Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 007 - ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Division 04 - Environmental Health Services › Rule 007.04.24-001 - Rules Pertaining to Water Operator Licensing

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
SECTION I. AUTHORITY
The following Rules Pertaining to Water Operator Licensing are
				duly adopted and promulgated by the Arkansas State Board of Health pursuant to
				the authority expressly conferred by the Laws of the State of Arkansas
				including, without limitation, Act 96 of 1913, as amended, Act 333 of 1957 as
				amended Act 1001 of 1991 as amended and Act 494 of 1997 as amended. (See
				Arkansas Codes Annotated, Title 17, Chapter 51, Sections 101 - 106, and
				Sections 201 - 205)
SECTION
			 II. PURPOSE
These Rules are adopted for the purpose of ensuring that all
				public water systems in the State of Arkansas are operated by personnel who
				have shown their competence and knowledge of the public health and scientific
				principles necessary to produce and deliver adequate quantities of water which
				meets or exceeds the National Primary and Secondary Drinking Water
				Standards.
SECTION III.
			 DEFINITIONS
A. ADVANCED TREATMENT means the
			 application of physical processes (Some examples are aerators, clarifiers or
			 filters.) to water, for the purposes of improving the quality or condition of
			 the water.
B. BOARD means the
			 Arkansas State Board of Health.
C.
			 COMMITTEE means the Drinking Water Advisory And Operator Licensing
			 Committee.
D. DEPARTMENT means the
			 Arkansas Department of Health.
E.
			 LATE RENEWAL means an application for renewal when the application for renewal
			 or the associated fee is received more than thirty (30) days following the
			 beginning of a renewal period.
F.
			 OPERATE means to make decisions or conduct acts that contribute to the
			 production, treatment, or delivery of potable water by the water system, if
			 such decisions or acts involve process control or system integrity.
G. OPERATING SHIFT means that period of time
			 during which operator decisions that affect public health are necessary for
			 proper operation of the water system.
H. OWNER means any person, firm, corporation,
			 institution, or governmental agency, or their agent, owning, operating, or
			 modifying any public water system, water distribution facility or water
			 treatment facility.
I. PUBLIC WATER
			 SYSTEM or PWS means all sources and their surroundings from which water is
			 derived for drinking or domestic purposes by the public, and all structures,
			 conduits, and appurtenances in connection therewith by which water for such use
			 is obtained, treated, conditioned, stored or delivered to the public, if such
			 system has at least fifteen service connections or serves an average of
			 twenty-five individuals daily at least 60 days per year.
1. COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM means any
			 public water systems, which serves at least 15 service connections used by
			 year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year-round
			 residents.
2. NON-COMMUNITY PUBLIC
			 WATER SYSTEM means a public water system that serves at least 15 service
			 connections or 25 persons per day that is not a community water system.
a. NON-TRANSIENT NON-COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER
			 SYSTEM means a Non-Community Water System that serves at least 25 of the same
			 individuals at least 180 days (or portions thereof) per year.
b. TRANSIENT NON-COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER
			 SYSTEM is any Non-Community Public Water System that is not a Non-Transient
			 Non-Community Public Water System.
3. CONSECUTIVE SYSTEMS are public water
			 systems that obtain all or part of their water supply, either directly or
			 indirectly, from another public water system.
4. SMALL WATER SYSTEM shall mean a Public
			 Water System serving a total population of less than 500, including the
			 population of any consecutive Public Water Systems that it operates.
J. SURFACE WATER means water that
			 flows over or rests upon the surface of the earth.
K. SURFACE WATER INFLUENCED SOURCE means any
			 source with significant occurrence of insects or other macro-organisms, algae,
			 or large diameter pathogens such as Giardia lamblia, or which is subject to
			 significant changes in water quality which are determined to be in direct
			 relationship with the climatological or surface water conditions.
L. TREATMENT means the application of
			 physical processes and/or the addition of chemicals to water which a public
			 water system provides to the public, for the purposes of improving the quality
			 of the water, except that the addition of gaseous chlorine, calcium
			 hypochlorite or sodium hypochlorite alone shall not be defined as
			 treatment.
M. WATER DISTRIBUTION
			 FACILITIES shall mean that portion of the public water system in which water is
			 stored and conveyed from the water treatment facilities or other supply point
			 to the premises of a water consumer. This type of facility would also include
			 groundwater sources without treatment.
1. A
			 single pressure plane distribution facility is a distribution network that has
			 only one pressure gradient downstream of the source of supply.
2. A multiple pressure plane distribution
			 facility is a distribution network that has more than a single pressure
			 gradient downstream of the source of supply. A booster pump station or a
			 pressure reducing valve could create the additional pressure gradient. A
			 booster pump or a pressure reducing valve serving an individual or small group
			 of service connections would not be considered as a separate pressure
			 gradient.
N. WATER
			 OPERATOR means any person who during the performance of their regular duties,
			 at all community public water system, all non-transient non-community public
			 water system, or any other non-community public water system that utilizes a
			 surface water source or surface water influenced source, exercises individual
			 judgment, whether directly or indirectly, that might affect the safety,
			 quality, or quantity of water delivered from the water system. (The term
			 Operator generally includes, but is not limited to, Managers, Assistant
			 Managers, Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Construction and
			 Maintenance Foremen, treatment plant personnel and other persons responsible
			 for the operation and maintenance of wells, reservoirs, water treatment
			 facilities, water distribution facilities, and pumping facilities.)
O. WATER OPERATOR(S) IN RESPONSIBLE CHARGE is
			 defined as the water operator(s) designated by the owner to be the licensed
			 operator(s) who is in direct supervision of the water system regarding the
			 daily operational activities and protocols that an operator(s) follows when
			 operating a public water system, water treatment facility and/or distribution
			 facility.
P. WATER
			 OPERATOR-IN-TRAINING means any Water Operator who has successfully completed
			 the formal license examination but has not met the experience
			 requirement.
Q. WATER TREATMENT
			 FACILITIES shall mean that portion of the public water system in which water is
			 obtained and treated.