Nebraska Administrative Code › Topic - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SYSTEM › Title 179 - PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS › Chapter 26 - REVISED TOTAL COLIFORM RULE › Section 179-26-004 - GENERAL MONITORING REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS

Current through June 17, 2024
004.01 Sample
				Siting Plans
26-004.01A Systems must develop
				a written sample siting plan that identifies sampling sites and a sample
				collection schedule that are representative of water throughout the
				distribution system not later than March 31, 2016. These plans are subject to
				Department review and revision. Systems must collect total coliform samples
				according to the written sample siting plan. Monitoring required by 179 NAC
				26-005 through
				26-009 may take place at a customer's
				premises, dedicated sampling station, or other designated compliance sampling
				location. Routine and repeat sample sites and any sampling points necessary to
				meet the requirements of 179 NAC 8 must be reflected in the sampling
				plan.
26-004.01B Systems must
				collect samples at regular time intervals throughout the month, except that
				systems that use only ground water and serve 4,900 or fewer people may collect
				all required samples on a single day if they are taken from different
				sites.
26-004.01C Systems must take
				at least the minimum number of required samples even if the system has had an
E. coli
MCL violation or has exceeded the coliform treatment
				technique triggers in 26-010.01.
26-004.01D A system may conduct more
				compliance monitoring than is required by this chapter to investigate potential
				problems in the distribution system and use monitoring as a tool to assist in
				uncovering problems. A system may take more than the minimum number of required
				routine samples and must include the results in calculating whether the
				coliform treatment technique trigger in 26-010.01 items 1.a. and 1.b. has been
				exceeded only if the samples are taken in accordance with the existing sample
				siting plan and are representative of water throughout the distribution
				system.
26-004.01E Systems must
				identify repeat monitoring locations in the sample siting plan. Unless the
				provisions of
				26-004.01E(1) or
				26-004.01E(2) are
				met, the system must collect at least one repeat sample from the sampling tap
				where the original total coliform-positive sample was taken, and at least one
				repeat sample at a tap within five service connections upstream and at least
				one repeat sample at a tap within five service connections downstream of the
				original sampling site. If a total coliform-positive sample is at the end of
				the distribution system, or one service connection away from the end of the
				distribution system, the system must still take all required repeat samples.
				However, the Department may allow an alternative sampling location in lieu of
				the requirement to collect at least one repeat sample upstream or downstream of
				the original sampling site. Except as provided for in
				26-004.01E(2),
				systems required to conduct triggered source water monitoring under 179 NAC
				8-005.01 must take ground water source sample(s) in addition to repeat samples
				required under this chapter.
26-004.01E(1)
				Systems may propose repeat monitoring locations to the Department that the
				system believes to be representative of a pathway for contamination of the
				distribution system. A system may elect to specify either alternative fixed
				locations or criteria for selecting repeat sampling sites on a situational
				basis in a standard operating procedure (SOP) in its sample siting plan. The
				system must design its SOP to focus the repeat samples at locations that best
				verify and determine the extent of potential contamination of a distribution
				system area based on specific situations. The Department may modify the SOP or
				require alternative monitoring locations as needed.
26-004.01E(2) Ground water systems serving
				1,000 or fewer people may propose repeat sampling locations to the Department
				that differentiate potential source water and distribution system contamination
				(e.g., by sampling at entry points to the distribution system). A ground water
				system with a single well required to conduct triggered source water monitoring
				may, with written Department approval, take one of its repeat samples at the
				monitoring locations required for triggered source water monitoring under 179
				NAC 8-005.01 if the system demonstrates to the Department's satisfaction that
				the sample siting plan remains representative of water quality in the
				distribution system. If approved by the Department, the system may use that
				sample result to meet the monitoring requirements in both 179 NAC 8-005.01 and
				this section.
26-004.01E(2)(a) If a repeat
				sample taken at the monitoring location required for triggered source water
				monitoring is
E. coli
positive, the system has violated the
E. coli
MCL and must also comply with 179 NAC 8-005.01C. If a
				system takes more than one repeat sample at the monitoring location required
				for triggered source water monitoring, the system may reduce the number of
				additional source water samples required under 179 NAC
				8-005.01C by the
				number of repeat samples taken at that location that were not
E.
				coli
-positive.
26-004.01E(2)(b) If a system takes more than
				one repeat sample at the monitoring location required for triggered source
				water monitoring under 179 NAC
				8-005.01, and more than one repeat
				sample is
E. coli
-positive, the system has violated the
E. coli
MCL and must also comply with 179 NAC
				8-006.01A.
26-004.01E(2)(c) If all repeat samples taken
				at the monitoring location required for triggered source water monitoring are
E. coli
-negative and a repeat sample taken at a monitoring
				location other than the one required for triggered source water monitoring is
E. coli
-positive, the system has violated the
E. coli
MCL, but is not required to comply with 179 NAC
				8-005.01C.
26-004.01F The
				Department may review, revise, and approve, as appropriate, repeat sampling
				proposed by systems under
				26-004.01E(1) and
				26-004.01E(2).
				The system must demonstrate that the sample siting plan remains representative
				of the water quality in the distribution system. The Department may determine
				that monitoring at the entry point to the distribution system (especially for
				undisinfected ground water systems) is effective to differentiate between
				potential source water and distribution system problems.