Water Division
Drinking Water
General Information
The ADEM Drinking Water Branch works closely with the more
than 700 water systems in Alabama that provide safe drinking water to 4 million
citizens. Each month the bacteriological quality of the drinking water being
provided is tested by the individual systems with the results submitted to ADEM
for review and approval. Both quarterly and annually certain chemical
contaminants are analyzed to ensure that the drinking water meets all
established drinking water standards. Routinely, water systems in Alabama
maintain a high compliance rate with drinking water standards of approximately
94%.
The excellent quality of drinking water and a high compliance
rate of public drinking water systems can be attributed to numerous factors
including mandatory operator certification that requires adequately trained
operators to treat the drinking water, properly constructed and maintained
drinking water treatment facilities that can only be constructed with a permit
from ADEM, and a high quality of both surface water and ground water that is
protected through numerous activities of the Department including the
Wellhead
Protection Program and the NPDES Discharge Permit Program. The Drinking Water
Branch annually reviews more than 150 sets of plans and specifications for water
construction projects, performs final inspections, and also provides annual
inspections of all public water systems. (Technical assistance is also provided to managers and operators regarding new
and proposed drinking water requirements.)
ADEM annually provides a compliance report listing all water
system violations that have occurred. In addition, water systems are required to
provide an Annual Consumer Confidence Report to its customers no later than July
1 each year, providing information on contaminants that have been detected in
the drinking water, status of source water assessments, source of drinking water
and treatment processes, and general information regarding board meeting dates
and locations. All systems with drinking water sources have recently completed
or will soon complete an assessment of contaminant activities which may impact
drinking water quality. Upon completion of Source Water assessments by water
systems, public meetings will be held to provide information to their consumers
regarding the potential for contamination of their drinking water sources and
identifying what steps are being taken to protect their drinking water sources.
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To view current Regulations
(Division 7), Click Here.
Groundwater Rule
- EPA has
finalized the Groundwater Rule. More information can be found on
EPA’s website at:
www.epa.gov/safewater/gwr/gwrfs.html.
-
-
The rule
requires all ground water systems to either install or demonstrate
4-log removal of virus and bacteria or conduct source water
monitoring as required by the rule.
o
Systems that
demonstrate or install 4-log removal of virus and bacteria must
monitoring the chlorine residual daily for systems with a population
of < 10,000 or continuously for systems with a population > 10,000.
o
Equipment and/or
monitoring must be conducted at each point of chlorine addition.
o
Systems unable to
demonstrate or install 4-log treatment must conduct monthly source
water monitoring to demonstrate compliance with the rule.
§
Any positive
bacteriological sample taken from the distribution systems as required
to meet the requirements of the Total Coliform Rule must within 24
hours take a raw water sample from each ground water source in use.
§
Any positive
bacteriological sample found in a purchase system will require the
parent system to collect bacteriological samples from each ground
water source in use.
o
Any triggered source
water monitoring that is positive for E-coli or fecal coliform will
require public notification
o
The Groundwater Rule
has several other requirements that may affect ground water systems.
•
Contact for more information (334) 271-7773
LT2ESWTR
•
EPA has
finalized the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR).
More information can be found on EPA's website at:
www.epa.gov/safewater/lt2/index.html or a prepublication version of the
rules can be found at
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/new.html. The rule will be published in the
Federal Register in January 2006.
•
The rule requires public water systems utilizing surface water
sources or ground water under the influence of surface water to monitor for
cryptosporidium in the source water. Based upon the results, the systems
will be classified into bins which may require additional treatment to be added
to achieve the required removal.
•
The rule will require a large number of surface water systems to
have a monitoring plan submitted by July 1, 2006 which contains specific
monitoring dates and to begin monitoring for cryptosporidium by October 1, 2006.
•
Contact for more information (334) 271-7773.
Disinfection Byproduct Rule 2
• EPA
has finalized the Disinfection Byporduct Rule. More information can be
found on EPA's website at:
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/stage2/index.html or a prepublication version
of the rules can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/new.html. The rule will be published in
the Federal Register in January 2006.
•
The rule when finalized will change the current limits on four
Trihalomethanes (TTHM) and five Haloacetic acids (HAA5).
_ The rule will require water systems,
based upon their population, to
conduct an Initial
Distribution System Evaluation (IDSE).
–
Water systems will have to comply with the IDSE requires based
upon
the schedule of the largest water system in the combined distribution
system unless the water system qualifies for a very small system waiver or for
40/30 Certification.
•
Schedule 1 contains 200 water systems.
•
Schedule 2 contains 15 water systems.
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Schedule 3 contains 85 water systems.
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Schedule 4 contains 281 water systems.
–
Water systems in schedule 1 will have to submit a monitoring plan
to
EPA by October 1, 2006 and begin monitoring October 1, 2007.
–
Each subsequent schedule will be 6 months behind the previous
schedule (i.e. schedule 2 will have to have monitoring plans to EPA by April 1,
2007.
–
Compliance with the locational running annual averages of 80 for TTHM and 60 for
HAA5 will begin in 2012.
–
Please contact your system inspector to determine what schedule
your system will have to comply with.
•
Contact for more information (334) 271-7773.
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ADEM
Attn: Drinking Water Branch
Post Office Box 301463
Montgomery, Alabama 36130-1463
Telephone Number : (334) 271-7773
Fax Number: (334) 279-3051
You are visitor No.
Since October 14, 2003
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