Drinking Water Regulatory Update

November 2001

ARSENIC MCL FINALLY SET AT 10 PPB

EPA Administrator Whitman announced on October 31, 2001 that the new arsenic MCL will remain at 10 ppb, as it had been set on January 22, 2001. All community water systems and non-transient non-community water systems must comply with the new MCL by January 23, 2006. Administrator Whitman announced, “This standard will improve the safety of drinking water for millions of Americans, and better protect against the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes." This announcement took place after the release of three scientific studies provided by national experts from the National Academy of Sciences, the National Drinking Water Advisory Council and EPA's Science Advisory Board.

WATER SYSTEMS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THREE COMPLIANCE DATES

On January 23, 2006 all water systems must be prepared to meet the new arsenic MCL. In addition to the MCL compliance deadline, water systems must be prepared to comply with deadlines related to the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) and revised requirements for monitoring and determining compliance. Water systems must comply with CCR reporting requirements of the arsenic rule beginning on March 23, 2002. Revised requirements for monitoring and determining compliance take effect on January 22, 2004.

CCR TO INCLUDE NEW LANGUAGE UNDER TWO CONDITIONS

Beginning with CCRs published after February 22, 2002, community water systems with arsenic levels detected greater than 10 ppb and less than 50 ppb, must publish EPA prescribed arsenic health effects language. Water systems will be allowed flexibility to put health effects language into context and explain to customers that the system is complying with existing standards while preparing to meet the new standard.

Additionally, for monitoring conducted during 2001 and thereafter, community water systems with arsenic levels detected greater than 5 ppb and less than 10 ppb, must include special health information in the CCRs that are due July 1, 2002. The required statement announces that the customer’s water system meets EPA’s new standard while also noting the cost-benefit trade-off involved in setting a standard.

MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE CALCULATIONS CHANGE FOR MANY CONTAMINANTS

The January 22, 2001 rule allows systems to collect inorganic contaminant (IOC), synthetic organic contaminant (SOC) and volatile organic contaminant (VOC) samples more frequently than annually or every 3-years, upon development of a State approved monitoring plan. Systems monitoring more than once a year will now calculate compliance based on a running annual average of samples collected at each sampling point. Systems treating to remove arsenic may find this provision useful for determining treatment reliability and for providing stability in analytical result variation when calculating compliance.

WATER SYSTEMS MUST START PLANNING NOW TO MEET 2006 DEADLINE

Water systems need to assess their water supplies to determine how they can best comply with the new 10 ppb standard by 2006. Many water systems will want to assess whether each water source has arsenic levels adequately below the new standard, utilizing an 80% of the MCL approach (i.e. below 8 ppb), to ensure fluctuations in the water quality do not cause an MCL exceedance. Coming into compliance by 2006 may be challenging based on the infancy of arsenic removal treatment systems, and the continuing development of new technologies.

Water systems may want to incorporate one or more of the following tools into their arsenic compliance planning process.

Conduct an assessment of treatment and non-treatment options appropriate for your water supplies and the surrounding community.
Conduct a source water assessment to determine levels of constituents that may interfere with arsenic removal treatment systems (e.g. fluoride, pH, phosphate, silica, etc.).
Conduct pilot testing with technologies targeted to remove arsenic from source water supplies in your system.
Evaluate various options that best reduce arsenic treatment costs through a master planning assessment of your individual water system.

FUNDING WILL BE AVAILABLE

EPA estimates that the average annual household water bill may increase by $32 per year, however, the cost will be substantially higher (ranging from $58 - $327) for systems treating less than 3,300 people. EPA plans to provide up to $20 million over the next two years for research and development of more cost-effective technologies to help small systems meet the more protective 10 ppb standard. Since 1996, the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF) has made over $3.7 billion available for capital loans to help water systems improve their infrastructure. Upcoming Senate Hearings will potentially address operating and maintenance costs through development of a sustainability fund. EPA also provides funding to States for their drinking water programs through the Public Water Systems Supervision grants program. Other federal funds are available through Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant Program, and the Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

DSWA IS READY TO ASSIST WATER SYSTEMS IN COMPLYING WITH THE NEW ARSENIC STANDARD

The DSWA team is ready to assist water systems with meeting the new arsenic standard by the 2006 compliance deadline. DSWA is a full service civil/sanitary and environment engineering firm specializing in water and wastewater facilities with over 15 years of experience in the southwestern United States. The firm is headquartered in Phoenix, with branches in California.

Michelle De Haan, a recent addition to the DSWA team, has been tracking the arsenic rule development, representing unique issues Western drinking water systems will face in complying with the new standard. Ms. De Haan has recent experience as a municipal master-planning stakeholder, with arsenic pilot plant project management and through participation in American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AwwaRF) projects that continue to evaluate emerging arsenic technologies.

The DSWA team provides experienced professionals with experience in water quality evaluations, regulatory monitoring plans, arsenic pilot testing, master planning, design, construction and operations of public works projects. DSWA has a total staff of over 30 persons including registered engineers in civil, environmental, and mechanical disciplines.