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Seasonal Water System Shutdown Guidance

Proper maintenance increases the longevity of a water system and reduces water quality problems that can lead to dissatisfied customers and regulatory issues. Completing shutdown procedures for seasonal water systems, or those systems that depressurize portions of the distribution, will help you reduce contamination risk and minimize work and time required when you begin operations next season. Shutdown is an opportune time for a thorough examination of the system’s physical components. Repairs can be accomplished without being an imposition on your customers. Recommended steps for seasonal water system shutdown on system inspection, de-pressurizing, and system protection can be found by referring to Seasonal Water System Shutdown Guidance (PDF) (https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/docs/ncom/seasonshutdown.pdf)

Contact your sanitarian or engineer if you have questions about seasonal shutdown procedures.

Drought Information

Throughout the summer, most of Minnesota has experienced drought conditions. While we have seen the drought alleviate in recent weeks, impacts may still be felt for many months. In some cases, drought conditions can create issues for noncommunity public water systems – such as wells running dry and/or changes in water quality. While it’s a good time to conserve water during a drought, conservation may need to be balanced with other considerations such as avoiding stagnant water in plumbing systems which can negatively impact water quality.
For some helpful resources regarding droughts and public water systems that may be of assistance in addressing drought challenges, please see Drought Resources for Public Water Systems (https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/drought.html)  

Also, if you have concerns about drought impacts to your water system, please feel to contact your MDH sanitarian.

Electronic Correspondence

Have you noticed a change in the correspondence that you receive from the MDH Noncommunity (NPWS) Public Water Supply Unit? NPWS has been moving to more and more electronic correspondence using a working email address. Contact your compliance officer or field sanitarian with any questions or to update your email address.

Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA) Training Opportunities MRWA offers online training sessions using Zoom. If you have not received the email invites, please email mrwa@mrwa.com and provide your name, public water system name and preferred email address and you will be added to the email list. Information on in person training opportunities, will be posted on the Training Calendar found on http://www.mrwa.com/

Welcome to new Noncommunity Public Water Supply Leadership and Staff!

Anita Anderson took over the role of Noncommunity Public Water Supply (NPWS) Unit Supervisor on August 18, 2021. Anita has served in the NPWS Unit for over 25 years as an engineer and supervisor and was instrumental in developing many of the Unit’s policies and practices, including Minnesota’s approach to small surface water systems. She has also worked on water reuse, MDH’s groundwater pathogen project, and much more. Anita looks forward to serving your water system in this new capacity.

Kathryn Bradley joined the NPWS Unit in April, 2021 as a field sanitarian in St. Paul in the territory previously covered by Ade Adefuye, as Ade retired in early July 2021. Kathryn’s background is in science education from Winona State University. She previously worked for almost ten years at MDH's Public Health Lab, in Sample Receiving and Organic Chemistry/Volatiles Lab and transferred to the NPWS Unit. Kathryn also worked as a science teacher for IDS 196 in Rosemount, Minnesota.

Dave Russell joined the NPWS Unit in early October and is based out of the Mankato office covering some of Brenda Eschenbacher’s territory, with Brenda taking on a new assignment focused on contaminants of emerging concern. He is a professional geologist with 35 years of experience in the environmental hydrogeological investigation and remediation profession. Most recently he has been working with the operation of a mobile laboratory performing on-site gas chromatographic analysis of soil, groundwater and soil gas samples.

Greta Kern also joined the NPWS Unit in early October as a Sanitarian for the St. Cloud area. Her background includes serving as a lab technician and she has a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science. She is working out of the St. Cloud office and is taking on some of the responsibilities and territory of Eric Freihammer, as Eric has taken on a supervisory role in the NPWS Unit.

For More Information

For more information about noncommunity public water systems, the NPWS Unit, or any of the information in this newsletter, send a message to health.noncommunitycompliance@state.mn.us or call 651-201-4700.

Thank you for all your ongoing work to provide safe drinking water at your noncommunity public water system.

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