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In this edition:

• Welcome to Fall Message
• Health Equity: Water Speaks in Many Languages
• Plan Reviews Required for Plumbing and Water Treatment Changes
• Service Line Material Inventories
• Factsheet at a Glance
• Minnesota Rural Water Association Training
• Operator Certification
• Electronic Correspondence
• Fall Seasonal Shutdown: Is Your Water System Ready for Winter
• Noncommunity Staff Changes
• Lead in Drinking Water
• We are Water MN Exhibit

Welcome to Fall!

2023 is proving to be another busy year for those who work in the world of public drinking water. The variety of issues range from sampling and inspections, to progress on major initiatives to help reduce lead in public drinking water, to recent legislative changes and priorities.

We hope you find the content in this Noncom Notes newsletter to be practical and helpful information in the operation and maintenance of a safe, reliable public water system. The kind of “notes” you might consult when you have questions or are wondering about issues with your system or maybe just interested in learning something new. Of course, you are always encouraged to reach out to our staff with questions, but the newsletter provides one more avenue of assistance, and we hope you can find the time to read through all of the articles.

If you have questions about this newsletter or for what you’d like to see it address, please contact editor Leslie Winter at 651-201-4705 or leslie.winter@state.mn.us.

As always, we appreciate all the hard work you put into your noncommunity public water system. 

Miles Schacher
Supervisor, Noncommunity Public Water Supply Unit

Water Speaks in Many Languages

It is the Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) mission to protect, maintain, and improve the health of all Minnesotans. Its vision is for health equity in Minnesota, where all communities are thriving, and all people have what they need to be healthy. With that purpose in mind, MDH has developed a webpage containing a wealth of vital public health information in a medley of languages. The Drinking Water Protection program has included some important materials that can be accessed and utilized to communicate drinking water information to the public. These materials include fact sheets about important drinking water contaminants as well as consumer notices that can be posted at public water systems regarding these contaminants. If you are interested in exploring the website, please visit MDH’s Translated Materials webpage. Lastly, we leave you with a quote by Nelson Mandela who said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Stay healthy Minnesota!! 

Plan Reviews Required for Plumbing and Water Treatment Changes

Please be aware that when Minnesota’s noncommunity public water systems do work on plumbing or water treatment, they are subject to plan review by both the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Read on below for details regarding plan reviews.

Why two different reviews?
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) have overlapping authority with respect to public facilities that serve potable water. Specifically, MDH has authority over facilities that meet the Safe Drinking Water Act definition of a public water system, Information about Public Water Systems | US EPA , and DLI has authority over facilities containing plumbing systems that serve the public. Both departments have separate plan review obligations for facilities that fall under their respective authorities. MDH must review plans for installations and modifications for drinking water treatment at public water systems, and DLI must review plans that include installations or modifications of plumbing that serves the public (plumbing plan review).

What do I need to do?
All projects that include plumbing or water treatment installations, modifications, or removals must be reviewed by both MDH and DLI. We recommend submitting your plans simultaneously to MDH and DLI as this helps the agencies in collaborating when needed.

Note: MDH plan review typically takes two weeks. DLI Plumbing Plan Review may take significantly longer due to the quantity of plumbing plans submitted. Please factor these timelines into your planning.

Learn more about MDH and DLI plan review at the links below.
▪ MDH Plan Review for Noncommunity Water Systems
▪ DLI Plumbing Plan Review 

For now, the plan review process should go smoothly if the guidance is followed and plenty of time is allowed for review. You can contact the MDH Noncommunity Water Supply Unit Plan Review Engineer, John Galt, at john.galt@state.mn.us with questions regarding plan review.

Background:
Historically, MDH administered the Minnesota Plumbing Code (Plumbing Code), and therefore plumbing projects, such as water treatment installations, were reviewed by only one department. When plumbing review moved to DLI in the early 2000s, the need for both agencies to independently review plans for plumbing systems arose, though the two agencies collaborated to minimize plan review redundancy through a single review process. A recent legal review has indicated that DLI cannot delegate its plan review obligations to MDH without formal revisions to existing requirements (statute and rule). Therefore, plumbing review by DLI is required on all plumbing projects, including those that had previously been reviewed only by MDH, such as water treatment installations.

Next Steps:
MDH and DLI recognize that this plan review process can present challenges for Minnesota’s noncommunity public water systems. The agencies are actively collaborating to find ways to reduce the burdens associated with both plan reviews. We will keep you updated on any changes to the plan review process.

Service Line Material Inventories

Under the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, nontransient public water systems are required to identify the materials of all service lines in the system and submit that information to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The completed inventories must then be made available to consumers. For the purposes of developing a service line inventory, the definition of a service line is, “Any pipe that enters a building and conveys water to the building plumbing fixtures.”

All nontransient noncommunity water systems must prepare an inventory of ALL service lines (including those not in use). All inventories must be completed and approved by MDH by Oct. 16, 2024. To meet the October 2024 deadline, your sanitarian will work with you to inventory service lines during a site visit in 2023. You can help prior to the visit by reviewing existing documents like construction records, maps, plans, service line installation records, etc. If you need help developing your inventory, your sanitarian can assist you.

If you are a nontransient system, you should have received a mailing in February. The mailing included a Service Line Material Inventory Factsheet and Data Form (PDF) and your annual schedule. Please fill out the data form and have it ready for when your sanitarian visits your system. MDH will work with you on any next steps based on the inventory results. For more information, please see:

• Noncommunity Service Line Material Inventory
• Lead and Copper Rule Revisions

Factsheet at a Glance

The Noncommunity Public Water Supply program values communicating good information. This factsheet highlights the chlorine residual measurement process. 

• Chlorine Residual Measurement (PDF)

The Minnesota Public Health Access Portal is an online data resource available on the MDH web.

• MN Public Health Data Access Portal 

MRWA Training/Resources

The dates and locations for upcoming in person training sessions are listed below. MRWA will have these dates posted on the Training Calendar page once all sessions are scheduled: MRWA Training Calendar – Minnesota Rural Water Association. To access the training information, go to the top of the Training Calendar page, click on the box “Go To Small Systems Training” for Class E & D training dates and locations. For in-person training sessions, notices will be mailed approximately one month prior to the class to operations specialists in those areas.

Class E Training (8am – Noon)
January 10, 2024 – Miltona
May 1, 2024 – Mankato
Class E trainings in the central Crow Wing County are being scheduled but not confirmed at this time.

Class D Training (8am – 5pm)
March 6, 2024 – St. Cloud
April 3, 2024 – Lake Elmo

Online Training Date and topic will be set once we get closer to those months
December 2023
January 2024
February 2024

Operator Certification

Nontransient noncommunity public water supply systems must employ a certified water operator. These systems include schools, daycare facilities, factories, and businesses. Water operators who have questions about their certification status or need to take a water operator exam should reach out to Noel Hansen at 651-201-4690 or noel.hansen@state.mn.us.

Water Operator and Certification Training also provides further information.

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.

Seasonal Water System Shutdown Guidance

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

Before the Freeze, Winterize!

For those hearty souls who operate year-round instead of shutting down, the fall season can still be a good time for the system inspection and applicable protection and maintenance described in the shutdown guidance (including fixing leaks, cleaning, and disinfecting non-pressurized storage tanks, flushing sediment from water heaters, and ensuring wellhead protection is in place for the winter). Here are some additional tips for winterizing your system. The following information is adapted from The Well Owners Network Winter 2022 newsletter.

For inside a building:

• When in doubt drip your faucets - Leave faucets dripping slightly overnight in extremely cold weather. This slight trickle allows constant movement of the water which will prevent freezing. Remember more water is wasted from a leaky pipe than from using this tip! You can still save the water you are dripping; just place a bucket or large pot under the faucet. You can use that water to flush the toilet in a power outage or water plants. CAUTION: If your septic line draining to the tank is prone to freezing, this dripping water must be captured and not allowed to drain.
• Mark and remember where your main shut-off valve is - Knowing where this valve is during a water pipe burst can prevent flooding or water damage. Valves should be exercised (open and closed) periodically to ensure they can function in the case of an emergency.

For outside:

• Protect your pipes - Find out how in the factsheet, Protecting your Pipes and Well System from Freezing (PDF)
• Winterize your irrigation system - For information on winterizing your irrigation system contact your irrigation company and read the factsheet, Winterizing and De-Winterizing your Well (PDF)

A few tips from MDH:

• Know your distribution system - Map, label, and document the system. Become familiar with where all the shutoff valves are. Adding additional valves to different lines of a distribution system can aid in maintaining pressure should leaks occur.
• Consider electronic freeze and leak protection sensors - There are a variety of small sensors available to monitor temperature or detect water leaks that are designed to connect with your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Early warning for any problems with your system can prevent pipe bursts or flooding. Sensors can be useful in pumphouses, kitchens, and basements, and could be set up to automatically shut off your main supply when a leak is detected.
• Ensure wellhead protection is in place for the winter - Place posts around the well to protect the wellhead from snowplows and vehicles when covered with snow. Consider adding a fiberglass driveway marker to help with locating the well.
• If heat tape is needed for water lines, be sure all electrical and plumbing codes are followed.
• Be careful if heating a well house - Make sure all electrical codes are followed.
• Drain outdoor taps and blow out lines as needed - Many backflow preventers are not to be removed. Lines with non-removeable backflow preventers must be blown out using an oil-less air compressor.

Welcome to the Changes in Noncommunity Public Water Supply Leadership and Staff! Miles Schacher took over the role of Noncommunity Public Water Supply (NPWS) Unit Supervisor on Sept. 13, 2023. Miles has served in the NPWS Unit for almost 10 years, most recently as the South Region Operations Supervisor. Miles has over 30 years’ experience in public health with over 20 years as a sanitarian for Fargo Cass Public Health before joining the NPWS Unit. Miles is excited to serve the noncommunity systems of the state of Minnesota in his new position. There are also new additions and changes to existing staff! The Noncommunity Unit has seen two new staff recently join the team and a shuffling of long term staff with one retirement thrown in the mix. When you call in as a representative of a nontransient or transient system, you may be talking to some new staff. The staff map will be updated in late fall with any territory changes but in the meantime please refer to the current map: Noncommunity Staff Map (PDF) Brian Barrick joined the Transient Compliance Team on April 26. Before coming to MDH, Brian held a position at the NASA White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico where he was the Safe Drinking Water Act Coordinator managing compliance for the facility’s nontransient noncommunity water system. Hannah Worley started with DWP on September 27 as a Compliance Officer working with Transient PWS. She recently received her Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Hannah is not a newcomer to MDH as she worked as a student worker while in graduate school.   Lead in Drinking Water Testing Program for School and Child Care Programs Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has a free lead in drinking water testing program for public schools, head start programs, and child cares. This free program provides participants with sample kits, certified laboratory analysis, and technical assistance. The program provides testing that complements the testing required by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Apply for enrollment by completing Minnesota Lead in Schools and Child Cares Testing Program Application. There is no safe level of lead. Lead is particularly harmful to developing children. Lead exposure can cause long-term health and behavior problems. Testing for lead is required for public and charter schools in Minnesota and recommended for all schools and child care providers. For more information, call 651-308-3754 or email HEALTH.WIIN_Grant@state.mn.us.   We are Water MN Exhibit The We Are Water MN traveling exhibit examines three ways of knowing water: personal stories, historical content, and scientific information. Visitors can explore stories both local and statewide and share their own stories of water’s importance in their life. Oct. 12 - Dec. 4 Stillwater – We Are Water MN Stillwater Public Library 224 3rd Street North, Stillwater

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