- Is there sufficient water and is water quality acceptable? • Phase II: Storage tanks, transfer pumps, distribution piping and treatment as necessary • For residential systems (community) design information is under CGS 16-262 m • For non-community systems, we have separate design guidelines

19. Conversion from private to public • DPH needs applicant to be referred to us by local health department so we know this is going to occur • If it has never been public, SWP will review site (including issuing site suitability approval) and request baseline water quality • We will issue a testing schedule and “welcome letter” explaining responsibilities of the public water system • A site visit will be scheduled to look at water system

20. Re-activation of previously regulated systems when they get re-occupied • DPH again needs applicant to be referred to us by local health department so we know this is going to occur • We will issue a testing schedule and “welcome letter” explaining responsibilities of the public water system • Scheduling of site visit will depend on when we last surveyed the system and how long it has been inactive

21. Introducing the Public Water System Screening Form… Replaces the following: • CPCN Screening Form • Food Service Establishment Registration Form • PWS Information Form It is requested that the new form be sent to DPH with a cover sheet from local health indicating the information is reasonable

22. Why it pays to work together…Consistency • Applicant information to be consistent between DPH and Local Health • Septic design information (if applicable) should generally match projected population information on the screening form

23. Where we need to continue to work together… • New DPH approvals for treatment with backwash • For sanitary surveys of existing water systems, air gap language and final discharge location

24. More items to talk about… • Water hauling at public water systems- public water system required to notify DPH • Well deepening, redeveloping, hydrofracturing and other work that require local permits- Proposed 25-33 Well Use Regulations

25. Some helpful information on our website and more to come… • New screening form and instruction sheet to be posted on our website • Suggested cover sheet format for local health concurrence • A flow chart on how to handle various situations

26. Where to get more information… • CT DPH-Drinking Water Section http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/drinking_water/ • EPA-Office of Water http://www.epa.gov/ow/ • American Groundwater Trust http://www.agwt.org • Water Systems Council – Wellcare Program http://www.watersystemscouncil.org • American Water Works Association http://www.awwa.org • National Groundwater Association http://www.ngwa.org

27. THANK YOU

28. Contact Information Lori Mathieu Lori.mathieu@ct.gov 860-509-7333 Steve Knauf Steve.knauf@chatahmhealth.org 860-228-5971 ext. 140