12 Va. Admin. Code § 5-590-384

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 22, June 17, 2024

Section 12VAC5-590-384 - Residual disinfectant, DBPs, and DBPPs compliance

A. General requirements.

1. Where compliance is based on an RAA of monthly or quarterly samples or averages and the owner fails to monitor for TTHM, HAA5, or bromate, this failure to monitor shall be treated as a monitoring violation for the entire period covered by the annual average. Where compliance is based on an RAA of monthly or quarterly samples or averages and the owner's failure to monitor makes it impossible to determine compliance with MRDLs for chlorine and chloramines, this failure to monitor shall be treated as a monitoring violation for the entire period covered by the annual average.

2. All samples collected and analyzed under the provisions of this section shall be included in determining compliance, even if that number is greater than the minimum required.

3. The owner is in violation of the PMCL when the LRAA exceeds the PMCLs listed in Table 340.6 calculated based on four consecutive quarters of monitoring, or the LRAA calculated based on fewer than four quarters of data if the PMCL would be exceeded regardless of the monitoring results of subsequent quarters. The owner is in violation of the monitoring requirements for each quarter that a monitoring result would be used in calculating the LRAA if the owner fails to monitor.

B. Disinfection byproducts.

1. TTHM and HAA5.

a. The owner of a waterworks required to monitor quarterly shall calculate the LRAAs for TTHM and HAA5 using monitoring results collected under 12VAC5-590-374 F and determine that each LRAA does not exceed the PMCL in order to comply with the PMCLs listed in Table 340.6. If the owner fails to complete four consecutive quarters of monitoring, then the owner shall calculate compliance with the PMCL based on the average of the available data from the most recent four quarters. If the owner collects more than one sample per quarter at a monitoring location, then the owner shall average all samples collected in the quarter at that location to determine a quarterly average to be used in the LRAA calculation.

b. The owner of a waterworks required to monitor annually or less frequently shall determine that each sample collected is less than the PMCL in order to determine compliance with the PMCLs listed in Table 340.6. If any sample result exceeds the PMCL, then the owner shall comply with the requirements of 12VAC5-590-374 F 5. If no sample result exceeds the PMCL, then the sample result for each monitoring location is considered the LRAA for that monitoring location.

c. The owner is in violation of the monitoring requirements for each quarter that a monitoring result would be used in calculating an LRAA if the owner fails to monitor.

d. A waterworks has exceeded the operational evaluation level at any monitoring location where the sum of the two previous quarters' TTHM results plus twice the current quarter's TTHM result, divided by four to determine an average, exceeds 0.080 mg/L, or where the sum of the two previous quarters' HAA5 results plus twice the current quarter's HAA5 result, divided by four to determine an average, exceeds 0.060 mg/L.

(1) The owner of a waterworks that exceeds the operational evaluation level shall conduct an operational evaluation and submit a written report of the evaluation to the department on a form approved by the department no later than 90 days after being notified of the analytical result that caused the waterworks to exceed the operational evaluation level. The written report shall be made available to the public upon request.

(2) The operational evaluation report shall include an examination of the waterworks treatment and distribution operational practices, including source water conditions, storage tank operations, excess storage capacity, distribution system flushing, changes in source water or source water quality, and treatment changes or problems that may contribute to TTHM and HAA5 formation and what steps could be considered to minimize future exceedances.

(3) The owner may request and the department may allow the owner to limit the scope of the evaluation if the owner is able to identify the cause of the operational evaluation level exceedance. The request to limit the scope of the evaluation does not extend the schedule in subdivision B 1 d (1) of this section for submitting the written report. The department shall approve this limited scope of evaluation in writing, and the owner shall keep that approval with the completed report.

2. Bromate. Compliance shall be based on a running annual arithmetic average, computed quarterly, of monthly samples collected by the owner as prescribed by 12VAC5-590-374 H. For months in which the owner collects more than one sample, compliance is based on the average of all samples collected during the month. If the average result of the samples covering any consecutive four-quarter period exceeds the PMCL listed in Table 340.6, then the owner is in violation of the PMCL and shall notify the public pursuant to 12VAC5-590-540 A 2, in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531. If the owner fails to complete 12 consecutive months of monitoring, then compliance with the PMCL for the last four-quarter compliance period shall be based on the average of the available data.

3. Chlorite. Compliance shall be based on an arithmetic average of each three-sample set collected in the distribution system as prescribed by 12VAC5-590-374 G. If the arithmetic average of any three-sample set exceeds the PMCL listed in Table 340.6, then the owner is in violation of the PMCL and shall notify the public pursuant to 12VAC5-590-540 A 2, in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531.

C. Residual disinfectant.

1. Chlorine and chloramines.

a. Compliance shall be based on a running annual arithmetic average, computed quarterly, of monthly averages of all samples collected by the owner under 12VAC5-590-374 I 1 a. If the average covering any consecutive four-quarter period exceeds the MRDL listed in Table 340.7, then the owner is in violation of the MRDL and shall notify the public pursuant to 12VAC5-590-540 A 2, in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531.

b. In cases where the owner switches between the use of chlorine and chloramines for residual disinfection during the year, compliance shall be determined by including together all monitoring results of both chlorine and chloramines in calculating compliance. Reports submitted pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531 shall clearly indicate which residual disinfectant was analyzed for each sample.

c. Notwithstanding the MRDLs listed in Table 340.7, operators may increase the residual disinfectant levels of chlorine or chloramines in the distribution system to a level and for a time necessary to protect public health to address specific microbiological contamination problems caused by circumstances such as water main breaks in the distribution system, storm runoff events, source water contamination, or cross-connections.

2. Chlorine dioxide.

a. Acute violations. Compliance shall be based on consecutive daily samples collected by the owner under 12VAC5-590-374 I 2 a. If any daily sample collected at the entrance to the distribution system exceeds the MRDL listed in Table 340.7, and on the following day one or more of the three samples collected in the distribution system exceed the MRDL, then the owner is in violation of the MRDL and shall take immediate corrective action to lower the level of chlorine dioxide below the MRDL and shall notify the public pursuant to the procedures for Tier 1 conditions in 12VAC5-590-540 A 1 in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531. Failure to collect samples in the distribution system the day following an exceedance of the chlorine dioxide MRDL at the entrance to the distribution system shall also be considered an MRDL violation, and the owner shall notify the public of the violation in accordance with the provisions for Tier 1 conditions in 12VAC5-590-540 A 1 in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531.

b. Nonacute violations. Compliance shall be based on consecutive daily samples collected by the owner under 12VAC5-590-374 I 2 a. If any two consecutive daily samples collected at the entrance to the distribution system exceed the MRDL listed in Table 340.7 and all distribution system samples collected are below the MRDL, then the owner is in violation of the MRDL and shall take corrective action to lower the level of chlorine dioxide below the MRDL at the point of sampling and shall notify the public pursuant to the procedures for Tier 2 conditions in 12VAC5-590-540 A 2 in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531. Failure to monitor at the entrance to the distribution system the day following an exceedance of the chlorine dioxide MRDL at the entrance to the distribution system is also an MRDL violation, and the owner shall notify the public of the violation in accordance with the provisions for Tier 2 conditions in 12VAC5-590-540 A 2 in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531.

D. Disinfection byproduct precursors (DBPPs).

1. Compliance shall be determined as specified by 12VAC5-590-411 A 3.

2. For the owner required to meet Step 1 TOC removals, if the value calculated under 12VAC5-590-411 A 3 a (4) is less than 1.00, then the owner is in violation of the treatment technique requirements and shall notify the public pursuant to 12VAC5-590-540 A 2 in addition to reporting to the department pursuant to 12VAC5-590-530 and 12VAC5-590-531.

12 Va. Admin. Code § 5-590-384

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 20, eff. 6/23/2021.

Statutory Authority: §§ 32.1-12 and 32.1-170 of the Code of Virginia.