New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 18 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE CERTIFICATION OF LABORATORIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS › Subchapter 9 - SAMPLE REQUIREMENTS › Section 7:18-9.5 - Requirements for acute toxicity testing samples

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Dilution water
				samples for acute toxicity testing shall be collected, handled and preserved in
				accordance with the following requirements:
1. Dilution water is acceptable for use in a
				toxicity test only if healthy test organisms survive in it through acclimation
				pursuant to
				7:18-7.4(e)3  ii,
				without showing any signs of stress, including but not limited to, abnormal
				behavior, discoloration, infection or disease;
2. Dilution water samples shall either be
				representative of the receiving water system that the effluent is discharged
				into, or, as designated by the Department in the NJPDES permit, be an alternate
				or reference water. Dilution water samples shall be collected in the following
				manner:
i. In non-tidal waters, dilution
				water samples shall be collected from a location outside of the influence, but
				upstream of, the effluent, except when the effluent is discharged into the
				headwaters of the water body. Under those conditions the dilution water sample
				shall be obtained in accordance with the procedures specified in (a)4
				below;
ii. In estuarine waters,
				dilution water samples shall be collected from a location outside of the
				influence of the effluent, except when the effluent is discharged into the
				headwaters of the water body. Under those conditions the dilution water sample
				shall be obtained in accordance with the procedures specified in (a)4 below.
				Samples shall also be collected during the outgoing tide up to and during low
				slack tide;
iii. In marine waters
				(that is, tidal saltwaters), dilution water samples shall be collected from a
				location outside of the influence of the effluent being tested;
iv. The sampling location shall be such that
				the salinity of the sample shall be within the salinity range for the receiving
				water immediately outside of the effluent mixing zone;
v. When samples are collected from streams or
				rivers, an integrated sample shall be collected. This is a sample that is
				collected from bottom to the top of the water column so that the sample
				collected is proportional to the flow. If only a grab sample can be taken it
				should be collected at mid-depth in midstream;
vi. When samples are collected from
				reservoirs or lakes, the effects of seasonal stratification, runoff, and
				previous rain fall upon the chemical-physical characteristics of the water
				shall be considered; and
vii. If
				the receiving water has a natural pH below 5.0 units, then the dilution water
				samples shall be adjusted to pH of 5.0 prior to their use in test organism
				acclimation and/or toxicity testing.
3. If the receiving water is influenced by
				other point sources of pollution so as to disqualify its use as dilution water
				in accordance with the NJPDES permit, then the dilution water sample(s) shall
				be either obtained from a location just above the other point sources in the
				case of streams, or outside the zone of influence of other point sources in the
				case of other water bodies;
4. If
				acceptable dilution water cannot be obtained from the receiving water at any
				location because an effluent is discharged into the receiving water headwaters,
				then some other unpolluted water, meeting the following requirements, shall be
				used as an alternate in the following order of preference:
i. Another surface water or groundwater
				having a natural quality similar to that of the receiving water prior to its
				pollution may be used; or
ii.
				Reconstituted or artificial freshwater or saltwater having a natural quality
				similar to that of the receiving water prior to its pollution may be used;
				and
iii. An alternate dilution
				water shall have a total hardness, alkalinity, salinity, and specific
				conductance within 25 percent and a pH within 0.4 units of the receiving water
				prior to its pollution, but not less than a pH of 5.0 units;
5. The preparation of
				reconstituted freshwater or saltwater, as an alternate dilution water, shall
				comply with the following:
i. Preparation of
				reconstituted freshwater shall be by the addition of reagent grade chemicals to
				laboratory pure water as specified in SM16 p. 699-701, or EPA Acute Methods
				#027F-1993; and
ii. Preparation of
				a substitute or reconstituted saltwater dilution water shall either be through
				the use of a hypersaline brine as specified in
				7:18-7.4(b)8  ii,
				by using commercial sea salts, or by the addition of reagent grade chemicals to
				laboratory pure water as specified in SM16, p. 699-701 or EPA Acute Methods
				#027F-1993.
6.
				Alteration of dilution water samples shall be limited to the following:
i. Filtration through screening made of a
				non-toxic material as specified in
				7:18-7.3(a)1. This
				screening shall have a mesh of two mm or larger for fishes or 0.45 microns or
				larger for zooplankton and macrocrustaceans; and
ii. Adjustment of the salinity of dilution
				water samples shall only be by either the addition of laboratory pure water to
				lower the salinity or by the addition of either a hypersaline brine or
				artificial sea salts to raise the salinity.
(1) Only a natural water source, meeting the
				requirements for laboratory grade salt waters, shall be used to produce a
				hypersaline brine; and
(2) A
				hypersaline brine shall not exceed a salinity of 100 ppt;
7. Sample collection and transport
				containers shall meet the requirements listed in
				7:18-7.3(a)13.
				Prior to sample collection all containers shall be rinsed with the dilution
				water and then filled so that there should be little or no air in the container
				neck or cap;
8. Dilution water
				sample storage shall be in covered containers constructed of non-toxic
				materials as specified in
				7:18-7.3(a)13;
				and
9. Except for samples of
				laboratory grade water being used as an alternate or reference dilution water
				as specified in (a)4 above, samples shall not be stored for more than 150 hours
				and shall be collected as close as possible to the time of use.