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The CDC has a new Water and Wastewater Worker COVID-19 website.
“This webinar is designed for the water sector in Iowa and Michigan and will provide guidance and information for drinking water and wastewater utilities to enhance their ability to withstand a flooding event, minimize damage, and rapidly recover from disruption to service. Sponsors include Iowa DNR, IRWA, MI EGLE, MRWA, and EPA.” Additional information will be provided to all registrants prior to the webinar.
Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Time: 9:45 am – noon, CDT
Registration
Cost: no registration fee
CEUs provided
Note: This article is usually found at the end of each WS Listserv. It's been moved up in today's edition to highlight the available training.
To find continuing education opportunities, please view the “Training Calendar” at programs.iowadnr.gov/opcertweb/ Training events where Iowa DNR staff will make presentations are listed below. See the listing on the appropriate date on the Training Calendar for registration instructions.
- July 9, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. CDT, Iowa DNR FO4 Virtual Rules Update Webinar, 2 continuing education hours WT, WD
- July 28, 9:45 a.m. - noon CDT, Flood Resilience Webinar for IA and MI Water and Wastewater Utilities, 2 continuing education hours WT, WD
- October 2020, IA-AWWA Virtual Fall Conference, “Iowa DNR WS Rules Update.” Watch the Training Calendar for the registration information when it becomes available.
This is a reminder to operators to sample early in the designated sampling period in your operation permit. We’ve had some instances around the state where systems can’t get the samples to the lab within the holding time, due to delivery issues with the U.S Postal Service (USPS) and United Parcel Service (UPS). We’re in the hot time of the year now, and we’ve also had some instances where the sample is not within the prescribed temperature range. Samples must be received at the lab within the holding time and within the temperature range in order to be considered valid compliance samples. Samples outside either the holding time or temperature range are not valid, and the system will receive a monitoring violation.
Check with your laboratory for preservation, packing, and mailing options to assure the samples are received within the appropriate holding times and temperature ranges. Sample early so that you have time to sample again if there are problems.
This article is directed to community system water operators who are required to sample lead and copper this summer, during the June 1 – September 30 time period. Review your current Water Supply Operations Permit to see if your required sampling is this summer. We recommend that you review your sampling plan now and contact the participating residents early in the monitoring period to assure you have the required number of sampling sites and willing participants.
Background
The lead and copper rule is unlike any other water supply sampling. The purpose is to determine how the water reacts with the local plumbing by measuring the lead and copper levels in the home’s drinking water. For that reason, the water system reviewed the plumbing in the community when the rule began (~1991), and those homes with lead service lines or lead piping were chosen to be sampled. Now, almost 30 years later, some of those homes are still part of the sampling plan.
However, there are changes that have happened over time, such as when a homeowner has installed in-home water treatment, or replaced the lead service line so it no longer meets Tier 1 criteria, or just doesn’t want to participate anymore. In those instances, the operator needs to find another site for sample collection. The new site must meet the same tier criteria, if a site is available.
Not all systems have lead service lines or lead fittings; in much of the country, lead pipes were no longer installed after the mid 1940’s.
The objective is to determine the lead and copper levels in the water used for daily drinking purposes in the home, after a standtime that mimics no use overnight or at the end of the workday, in those homes that have the greatest risk of lead exposure because of the lead service line plumbing. It is not feasible to test every home in a system, so the rationale for the sampling protocol is to sample the highest risk homes to ensure the lead and copper action levels are met.
Reminders
The sampling plan template and customer questionnaire are located under the Lead and Copper header on this website, in both .pdf and .doc formats. A modifiable .doc format is available upon request for the sampling plan.
Here are a few reminders: the most high risk to lead exposure sites must be sampled, with the risk being highest at those homes with lead service lines, lead pipes, or copper pipes with lead solder installed after 1982 (Tier 1). See the sampling plan for the full Tier 1, 2, and 3 criteria. A sample must be collected from the cold water faucet in the kitchen or bathroom of the home, after the water has remained motionless in the building for at least six hours, which is called a 6-hour standtime. The home should not have any water treatment, such as a water softener or other in-home treatment, which affects water from the drinking water tap, including any filters on the end of the spigot.
Lead and copper samples must be collected at all Tier 1 sites if you have them available in your system. Page 4 of the Lead & Copper Sampling Plan describes the tiering criteria, plus gives a lot of information regarding sampling.
The sampling plan contains the maximum number of sampling sites required of standard (or routine) monitoring. Systems conducting summertime sampling are on reduced sampling, which is typically half the number of samples as required under routine monitoring. If you need to switch from a previously used site, you may do so as long as the following criteria are met:
- The new site is in the original pool of sampling sites and of the same tier, or the new site is a tier 1 site.
- If the original pool of sites are no longer available for sampling, the rest of the community can be evaluated and added as sampling sites. However, it is required that the highest tier sites within the community be used first, if A customer materials questionnaire which you may send to your community to help determine appropriate locations can be found on the same website as the sampling plan template.
- A change of sampling site form must be submitted to DNR for any sites that are changed. The LCR Change of Sample Site Form can be found on page 13 of the Lead and Copper Sampling Plan template.
- The sampling plan must be updated accordingly.
During COVID-19
It remains a priority of the DNR and the EPA that safe drinking water be served to all consumers. However due to COVID-19, we understand some people may be hesitant to participate, which may make this round of sampling difficult. We also want to make sure that you keep yourself and others safe. Please contact us if you are having difficulty in sampling, but we ask that you make every effort to successfully complete the required sampling.
A homeowner is allowed to collect their own sample, which does not require any water system personnel to access the home. You may also want to have a phone conversation with or send letters/or email with additional instructions to homeowners to ensure no water treatment has been added since the last sampling round, that the samples are collected appropriately, and that their site still meets the correct criteria.
Page 7 of the Lead and Copper Sampling Plan template provides sample language that you can give to your homeowners regarding sample collection. The homeowner can leave the filled sample bottle and chain of custody or sampling form outside of the house for the operator to take to the lab or send them to the lab for you.
It is crucial to keep detailed records and documentation of the contacts made, the responses from the residents, and the final outcome or changes to the sampling plan.
Consumer Notice
Remember that once the sample results are received from your laboratory, the Consumer Notification must be done within 30 days (within 48 hours if the lead result at the home is over 0.015 mg/L), including at least the lead results provided to the consumer at that residence and specified mandatory language. Examples of the Lead (& Copper) Consumer Notification Templates are shown on this website, at the bottom of the page. Send in one example of the form along with the certification form to DNR to complete your sampling round.
Questions
If you have questions on any part of the Lead and Copper Rule, please contact the person listed in your operation permit, Anne Lynam at anne.lynam@dnr.iowa.gov, or Becky Schwiete at becky.schwiete@dnr.iowa.gov. Get your questions answered before you sample!
New Lead and Copper Revised Rule on the horizon
Please note that EPA has proposed significant revisions to this rule, with the public comment period ending in February this year. EPA has indicated that the final rule will be published later this summer. Watch this listserv for more information as it becomes available.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is working with state and local officials to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and has transitioned employees to work remotely. DNR offices are closed to the public during this time and only available by appointment.
In another effort to further reduce the spread of COVID-19, the DNR is encouraging the use of the online services for submitting applications, payments and other daily tasks and interaction with DNR staff.
We thank you for your patience and flexibility during this time. If you need to contact DNR staff you can reach them by email or phone or by calling 515-725-8200.
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