Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3745 - Ohio Environmental Protection Agency › Chapter 3745-81 - Primary Drinking Water Rules › Section 3745-81-19 - Use of bottled water and point-of-use or point-of-entry treatment devices

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) Public water systems shall not use
			 bottled water to achieve compliance with the requirements of this chapter. Upon
			 approval of the director, bottled water may be used on a temporary basis to
			 avoid an increased risk to health from contaminant levels exceeding the maximum
			 contaminant level (MCL). The bottled water shall be of a quality acceptable to
			 the director.
(B) Except as
			 provided below, a public water system may not use point-of-use or
			 point-of-entry treatment devices to achieve compliance with a MCL. A
			 nontransient noncommunity public water system may use a point-of-use or
			 point-of-entry treatment device to achieve compliance with the MCL for arsenic
			 if the following conditions are met:
(1)
			 Point-of-use and point-of-entry treatment devices shall be owned, controlled,
			 and maintained by the public water system, or by a person under contract with
			 the public water system, to ensure proper operation and maintenance and
			 compliance with the arsenic maximum contaminant level.
(2) Before any new point-of-use or
			 point-of-entry treatment devices are installed for compliance with the arsenic
			 MCL, or any existing point-of-use or point-of-entry treatment devices are used
			 for compliance with the arsenic MCL, the public water system shall obtain
			 approval of detail plans in accordance with Chapter 3745-91 of the
			 Administrative Code. Chemical and microbiological analyses for constituents
			 that may affect the performance or maintenance of the proposed point-of-entry
			 or point-of-use device must be performed on water entering the treatment device
			 and reported in the detail plans. Results of samples collected more than twelve
			 months prior to plan submittal may not be accepted. Detail plans shall include
			 data from an acceptable demonstration study and a monitoring plan which ensures
			 that the treatment devices provide health protection equivalent to that
			 provided by central water treatment. "Equivalent" means that the water would
			 meet all primary drinking water regulations and would be of acceptable quality
			 similar to water distributed by a well operated central treatment plant. Detail
			 plans shall describe how the system design shall ensure that water of increased
			 corrosivity shall not be released to the drinking water distribution system.
			 The monitoring plan shall include at least the following parts:
(a) Description of and schedule for the
			 recording of physical measurements and observations such as total flow treated
			 and mechanical condition of the treatment equipment.
(b) An explanation of how consumers will be
			 educated as to which taps are suitable for ingestion.
(c) The location of treatment devices and
			 sampling points, and the frequency of sample collection for arsenic analysis.
			 At least one treatment device (or a minimum of twenty-five per cent of
			 treatment devices) shall be sampled for arsenic each quarter unless otherwise
			 approved by the director. Each treatment device shall be sampled at least once
			 annually.
(d) A schedule to collect
			 any additional data required by the director to demonstrate consistency of
			 treatment performance of the point-of-use or point-of-entry treatment
			 device.
(3) The public
			 water system must apply effective technology under a plan approved by the
			 director. The microbiological safety of the water must be maintained at all
			 times.
(4) The design and application of any
			 point-of-entry or point-of-use treatment device shall consider the potential
			 for increase in bacteria concentrations in water treated with activated carbon.
			 It may be necessary to use frequent backwashing, post-contactor disinfection,
			 and bacteria monitoring to ensure the microbiological safety of the water is
			 not compromised.
(5) The public
			 water system shall ensure that all buildings connected to the system have
			 sufficient point-of-use or point-of-entry treatment devices that are properly
			 installed, maintained, and monitored such that all consumers will be protected.
			 Public water systems using point-of-use technology must install devices at
			 every tap where common practice is to obtain water for ingestion.
(6) All point-of-use and point-of-entry
			 treatment devices shall be equipped with mechanical warnings that automatically
			 alert consumers of operational problems.
(7) The point-of-entry or point-of-use
			 treatment device shall be certified by an accredited "American National
			 Standards Institute" (ANSI) certification program for drinking water treatment
			 units in accordance with one of the following "American National Standards
			 Institute/National Sanitation Foundation" (ANSI/NSF) standards: standard 58
			 "Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Treatment Systems 58-2007 (October 22, 2007)"; standard 62 "Drinking
			 Water Distillation Systems 62-2004 (March 16, 2004)"; or standard 53 "Drinking
			 Water Treatment Units-Health Effects 53-2007a (July 10,
			 2007)".
(8) Maintenance of
			 the treatment device shall occur according to manufacturers suggestions, or at
			 an interval determined during a demonstration period, whichever time period is
			 shorter.
(9) Upon failure of the
			 point-of-entry or point-of-use treatment device, all repairs or replacements
			 must be completed as soon as practical, but no later than fourteen days after
			 the failure.
(10) The
			 point-of-entry or point-of-use treatment device must be operational at all
			 times to provide water that meets the arsenic standard at required taps.
(a) Under temporary circumstances during
			 required maintenance of the point-of-entry or point-of-use treatment device or
			 equipment failure, bottled water may be required to be provided as specified in
			 paragraph (A) of this rule for a period not to exceed fourteen days.
(b) At any time a point-of-use or
			 point-of-entry treatment device is not operating due to maintenance or failure
			 of the device, a notice shall be posted at any tap served by that device. The
			 notice shall inform consumers that the water from that tap is not suitable for
			 ingestion due to elevated arsenic concentration and direct them to alternative
			 taps or sources that are suitable for ingestion.
(11) Maintenance records of all treatment
			 devices must be maintained for three years and available for review during a
			 sanitary survey.
[Comment: This rule adopts the ANSI/NSF standards 53, 58, and
				62 by reference. Copies may be obtained from "NSF International, 789 Dixboro
				Road, P.O. Box 130140, Ann Arbor, MI 48113-0140, (734) 769-8010",
www.nsf.org
. These documents are
				available for review at the "Ohio EPA Lazarus Government Center,
				50 West Town Street, Suite 700, Columbus, OH
				43215".]
[Comment: This rule references the ANSI accreditation program
				for third party certification of drinking water units. A list of ANSI
				accredited third party product certification programs may be obtained from the
				"American National Standards Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, New York, NY
				10036, (212) 642-4900" or
www.ansi.org
.]