New KY Drinking Water Programs

How They Affect Water System Management

2007 Water Personnel Training SeminarProvided by: KRWA and PSC

Presented by: KY Division of Water/Drinking Water Branch

Presentation Outline

• DWB Organization

• Technical Advisory Groups– Water Line Extension Agreements

• Drinking Water Watch

• Treatment Plant Capacity

• Sanctions

• Water Budgets

• Needs Survey

Drinking Water Branch Organization

Changes Within the Department

• Department for Environmental Protection – Commissioner’s office moved to 300 Fair Oaks– 502/564-2225

• Division of Compliance Assistance– Also moved to 300 Fair Oaks– Julia Kays is the new Branch Manager for the

Certification and Licensing Branch• Operator Certification• Looking at incorporating other programs such as

Landfill and Landfarming certifications

DWB Organization/New Programs

• Donna Marlin, Branch Manager– Technical Advisory Groups

• DWB has 4 sections– Compliance: Frank Hall, Supervisor

• Lab Certification

– Technical Assistance and Outreach: Julie Roney, Supervisor• Stage 2, LT2, Groundwater Rules and AWOP

– Plans Review: Mike Riley, Supervisor– Capacity Development: Leslie Harp, Supervisor

• Sanitary Surveys• Design Capacity Reviews and Sanctions• SRF and SPAP

• New “backdoor” number 502/564-8158• May be moving in winter of 2007 to 200 Fair Oaks

Drinking Water Lab Certification

• The Compliance Section has taken on the responsibility for the KY Drinking Water Laboratory Program (microbiological and chemical)– Developing a lab accountability program– Assisting with lab audits

Area-Wide Optimization Program (AWOP)

• KY has been participating in AWOP for 10 years

• Voluntary surface water system program that stresses optimized performance to go beyond meeting regulatory requirements– Turbidity– Disinfection by-products

• AWOP assists systems in meeting current as well as future regulatory requirements– Long Term 2

Technical Advisory Group

Technical Advisory Group (TAG)

• DWB invited stakeholders to provide advice on water system-related topics

• Members are from water systems, technical assistance providers, engineering firms, ADDs, industry associations and Division of Water

• Sub-groups were formed for areas that require more in-depth discussions– Sub-groups provide recommendations to the main TAG

and DWB – Recommendations will be considered and implemented if

feasible

Technical Advisory Sub-Groups

Capacity Development– Technical/Managerial/Financial

• Engineering– Agreed orders for in-house line extension work– Distribution system regulations

• Compliance• Regulations

– Stage 2– LT2– Groundwater Rule

Water Line Extension Agreed Orders

• This is a pilot program with 7 water systems currently participating– Must have in-house engineering ability or partner with a

consulting engineering firm• The purpose is to develop administrative qualifying

criteria and design standards to obtain a “General Permit” for water main extensions– Streamlines approval process– Reduces DWB administrative and technical review

burdens– Reduce the number of plans submitted to DWB by 70%

within 3 years– Reduces development cycle time by providing economic

benefits to local communities– Promotes the use of best industry practices

Water Line Extension Agreed Orders

• Two Subgroups– Qualifying

• Develops the qualifications for eligibility to receive the permit

– Standards• Establishes the technical design and construction

standards for water main extension

Compliance TAG Recommendations

• More IT staff • One data system• Uniform site identification process• Accessibility of e-accounts to more that 1 person at

a water system• Design of a data “checker” for electronically

submitted data• All certified labs required to submit electronically• Annual sample schedules from DWB• Workable schedule so less violations issued

Drinking Water Watch

• Read-only version of SDWIS-State compliance data base

• Will not be a secure database– Everything in the database is available through a

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request– No passwords or log-in– Available to everyone and anyone– Does not include latitudes or longitudes but will

contain addresses

• Updated monthly

KY

Drinking Water Watch Links

SampleSchedule

Non-coliformSample/Results

Individual Result

Violations/Enforcement Actions

Individual Violation Information

Treatment Plant Capacity

(Design Flow Rates)

Treatment Capacity

• Capacity Development staff are reviewing MORs• Water treatment plants are being operated shorter

time frames than approved– Could be exceeding approved treatment plant and/or

filtration rates– Example:

Plant rated at 1,800,000 gpd (1250 gpm) Actual production: 1,000,000 gpd/10 hours/60 min in an hour =

1667 gpm 1667 gpm/1250 gpm x 100 = 133% Could also be exceeding the approved filtration rate for the filters

Water System Sanctions

Water System Sanctions

• Sanctions are imposed by the Cabinet when a PWS cannot supply consistent water service in compliance with regulations

• Cabinet may refuse to approve– Plans and specifications for system modifications– Extension of service to one or more customers

• Sanctions are managed by the Capacity Development section

Triggers for Sanctions

• Sanctions are normally issued when – Exceeding water treatment plant design capacity

• 85% of treatment design capacity for water-line extensions• 95% of treatment design capacity for water-line extensions and

additional taps

• Other sanction triggers include– Amount of water available– Last 12 months of MORs

• Amount of water produced, amount purchased

– Complaints, such as pressure– Issues found during Sanitary Surveys or Inspections

How Sanctions Are Issued

• Drinking Water Branch or Enforcement Branch initiates the process

• Begins with an internal review process• Documentation includes

– Reasons for sanctions, date imposed, exception procedures

– Means of removing or negating the sanction agreement• Notifications are sent to (if applicable)

Public Water System PurchasersSuppliers Division of PlumbingHealth Department MayorCounty Judge-Executive County AttorneyCabinet Staff Consultants of the PWSArea Development District

Sanction Exceptions

• Exceptions to sanctions can be allowed– Example: Person needs water due to a medical

issue

• There is a specific form for the exception request

• The request is then considered by the DWB

Water “Budgets”

Water “Budgets”

• Water budgets are designed to deal with capacity issues in water systems while they are on sanctions, still allowing for limited growth in an area until problems can be fixed

• Cabinet determines how much water is available for system to budget

• System provides list of projects and projected demands or needs (including any water allocations for purchasers and their contracts)

• Voluntary Agreed Orders are negotiated.• Specific date established for sanctions to be lifted

Water “Budgets”

• Budgets allow a water system to determine its own priorities

• Only projects listed on the initial priority list will be accepted for review of construction permits

• Situation tracked and monitored monthly

• Priority lists may be amended every 6 months until the water system has used 100% of its available water

EPA Needs Survey

• The Needs Survey happens every 4 years– Response by the water system determines SRF

dollar amounts • The amount of SRF dollars received from EPA

determines how many projects can be funded’• Plus the SRF set-asides help fund the personnel of the

branch (Plans Review engineers and Technical Assistance Staff)

• 2007 Survey was sent to most KY large and medium systems– EPA visited 4 small KY systems

EPA Needs Survey

• Good documentation is critical– Projects must meet SRF eligibility – Use information from sanitary surveys,

engineering recommendations, capital and asset management plans, new regulations to help develop projects

• Even if the water system doesn’t plan to use SRF dollars for a project, please complete the survey so the DWB can continue to support infrastructure improvements throughout KY

Questions?? Comments??

KY Drinking Water Branch502/564-3410

Firstname.Lastname@ky.gov

Donna Marlin, Branch Manager