Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 391 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 391-3 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Subject 391-3-5 - RULES FOR SAFE DRINKING WATER › Rule 391-3-5-.02 - Definitions

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27,
				2024
All terms used in these rules shall be interpreted in
				  accordance with the definitions as set forth in the Georgia Safe Drinking Water
				  Act of 1977 or as herein defined:
(1)
				"Act" means the Georgia Safe Drinking Water Act of 1977, as amended.
(2) "Action Level" means the concentration of
				a contaminant, which if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements
				which a water system must follow.
(3) "Aquifer" means any stratum or zone of
				rock beneath the surface of the earth capable of containing water or producing
				water from a well.
(4) "Aquifer
				Testing" means a controlled pumping test of a well lasting at least 24
				continuous hours in which the water level and the pumping rate are monitored at
				closely spaced intervals and the water level is monitored for at least as long
				a time following the test as the duration of the test.
(5) "Backflow" means the reverse flow of
				contaminated water, other liquid, gas, or substance into the distribution
				system of a potable water supply.
(6) "Back pressure" means a condition in
				which the pressure in a non-potable system is greater than the pressure in the
				potable distribution system and can cause contaminants to backflow into the
				potable system.
(7) "Backsiphonage"
				means a form of backflow caused by a negative or below atmospheric pressure
				within the potable water system.
(8) "Bag filters" are pressure-driven
				separation devices that remove particulate matter larger than 1 micrometer
				using an engineered porous filtration media. They are typically constructed of
				a non-rigid, fabric filtration media housed in a pressure vessel in which the
				direction of flow is from the inside of the bag to outside.
(9) "Bank filtration" is a water treatment
				process that uses a well to recover surface water that has naturally
				infiltrated into ground water through a river bed or bank(s). Infiltration is
				typically enhanced by the hydraulic gradient imposed by a nearby pumping water
				supply or other well(s).
(10)
				"Business plan" means a written plan which is prepared to demonstrate a public
				water system's managerial and financial capacity to comply with all drinking
				water regulations in effect, or likely to be in effect. The business plan is to
				be prepared in conformance with Appendix A of the Division's "Minimum Standards
				for Public Water Systems", latest edition. The business plan shall be updated
				at intervals determined by the Director.
(11) "Best Available Technology" or "BAT"
				means the best technology, treatment techniques, or other means promulgated by
				EPA and adopted by the Division. In promulgating BAT the EPA examines the
				efficacy under field conditions and not solely under laboratory conditions, and
				takes costs into consideration when determining what technology or treatment
				technique is available.
(12) "CFR"
				means the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40. The Code of Federal
				Regulations is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in
				the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal
				government.
(13) "Capacity" means
				the overall capability of a water system to reliably produce and deliver water
				meeting all national primary drinking water regulations in effect, or likely to
				be in effect. Capacity encompasses the technical, managerial, and financial
				capabilities, as described in the latest edition of EPD's "Minimum Standards
				for Public Water Systems" and will enable a water system to plan for, achieve,
				and maintain compliance with applicable drinking water standards.
(14) "Cartridge filters" are pressure-driven
				separation devices that remove particulate matter larger than 1 micrometer
				using an engineered porous filtration media. They are typically constructed as
				rigid or semi-rigid, self-supporting filter elements housed in pressure vessels
				in which flow is from the outside of the cartridge to the inside.
(15) "Casing" means the tubular material used
				to shut off or exclude a stratum or strata and to protect against entrance of
				contaminants during the expected life of the well.
(16) "Clean compliance history" is, for the
				purposes of the Revised Total Coliform Rule,
				391-3-5-.55, a record of: no MCL
				violations under Rule
				391-3-5-.18(4)(a)-(c)
				or Rule 391-3-5-.55; no
				monitoring violations under Rule
				391-3-5-.23 or Rule
				391-3-5-.55; and no coliform
				treatment technique trigger exceedances or treatment technique violations under
				Rule 391-3-5-.55.
(17) "Coagulation" means a process using
				coagulant chemicals and mixing by which colloidal and suspended materials are
				destabilized and agglomerated into flocs.
(18) "Combined distribution system" is the
				interconnected distribution system consisting of the distribution systems of
				wholesale systems and of the consecutive systems that receive finished
				water.
(19) "Community water
				system" or "CWS" means a public water system, which serves at least 15 service
				connections, used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25
				year-round residents.
(20)
				"Compliance cycle" means the nine-year calendar year cycle during which public
				water systems must monitor. Each compliance cycle consists of three-year
				compliance periods. The first compliance cycle begins January 1,
				1993.
(21) "Compliance period"
				means a three-year calendar year period within a compliance cycle. Each
				compliance cycle has three-year compliance periods.
(22) "Comprehensive performance evaluation"
				or "CPE" means a thorough review and analysis of a treatment plant's
				performance-based capabilities and associated administrative, operation and
				maintenance practices. It is conducted to identify factors that may be
				adversely impacting a plant's capability to achieve compliance and emphasizes
				approaches that can be implemented without significant capital improvements.
				For purpose of compliance with subparts P and T of 40 CFR Part 141, the CPE
				shall consist of at least the following components: Assessment of plant
				performance; evaluation of major unit processes; identification and
				prioritization of performance limiting factors; assessment of the applicability
				of comprehensive technical assistance; and preparation of a CPE
				report.
(23) "Confirmation Sample"
				means a sample analysis or analyses taken to verify the results of an original
				analysis. Each sample for the analysis shall be taken or measured at the same
				location in the water system as the original sample. The results of the
				confirmation samples shall be averaged with the original sample to determine
				compliance.
(24) "Confined Aquifer"
				means an aquifer which is separated from the land surface by a significant zone
				of low permeability which prevents surface recharge or pollutants from readily
				reaching the aquifer.
(25)
				"Confluent growth" means a continuous bacterial growth covering the entire
				filtration area of a membrane filter, or a portion thereof, in which bacterial
				colonies are not discrete.
(26)
				"Consecutive system" is a public water system that receives some or all of its
				finished water from one or more wholesale systems. Delivery may be through a
				direct connection or through the distribution system of one or more consecutive
				systems.
(27) "Consumer Confidence
				Report" means an annual report that community water systems must deliver to
				their customers which, as a minimum, contains information on the quality of the
				water delivered by the system and characterizes the risks (if any) from
				exposure to contaminants detected in the drinking water in an accurate and
				understandable manner.
(28)
				"Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological
				substance or matter in water.
(29)
				"Conventional filtration treatment" means a series of processes including
				coagulation flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration resulting in
				substantial particulate removal.
(30) "Corrosion Inhibitor" means a substance
				capable of reducing the corrosivity of water toward metal plumbing materials,
				especially lead and copper, by forming a protective film on the interior
				surface of those materials.
(31)
				"Cross-connection" means any physical arrangement whereby a public water supply
				is connected, directly or indirectly, with any other water supply system,
				sewer, drain, conduit, pool, storage reservoir, plumbing fixture, or other
				device which contains or may contain contaminated water, sewage or other waste,
				or liquid of unknown or unsafe quality which may be capable of imparting
				contamination to the public water supply as the result of backflow. By-pass
				arrangements, jumper connections, removable sections, swivel or changeable
				devices, and other temporary or permanent devices through which or because of
				which backflow could occur are considered to be cross-connections.
(32) "CT" is the product of "residual
				disinfectant concentration" (C) in milligrams per liter determined before or at
				the first customer tap where water is provided for human consumption and the
				corresponding "disinfectant contact time" (T) in minutes.
(33) "Department" means the Department of
				Natural Resources of the State of Georgia.
(34) "Diatomaceous earth filtration" means a
				process resulting in substantial particulate removal in which (1) a pre-coat
				cake of diatomaceous earth filter media is deposited on a support membrane
				(septum), and (2) while the water is filtered by passing through the cake on
				the septum, additional filter media known as the body feed is continuously
				added to feed water to maintain the permeability of the filter cake.
(35) "Direct filtration" means a series of
				processes including coagulation and filtration but excluding sedimentation
				resulting in substantial particulate removal.
(36) "Director" means the Director of the
				Environmental Protection Division, Department of Natural Resources of the State
				of Georgia, or his designee.
(37)
				"Disinfectant" means any oxidant, including but not limited to chlorine,
				chlorine dioxide, chloramines, and ozone added to water in any part of the
				treatment or distribution process, that is intended to kill or inactivate
				pathogenic microorganisms.
(38)
				"Disinfectant contact time" ("T" in CT calculations) means the time in minutes
				that it takes for water to move from the point of disinfectant application or
				the previous point where residual disinfectant concentration ("C") is
				measured.
(39) "Disinfection" means
				a process, which inactivates pathogenic organisms in water by chemical oxidants
				or equivalent agents.
(40)
				"Disinfection profile" means a summary of
Giardia lamblia
inactivation through the treatment plant. The procedure for developing a
				disinfection profile is contained in
				40 CFR §
										141.172. (Disinfection profiling and
				benchmarking) in subpart P and §§141.530-141.536 (Disinfection
				profile) in subpart T of 40 CFR Part 141.
(41) "Division" means the Environmental
				Protection Division, Department of Natural Resources of the State of
				Georgia.
(42) "Domestic or other
				non-distribution system plumbing problem" means a coliform contamination
				problem in a public water system with more than one service connection that is
				limited to the specific service connection from which the coliform-positive
				sample was taken.
(43) "Dose
				equivalent" means the product of the absorbed dose from ionizing radiation and
				such factors as account for differences in biological effectiveness due to the
				type of radiation and its distribution in the body as specified by the
				International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurements
				(ICRU).
(44) "Drinking Water" means
				water supplied to the public for human consumption from a public water
				system.
(45) "Dual sample set" is a
				set of two samples collected at the same time and same location, with one
				sample analyzed for TTHM and the other sample analyzed for HAA5. Dual sample
				sets are collected for the purposes of conducting an IDSE under subpart U of 40
				CFR, Part 141 and determining compliance with the TTHM and HAA5 MCLs under
				subpart V of 40 CFR, Part 141.
(46)
				"Effective corrosion inhibitor residual" for the purpose of compliance with
				Rule 395-3-5-.25, means a concentration sufficient to form a protective film on
				the interior walls of a pipe.
(47)
				"Enhanced coagulation" means the addition of sufficient coagulant for improved
				removal of disinfection byproduct precursors by conventional filtration
				treatment.
(48) "Enhanced
				softening" means the improved removal of disinfection byproduct precursors by
				precipitative softening.
(49)
				"Entry Point" means the sample point where after treatment drinking water
				enters the distribution system. For purposes of the Act and the Rules, "entry
				point" shall be defined as a sample location anywhere on the finished water
				line after treatment, up to and including the first service or customer
				tap.
(50) "EPA" means the United
				States Environmental Protection Agency.
(51) "Exemption" means approval from the
				Division affording a public water system, existing as of the effective date of
				these rules, an extended time for compliance with a maximum contaminant level
				or treatment technique contained in a drinking water standard. An exemption
				pertains to non-compliance with a maximum contaminant level for reasons other
				than that instance when application of a generally available treatment method
				fails to adequately treat the raw water source.
(52) "Federal Act" means the Federal Safe
				Drinking Water Act, 1974 P.L. 93-523, as amended.
(53) "Filter profile" means a graphical
				representation of individual filter performance, based on continuous turbidity
				measurements or total particle counts versus time for an entire filter run,
				from startup to backwash inclusively, that includes an assessment of filter
				performance while another filter is being backwashed.
(54) "Filtration" means a process for
				removing particulate matter from water by passage through porous
				media.
(55) "Finished water" is
				water that is introduced into the distribution system of a public water system
				and is intended for distribution and consumption without further treatment,
				except as treatment necessary to maintain water quality in the distribution
				system (
e.g.
, booster disinfection, addition of corrosion
				control chemicals).
(56) "First
				draw sample" means a one-liter sample of tap water collected in accordance with
				Rule 391-3-5-.25,
				that has been standing in the plumbing pipes at least 6 hours and is collected
				without flushing the tap.
(57)
				"Flocculation" means a process to enhance agglomeration or collection of
				smaller floc particles into larger, more easily settleable particles by gentle
				stirring by hydraulic or mechanical means.
(58) "Flowing stream" is a course of running
				water flowing in a definite channel.
(59) "GAC10" means granular activated carbon
				filter beds with an empty-bed contact time of 10 minutes based on average daily
				flow and a carbon reactivation frequency of every 180 days, except that the
				reactivation frequency for GAC10 used as a best available technology for
				compliance with subpart V MCLs under
				40 CFR §
										141.64(b)(2) shall be 120
				days.
(60) "GAC20" means granular
				activated carbon filter beds with an empty-bed contact time of 20 minutes based
				on average daily flow and a carbon reactivation frequency of every 240
				days.
(61) "Gross alpha particle
				activity" means the total radioactivity due to alpha particle emission as
				inferred from measurements on a dry sample.
(62) "Gross beta particle activity" means the
				total radioactivity due to beta particle emission as inferred from measurement
				on a dry sample.
(63) "Ground
				water" means water obtained from wells and/or springs used as a source of water
				supply for a public water system.
(64) "Ground water under the direct influence
				of surface water" (GWUDI) means any water beneath the surface of the ground
				with:
(a) significant occurrence of insects
				or other microorganisms, algae, or large-diameter pathogens such as
Giardia lamblia
, or
Cryptosporidium
,
				or
(b) significant and relatively
				rapid shifts in water characteristics such as turbidity, temperature,
				conductivity, or pH which closely correlate to climatological or surface water
				conditions.