NYS Conference of Environmental Health Directors

2014 Fall Meeting

Bureau of Water Supply Protection

“Program Updates”

October 28, 2014Hilton Garden Inn Elmira/Corning

Roger C. Sokol, Ph.D.

Director

BWSP Update Topics

• Regulation Updates

• Federal & State

• Emergency Drinking Water Equipment

• Small Water System Technical

Assistance

• UCMR 3 Data Summary

• DEC Design Standards Training

• Updated Guidance

• Harmful Algal Blooms

Regulation Update – Federal

•Long Term Revisions to the Lead & Copper Rule

•NDWAC to provide report to EPA Spring 2015

•Sample site selection, sampling, Cu education, corrosion control

& Pb service line replacement

•Lead Reduction Act

•Separate rule making

•Perchlorate – pharmacokinetic modeling to be peer reviewed

•cVOCs – working with NDWAC on approach

•CCL4 to be released soon

•Regulatory Determination - Strontium

•EPA Makes Preliminary Determination to Regulate Strontium in

Drinking Water

Regulation Update - State

Revised Total Coliform Rule

• Affects ALL Public Water Systems

• Compliance Date – April 1, 2016

• Stakeholder group established

• Includes representative from CEHD (Tom Brady-Albany Co.

DOH)

• Will make recommendations on specific provisions left

up to the states

• Reduced monitoring criteria, sample siting plans, Level 2

Assessments, Seasonal System start-up, etc.

• First meeting October 28, 2014

Emergency Treatment Filters

Treatment – Filtration Plus UV

25 GPM Each

(36,000 GPD)

Filtration (2 log);

Two Trains

Multi-media

Filters

UV Unit

Chlorination

Double Back Doors

Side Door & Ramp

Generator

Storage Bin & Parts

• Vendor trained NYRWA circuit riders and NYWARN members in 3

training sessions

• 22 Operators from 11 counties trained on filter use

• Can assist PWSs with unit set-up/start-up

• Spare parts available through stockpiles.

• Trailers owned by DHSES, advised by NYSDOH, maintained in

stockpile by OGS.

• BWSP completing “Build-Out” (heat, lighting, water-sealing, spare tires,

user-friendly items, etc.)

Training Provided

Emergency Equipment Stockpiles

• Working with OGS and OEM on upgrades and location of

equipment

• Cartridge filter at Alden & Likely Queensbury, Guilderland,

Bloomingburg

• 2 trailer mounted DE Filters (175 gpm each) at Queensbury

• Water Tankers – 400 gallon to 5,500 gallon – various locations

• BWSP working with OEM & OGS to Inventory & Expand

Available Equipment, Also O & M Schedules

Requesting Emergency Equipment

• EHM WSP 152 supplement 3

• System needs to request through County OEM

• Can be used by private system if municipality requests

it

• System also needs to request through Local Health

Department

• All deployment through State EOC D-LAN tickets

• State OEM/OGS will require State Health Approval

before Deploying

• Has to have an approved water source prior to use

Public Water Systems Disruptions Project:

Response and Messaging

• School of Public Health MPH Intern Project

• Subpart 5-1: disruptions <4 hrs, disruptions <1% of service

connections are NOT reportable (hundreds/year, esp winter).

• Question - What do PWSs do to repair, test, message?

• Web-based PWS survey: Repair practices, notification procedures

(if any). May also do phone interviews

• Target: 30 largest systems (approx. >50,000 population)

• Analysis for potential guidance re: best practices

Federal Technical Assistance

• Goal: to provide free on-site technical assistance and

training to small public water systems

• Three organizations have been awarded federal grants:

New York Rural Water Association (NYRWA)

Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP)

Environmental Finance Center (EFC) at the University of

North Carolina

• Grant period June 1, 2014-May 31, 2015

• BWSP developed a prioritized list of small systems

using:

Solicited feedback from the field offices (LHD, DO and

Regions)

Enforcement Tracking Tool (ETT)

Capacity Development List

Federal Technical Assistance

Training component focus:

NYRWA - Revised Total Coliform Rule, Stage 2 Disinfection

and DBP Rule, and the Ground Water Rule

RCAP - compliance topics

EFC - financial and managerial capacity

Technical Assistance

• Community Engineering Corps

• Launched in February 2014

• Alliance among AWWA, ASCE & Engineers without borders

• Designed to assist underserved communities to meet their PWS

needs

• Looking for small systems that could use some engineering and/or

operational expertise

• AWWA reaching out to State primacy agencies to help identify

candidate systems

• Let your field coordinators / Regions know of suggested PWSs

• www.communityengineeringcorps.com

Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3

(UCMR 3)• Unregulated contaminants fall into 3 contaminant groups

• Assessment Monitoring (List 1): 7 VOCs; 1 SOC; 6 metals

(including Cr+6); 6 perfluorinated compounds

• Screening Survey (List 2): 7 hormones

• Pre-screen Testing (List 3): 2 viruses

• Affected Systems

• List 1: All Large PWS (serving >10K); 800 representative small

PWSs randomly selected by EPA (30 in NYS)

• List 2: All PWSs serving >100K (17 in NYS); and a representative

sample of large systems serving >10K – 100K (9 PWS in NYS); no

small sys in NYS

• List 3: A representative sample of undisinfected GW PWSs

randomly selected by EPA, serving <1000; (4 in NYS)

UCMR 3 Status as of October, 2014

• Monitoring half way done; 14 months left to

complete sampling

• 94 systems have reported data into SDWARS

• Almost 29,000 results reported

• 18 contaminants detected, including:

• 5 VOCs;

• 1 SOC;

• 6 metals;

• 3 perfluorinated compounds;

• 2 hormones; and

• chlorate

UCMR 3 Status as of October, 2014

Analyte Detection

Range (ug/L)

# results >

Reference conc.

# PWS with

results >

Reference

conc.

1,2,3-trichloropropane 0.03 – 1.02 40 8

1,4-dioxane 0.07 - 33 174 24

chlorate 20 – 1,200 77 28

• Contaminants of interest that may warrant further

attention:

DEC Design Standards - Training

• DEC Design Standards Intermediate Sized WWTP

• Training being offered – conducted by Central

Office

DEC Region 3: was October 2, New Paltz

DEC Regions 8/9: November 13, Avon

DEC Regions 6/7: November 14, State Fairgrounds

DEC Regions 4/5: November 18, Ballston Spa

• LHDs: check w/Regional Office, or DEC Region

DOW for invite (if not already invited)

• Looking into possible PE credits for Department

and LHD attendees

Updated Guidance

• Residential Onsite Wastewater Treatment Design Handbook

• Appendix C – “Gravelless and Alternative Aggregate

Products”

• Since 2012 a few new compliance determinations made

• Updated list will be transmitted via Field Memo

• Individual Water Supply Wells – Fact Sheet #6

• Guidance for Code Enforcement Officials

• Updated and posted on website http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/regulations/fact_sheets/fs6_guidance_for_code_enforcement_officials.htm

• Have asked DOS to distribute to Code Enforcement

Officials

Harmful Algal Blooms

(HABs)

NYS DEC

NOAA

Current Drinking Water Regulations and

Guidance

• World Health Organization-1998 provisional guideline of

1µg/L for microcystin-LR in drinking water

• No existing Federal standards or guidance

• New York-Unspecified Organic Contaminant Maximum

Contaminant Level of 50µg/L

Other State’s Microcystin Guidance Values

State Value (ug/L)

Minnesota 0.04

Ohio 1

Oregon 1

Vermont 1

HABs and Public Water Supplies

… in Ohio

• 2013 Do not drink, Carroll, 3,000

people

• 2014 Do not drink, Toledo, almost

500,000 people

• Both Lake Erie sources, microsytin

levels in finished water were reported

to be in 1.0- 3.0 ppb

• Eutrophic (high nutrient) lakes are

rather common in Ohio and many

systems are tested regularly

• There have been other finished

water detections below their 1.0 ppb

threshold

… in New York

• HAB toxins have not been detected in finished water at levels of concern in 15 supplies tested

• Raw and finished water on 5 Lake Erie systems were non-detects following the 2014 Toledo event

• No finished water detections greater than 0.17 ppb

• NY waters are generally less eutrophic, and sampling has been conducted as case studies

Working with Public Water Supplies

• DEC and DOH have been monitoring HABs statewide

• Microcystin data available 2009-2014

• Basis of a draft protocol:

We consider water supply monitoring for cyanotoxins if some combination of

the following conditions exist:

• Intake is near or in a bloom

• Source water significantly changes as a result of bloom

• Plant is having treatment difficulties as a result of a bloom

• Data becomes available (DEC, other) that shows the source water

contains toxins

• Recent algaecide treatment although we do not recommend this if the

bloom is near the intake

Observations / Conclusions to Date

• To date we have not seen significant levels of toxins in raw water even when samples from visible blooms exist in parts of the surface water

• Finished water results have mostly (> 95% ) been non-detect and always lower than raw water concentrations

• Toxin levels, if present in source water, decreased 98% following conventional treatment

• No finished water sample has been within an order of magnitude of the WHO 1 ug/L value

• Intake placement has been protective

On-going Work

• Finalize drinking water response protocol

• Continue collecting samples/data to understand the

robustness of our draft guidance

• Work with BTSA on developing guidance values

• Review EPA guidance when available – May 2015

QUESTIONS ?

1.1.

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