Section 385-840-4 - Approval of New Private Water Systems or Expansions, Upgrades, or Re-Engineering of Existing Private Water Systems1.Overview Although Private Water Systems are regulated by the Board, the Division acts as a technical advisor to the Board on water system matters. Applications for preliminary and final approval of new Private Water Systems or for expansions, upgrades, or re-engineering of existing Private Water Systems, shall be submitted to the Division. After review, the Division provides a recommendation to the Board as to whether or not the Board should approve the system. In order for a system to be completed and operational, the Board shall provide express, written approval.
2.Approval ProcessA.Preliminary Approval No new Private Water System or expansion, upgrade, or re-engineering of an existing Private Water System shall be installed prior to preliminary approval being granted in writing by the Board.
(1) The Licensee shall submit to the Division a completed preliminary approval form for each proposed new system, or expansion, upgrade, or re-engineering of an existing system, along with required documentation. The preliminary approval form is available from either the Division or the Board. Required documentation shall include but is not limited to the following: location map; estimated quantity of water required from each well in gallons per minute or gallons per day; and a site plan showing all potential sources of contamination within 300 feet of the well.
(2) The Division shall review the preliminary approval form to determine the adequacy of the system to provide safe and healthy drinking water to the public, and shall make recommendations on approval to the Board. Preliminary approval of a system must be granted by the Board in writing and may be based upon the recommendation of the Division.(3) Except as permitted by subparagraph (4), new wells shall be located at least 300 feet away from potential contamination sources.(4) If circumstances exist requiring a proposed well location to be placed closer than 300 feet from a potential contamination source, the Division may recommend a waiver to the requirement on a case-by-case basis, subject to approval by the Board. The Division must be provided with information from an appropriate qualified professional sufficient to make a determination on all waiver requests. In recommending a waiver, the Division may advise the Board to place conditions on the waiver, including but not limited to, increased water quality monitoring.(5) The Division may recommend treatment for all new wells if a contaminant is present in sufficient quantity to constitute a public health concern in the future, even if the contaminant level does not exceed the current maximum contaminant level.(6) The Division may recommend that the Board deny a proposed well location after determining that a proposed well location is not safe from threat of contamination even with increased monitoring for those contaminants.(7) The Licensee shall determine a safe yield for all proposed wells. The pump test shall terminate when the safe yield of the well can be reasonably estimated. All water quality samples shall be collected at the conclusion of the pump test.(8) If the Division determines that additional information is necessary to evaluate the adequacy of a proposed water system to provide a safe and healthy supply of water to the public, or to otherwise protect public, the Division may recommend that the Board require an Engineering Study to be prepared by a Maine licensed professional engineer evaluating the proposed water system. An Engineering Study may include: a description of the site geology and any sources of contamination in the area; a map of the area showing all wells installed and any potential sources of contamination in the area; drilling logs for each well installed; pump test draw down data if available; recommendations for wellhead protection area delineations; and all required water quality analysis results. An Engineering Study, if required by the Board, shall be submitted to the Division for review with the request for Final Approval, as outlined in Paragraph B of this subsection.
B.Final ApprovalNo water may be distributed from a new Private Water System or expansion, upgrade, or re-engineering of an existing Private Water System prior to final approval being granted in writing by the Board.
(1) The Licensee shall submit to the Division a completed final approval form, along with all water quality analysis results required by this chapter, for review and approval recommendation. The final approval form is available from either the Division or the Board.(2) In order for the Board to grant final approval, all required water quality analyses must be completed, and the Board must determine that the well is in compliance with all applicable Board rules. Final approval of a system must be granted by the Board in writing and may be based upon the recommendation of the Division.(3) The Board may require additional treatment, testing or other recommendations that the Division deems necessary for the protection of the public health.(4) New system approval samples must be "raw" water - prior to any treatment or storage.(5) The Board may require ongoing routine monitoring for some organic chemicals and/or radionuclides if contaminants above the maximum contaminant levels exist in the raw water.C.Conditional Approval; Existing Systems The Board may grant conditional approval of an expansion, upgrade, or re-engineering of an existing Non-Compliant Private Water System, pending compliance, as outlined in Section 5 of this chapter.
02-385 C.M.R. ch. 840, § 4