Drinking Water Staff Update!
So far, 2016 has brought about many changes for the Northwest District’s potable water section. We said farewell
to Karianne Pezdirtz, who left the department, Scott Grubbs, who moved to another section, and to
Mark Sumner in our Panama City office, who took a
position with our Office of Emergency Response. While Mark is still offering his support on occasions, he is no longer a primary contact for the drinking water office.
Below is an updated staff list:
- Nicole Hetzel, in addition to the Stage 2 DBP program, has taken on the responsibility for lead and copper monitoring.
- Dave Hines is now our inspection program
coordinator.
Take the Operator Certification Test in Pensacola!
On May 4, testing for the Operator Certification Program returned
to the Pensacola area! It was the first time in eight years that the
Northwest District administered the test to operators in Pensacola. All levels of operators from drinking water, wastewater and distribution
operators can now take the test in the DEP Chappie James Building in downtown
Pensacola.
Future test dates are being scheduled as needed. To check
for the next scheduled test date, click here and then click on "Get the Pencil & Paper Exam Scheduling Form" for the
next test date, and click on "Examination Information" to register.
Please call the Operator Certification Program in Tallahassee at
850-245-7500 with any questions.
Coming Soon - Paperless MORs!
DEP receives approximately 54,000 Monthly Operating Reports (MORs) from Florida
public water systems annually. In accordance with the DEP’s paperless
initiative, there will soon be a new method of submitting MOR data. The new
process will be available through DEP’s online Business Portal and the
Enterprise Self Service Authorizations System (ESSA). Users will be able to log
into the Business Portal and submit MOR data directly into the database,
effectively cutting out the need to email, fax or physically mail MOR hard
copies.
Utilizing ESSA for the submittal of MOR data will increase efficiency
in reporting and help maintain data integrity while saving public water systems
time and money preparing MORs.
If this opportunity is something that you and
your public water system would be interested in utilizing, please let us know. If you have any questions, please contact Joey Whibbs at
850-595-0636 or Earl.Whibbs@dep.state.fl.us.
Interested in Other Regulatory Newsletters?
Don't forget about the new Northwest District Wastewater newsletter, “Clarifier”. To sign-up for the newsletter, click here.
In the Spotlight: Nicole Hetzel
Nicole has degrees in Environmental Sciences from University of West Florida and Zoo Animal
Technology from Pensacola State College. Nicole started with
the NWD in 2007, propagating saltmarsh plants for the Ecosystem Restoration
Section of Project Greenshores Site II and other living shoreline projects
from Escambia to Bay counties. In 2010, her responsibilities changed with
the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. She conducted daily surveys for oil along
Escambia and Santa Rosa County beaches until October 2010 when she joined the
Potable Water Section. Since that time, her responsibilities have included reviewing/tracking
Precautionary Boil Water Notices and Monthly Operation Reports; analyzing Stage
2 Disinfection Byproduct results; administering the lead and copper monitoring program and
conducting public water system inspections. She has also recently been approved
to conduct hazardous waste inspections.
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Photo from Tallahassee Democrat Publication and City of Tallahassee
Congratulations to the City of Tallahassee for being
named Florida’s best drinking water for the second year in a row by the Florida
Section of the American Water Works Association! They are the first to win back-to-back
competitions (2015 and 2016) and the first municipality to win the
competition three times (they also won in 2008).
Submit Monthly Operation Reports!
Please note FAC 62-550.730(1)(d) requires water suppliers to submit monthly operation reports within 10 days after the month of
operation. Below
is a listing of the three ways DEP will accept Monthly Operation
Reports (MORs).
1. Email: Must be emailed as an attachment
on or before the 10th of the next month. Formats accepted: Excel, Microsoft Word or Adobe. Use subject line: PWS# and the month. Email to epostnwdwfpws@dep.state.fl.us
2. Fax: Must be faxed on or before the 10th of the next month to: 850-595-8392
3. Mail: Must be post marked on or before the 10th of the next month to:
Department
of Environmental Protection Potable Water Office 160 Government Street, Suite 308 Pensacola, Florida 32502
Are You Prepared?
Northwest Florida has been fortunate for the last several years with no major hurricanes hitting the area since Dennis in
2005. While we certainly hope that trend continues, we need to be prepared to handle whatever comes our way.
Florida’s Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (FlaWARN) is available at www.flawarn.org. This is a system of “utilities helping
utilities” to address mutual aid during emergency situations. This site also
has access to StormTracker,
DEP’s tool for monitoring the status of water and wastewater facilities after an
emergency event. When utilities post the
need for assistance on StormTracker, this information is automatically
transmitted to FlaWARN. Email info@flawarn.org for more information.
Dates to Remember!
July-Sept. 2016: All community and non-transient
non-community groundwater systems on routine or reduced monitoring with a
population over 500 are required to monitor for Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts.
June-Sept. 2016: This is also a big sampling year for our non-transient non-community systems (NTNCs). These systems are required to monitor for the inorganic contaminants including nitrate and nitrite, volatile organic contaminants, synthetic organic contaminants and Stage 2 disinfection byproducts (due between July and September). The majority of NTNCs as well as some community systems will also have to monitor for lead and copper this year between June and September.
Dec. 31, 2016: All
regulated systems (community, non-transient non-community and transient
non-community) are required to monitor for nitrate and nitrite. It is recommended that sampling
be completed before the busy holiday
season in November and December.
If you have questions concerning your chemical monitoring for this year, do not hesitate to
call either Toni Touart at 850-595-0658 or Nicole Hetzel at 850-595-0660.
Revised Total Coliform Rule Update!
The Revised
Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) went into effect in Florida on April 1, resulting in several changes in sampling requirements, especially for
small community systems, most non-transient non-community (NTNC) and
transient non-community (TNC) systems.
All systems serving 1,000 customers or less are now required to sample a
minimum of one distribution site per monitoring period rather than
two, as was the case under the old Total Coliform Rule. Community systems remain on monthly sampling,
but NTNC’s serving 1,000 or less may go from monthly to quarterly.
With these
changes, the new rule will likely make revisions to your bacteriological
sampling plan necessary. Even if your
system’s sampling frequency and/or number of samples required will not be
changing, there are other changes that should be included in a new, revised
plan. These include:
- Changes
to follow-up sampling that may be required after receiving total coliform
positive (TC+) results;
- New
criteria for the E. coli (EC)
maximum contaminant level (MCL); and
- New
“Level 1 and Level 2 Assessments” that may need to be performed in the wake of
TC+ or EC+ results.
These aspects
of the new rule and others should be added to your existing sampling plans
to make sure you and your system are “RTCR-ready”.
If you have
not already revised your plan(s), or you have not already been contacted by
this office with an RTCR sampling plan template or other RTCR information, please contact Dave Hines at 850-595-0593 or
david.hines@dep.state.fl.us. |