Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 333 - OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY, PUBLIC HEALTH DIVISION › Division 61 - DRINKING WATER › Section 333-061-0020 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
As used in these rules, unless the context indicates
				otherwise:
(1) "Act" means the Oregon
			 Drinking Water Quality Act of 1981 (ORS
			 448.115-448.990 as amended).
(2) "Action Level"
			 means the concentration of lead or copper in water which determines, in some
			 cases, the treatment requirements that a water system is required to
			 complete.
(3) "Administrator" means
			 the Director of the Oregon Health Authority or his/her designee.
(4) "Approval" or "Approved" means approved
			 in writing.
(5) "Approved Air Gap"
			 means a physical separation between the free-flowing discharge end of a potable
			 water supply pipeline and an open or non-pressurized receiving vessel. An
			 "Approved Air Gap" shall be at least twice the diameter of the supply pipe
			 measured vertically above the overflow rim of the vessel and in no case less
			 than 1 inch (2.54 cm), and in accord with Oregon Plumbing Specialty
			 Code.
(6) "Approved Backflow
			 Prevention Assembly" means a Reduced Pressure Principle Backflow Prevention
			 Assembly, RPDA, Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention Assembly, Double
			 Check-Detector Backflow Prevention Assembly, Pressure Vacuum Breaker
			 Backsiphonage Prevention Assembly, or Spill-Resistant Pressure Vacuum Breaker
			 Backsiphonage Prevention Assembly, of a make, model, orientation, and size
			 approved by the Authority. Assemblies listed in the currently approved backflow
			 prevention assemblies list developed by the University of Southern California,
			 Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research, or other
			 testing laboratories using equivalent testing methods, are considered approved
			 by the Authority.
(7) "Aquifer"
			 means a water saturated and permeable geological formation, group of
			 formations, or part of a formation that is capable of transmitting water in
			 sufficient quantity to supply wells or springs.
(8) "Atmospheric Vacuum Breaker" or "AVB"
			 means a non-testable device consisting of an air inlet valve or float check, a
			 check seat and an air inlet port(s). This device is designed to protect against
			 a non-health hazard or a health hazard under a backsiphonage condition only.
			 Product and material approval is under the Oregon Plumbing Specialty
			 Code.
(9) "Authority" means the
			 Oregon Health Authority or its designee.
(10) "AWWA" means the American Water Works
			 Association.
(11) "Backflow" means
			 the flow of water or other liquids, mixtures, or substances into the
			 distributing pipes of a potable supply of water from any sources other than its
			 intended source, and is caused by backsiphonage or backpressure.
(12) "Backflow Prevention Assembly" means a
			 backflow prevention assembly such as a Pressure Vacuum Breaker Backsiphonage
			 Prevention Assembly, Spill-Resistant Pressure Vacuum Breaker Backsiphonage
			 Prevention Assembly, Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention Assembly, Double
			 Check-Detector Backflow Prevention Assembly, Reduced Pressure Principle
			 Backflow Prevention Assembly, or Reduced Pressure Principle-Detector Backflow
			 Prevention Assembly and the attached shutoff valves on the inlet and outlet
			 ends of the assembly, assembled as a complete unit.
(13) "Backpressure" means an elevation of
			 pressure downstream of the distribution system that would cause, or tend to
			 cause, water to flow opposite of its intended direction.
(14) "Backsiphonage" means a drop in
			 distribution system pressure below atmospheric pressure (partial vacuum), that
			 would cause, or tend to cause, water to flow opposite of its intended
			 direction.
(15) "Bank Filtration"
			 means a water treatment process that uses a horizontal or vertical well to
			 recover surface water that has naturally infiltrated into groundwater through a
			 river bed or bank(s). Infiltration is typically enhanced by the hydraulic
			 gradient imposed by a nearby pumping water supply.
(16) "Best Available Technology" or "BAT"
			 means the best technology, treatment techniques, or other means which the EPA
			 finds, after examination for efficacy under field conditions and not solely
			 under laboratory conditions, are available (taking cost into
			 consideration).
(17) "Bottled
			 Water" means potable water from a source approved by the Authority for domestic
			 use which is placed in small, easily transportable containers.
(18) "Calculated Fixed Radius" means a
			 technique to delineate a wellhead protection area, based on the determination
			 of the volume of the aquifer needed to supply groundwater to a well over a
			 given length of time.
(19) "CFR"
			 means the Code of Federal Regulations. Specifically, it refers to those
			 sections of the code which deal with the National Primary and Secondary
			 Drinking Water Regulations.
(20)
			 "Check Valve" means a valve, which allows flow in only one direction.
(21) "Coagulation" means a process using
			 coagulant chemicals and mixing by which colloidal and suspended materials are
			 destabilized and agglomerated into floc.
(22) "Coliform Investigation" means an
			 evaluation to identify the possible presence of sanitary defects, defects in
			 distribution system coliform monitoring practices, and (when possible) the
			 likely reason that the investigation was triggered at the water system.
			 Coliform investigations are classified as level 1 or level 2 as prescribed by
			 OAR 333-061-0078.
(23)
			 "Coliform-Positive" means the presence of coliform bacteria in a water
			 sample.
(24) "Combined distribution
			 system" means the interconnected distribution system consisting of the
			 distribution systems of wholesale water systems and of the purchasing water
			 systems that receive finished water.
(25) "Community Water System" means a public
			 water system that has 15 or more service connections used by year-round
			 residents, or that regularly serves 25 or more year-round residents.
(26) "Compliance Cycle" means the nine-year
			 calendar year cycle during which public water systems must monitor. Each
			 compliance cycle consists of three three-year compliance periods. The first
			 calendar year cycle begins January 1, 1993 and ends December 31,
			 2001.
(27) "Compliance Period"
			 means a three-year calendar year period within a compliance cycle. Each
			 compliance cycle has three three-year compliance periods. Within the first
			 compliance cycle, the first compliance period runs from January 1, 1993 to
			 December 31, 1995; the second from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1998; and
			 the third from January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2001.
(28) "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.
			 The CPE must consist of at least the following components: Assessment of plant
			 performance; evaluations 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.
(29) "Connection." See
			 "Service Connection."
(30)
			 "Constructed Conveyance" means any human-made conduit such as ditches,
			 culverts, waterways, flumes, mine drains, canals or any human-altered natural
			 water bodies or waterways as determined by the Authority.
(31) "Contaminant" means any physical,
			 chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water that creates
			 a health hazard.
(32) "Contingency
			 Plan" means a document setting out an organized, planned and coordinated course
			 of action to be followed in the event of a loss of capacity to supply water to
			 the distribution system or in case of a fire, explosion or release of hazardous
			 waste which could threaten human health or the environment.
(33) "Continuing Education Unit" or "CEU"
			 means a nationally recognized unit of measurement for assigning credits for
			 education or training that provides the participant with advanced or post high
			 school learning. One CEU is awarded for every 10 classroom hours of lecture or
			 the equivalent of participation in an organized education experience, conducted
			 under responsible sponsorship, capable direction and qualified instruction as
			 determined by the Authority or its designee.
(34) "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.
(35)
			 "Cross Connection" means any actual or potential unprotected connection or
			 structural arrangement between the public or user's potable water system and
			 any other source or system through which it is possible to introduce into any
			 part of the potable system any used water, industrial fluid, gas, or substances
			 other than the intended potable water with which the system is supplied. Bypass
			 arrangements, jumper connections, removable sections, swivel, or change-over
			 devices, and other temporary or permanent devices through which, or because of
			 which, backflow can occur are considered to be cross connections.
(36) "CT" means the product of the residual
			 disinfectant concentration "C" (measured in mg/l) and disinfectant contact
			 time(s), "T" (measured in minutes).
(37) "Degree of Hazard" means either
			 pollution (non-health hazard) or contamination (health hazard) and is
			 determined by an evaluation of hazardous conditions within a system.
(38) "Delineation" means the determination of
			 the extent, orientation and boundaries of a wellhead protection area using
			 factors such as geology, aquifer characteristics, well pumping rates and time
			 of travel.
(39) "Demonstration
			 Study" means a series of tests performed to prove an overall effective removal
			 or inactivation rate of a pathogenic organism through a treatment or
			 disinfection process.
(40) "Direct
			 Responsible Charge" or "DRC" means an individual designated by the owner or
			 authorized agent to make decisions regarding the daily operational activities
			 of a public water system, water treatment facility or distribution system, that
			 will directly impact the quality or quantity of drinking water.
(41) "Disinfectant Contact Time" means the
			 time in minutes that it takes for water to move from the point of disinfectant
			 application or the previous point of disinfection residual measurement to a
			 point before or at the point where residual disinfectant concentration is
			 measured.
(42) "Disinfectant
			 Residual Maintenance" means a process where chlorine or another chemical is
			 added to the water supply at a public water system for the purpose of
			 maintaining a disinfectant residual in the distribution system.
(43) "Disinfection" means a process by which
			 a chemical or ultraviolet light is used to inactivate pathogenic organisms in
			 water. Disinfection intended to inactivate one or more pathogens in source
			 water is referred to as disinfection for pathogen inactivation and is
			 characterized by monitoring to verify the inactivation achieved.
(44) "Disinfection profile" means a summary
			 of
Giardia lamblia
inactivation through the treatment
			 plant.
(45) "Distribution System"
			 means that portion of the water system in which water is stored or conveyed
			 from the water treatment plant or other supply point to the premises of a
			 consumer.
(46) "Domestic" means
			 provided for human consumption.
(47) "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.
(48) "Double Check-Detector Backflow
			 Prevention Assembly" or "DCDA" means a specially designed assembly composed of
			 a line size approved double check valve assembly assembled with a bypass
			 containing a specific water meter and an approved double check valve assembly.
			 The meter shall register accurately for only very low rates of flow up to three
			 gallons per minute and shall show a registration for all rates of flow. This
			 assembly is designed to protect against a non-health hazard.
(49) "Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention
			 Assembly" or "DC" means an assembly of two independently acting approved check
			 valves, including tightly closing resilient seated shutoff valves attached at
			 each end of the assembly and fitted with properly located resilient seated test
			 cocks. This assembly is designed to protect against a non-health
			 hazard.
(50) "Drawdown" means the
			 difference, measured vertically, between the static water level in the well and
			 the water level during pumping.
(51) "Drinking Water Protection" means
			 implementing strategies within a drinking water protection area to minimize the
			 potential impact of contaminant sources on the quality of water being used as a
			 drinking water source by a Public Water System.
(52) "Drinking Water Protection Area" or
			 "DWPA" means the source area supplying drinking water to a Public Water System.
			 For a surface water-supplied drinking water source the DWPA is all or a
			 specifically determined part of a lake's, reservoir's or stream's watershed
			 that has been certified by the Department of Environmental Quality. For a
			 groundwater-supplied drinking water source the DWPA is the area on the surface
			 that directly overlies that part of the aquifer that supplies groundwater to a
			 well, well field or spring that has been certified by the Authority.
(53) "Drinking Water Protection Plan" means a
			 plan, certified by the Department of Environmental Quality according to OAR
			 340-040-0160  to 340-040-0180, which identifies the actions to be taken at the
			 local level to protect a specifically defined and certified DWPA. The plan is
			 developed by the local Responsible Management Authority or team and includes a
			 written description of each element, public participation efforts, and an
			 implementation schedule.
(54) "Dual
			 sample set" means a set of two samples collected at the same time and same
			 location, with one sample analyzed for TTHM and the other for HAA5. Dual sample
			 sets are collected for the purposes of conducting an Initial Distribution
			 System Evaluation (IDSE) as prescribed in 333-061-0036(4)(b)  of these rules,
			 and for determining compliance with the MCLs for TTHM and HAA5 listed in OAR
			 333-061-0030(2)(b).
(55)
			 "Emergency" means a condition resulting from an unusual calamity such as a
			 flood, storm, earthquake, drought, civil disorder, volcanic eruption, an
			 accidental spill of hazardous material, or other occurrence which disrupts
			 water service at a public water system or endangers the quality of water
			 produced by a public water system.
(56) "Emergency Response Plan" means a
			 written document establishing contacts, operating procedures, and actions taken
			 for a public water system to minimize the impact or potential impact of a
			 natural disaster, accident, or intentional act which disrupts or damages, or
			 potentially disrupts or potentially damages the public water system or drinking
			 water supply, and returns the public water system to normal operating
			 condition.
(57) "Enhanced
			 coagulation" means the addition of sufficient coagulant for improved removal of
			 disinfection byproduct precursors by conventional filtration
			 treatment.
(58) "Enhanced
			 softening" means the improved removal of disinfection byproduct precursors by
			 precipitative softening.
(59) "EPA"
			 means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(60) "Filtration" means a process for
			 removing particulate matter from water through porous media.
(a) "Bag filtration" means a pressure-driven
			 separation process that removes particulate matter using engineered media. It
			 is 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
			 the outside.
(b) "Cartridge
			 filtration" means a pressure-driven separation process that removes particulate
			 matter using engineered media. It is typically constructed of rigid or
			 semi-rigid, self-supporting filter elements housed in a pressure vessel in
			 which flow is from the outside of the cartridge to the inside.
(c) "Conventional Filtration Treatment" means
			 a series of processes including coagulation (requiring the use of a primary
			 coagulant and rapid mix), flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration resulting
			 in substantial particulate removal.
(d) "Direct Filtration Treatment" means a
			 series of processes including coagulation (requiring the use of a primary
			 coagulant and rapid mix) and filtration but excluding sedimentation resulting
			 in substantial particulate removal.
(e) "Diatomaceous Earth Filtration" means a
			 process resulting in substantial particulate removal in which:
(A) A precoat cake of diatomaceous earth
			 filter media is deposited on a support membrane (septum); and
(B) While the water is filtered by passing
			 through the cake on the septum, additional filter media, known as body feed, is
			 continuously added to the feed water, in order to maintain the permeability of
			 the filter cake.
(f)
			 "Membrane filtration" means a pressure or vacuum driven separation process in
			 which particulate matter larger than one micrometer is rejected by engineered
			 media, primarily through a size-exclusion mechanism, and which has a measurable
			 removal efficiency of a target organism that can be verified through the
			 application of a direct integrity test. This definition includes the common
			 membrane technologies of microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and
			 reverse osmosis.
(g) "Slow Sand
			 Filtration" means a process involving passage of raw water through a bed of
			 sand at low velocity (generally less than 235 gallons per square foot per day)
			 resulting in substantial particulate removal by both physical and biological
			 mechanisms.