Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Natural Resources › NR 800 - Environmental Protection - Water Supply › Chapter NR 811 - Requirements For The Operation And Design Of Community Water Systems › Subchapter XIII - Aquifer Storage Recovery › Section NR 811.88 - ASR well performance requirements

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) Unless the
				  department determines that it is not technically or economically feasible, the
				  quality of the treated drinking water to be placed underground through an
				  aquifer storage recovery well shall comply with the preventive action limits
				  contained in ch. NR 140 prior to underground injection. In all cases, the
				  quality of the treated drinking water to be placed underground through an
				  aquifer storage recovery well shall meet the primary drinking water standards
				  contained in ch. NR 809 and may not contain any substance at a concentration
				  that exceeds a state or federal health advisory prior to underground injection.
Note: Pursuant to s.
					 160.19(2)
					 (b), Stats., the department finds that
					 treated drinking water in a municipal water system may at times exceed
					 preventive action limits established for iron, manganese, nitrate, nitrite,
					 copper, lead, fluoride, asbestos, chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane,
					 and dibromochloromethane. Such exceedances may occur at the point of
					 underground injection and within the displacement zone surrounding an aquifer
					 storage recovery well even though the treated water being injected would remain
					 in compliance with federal and state water quality standards for drinking
					 water. The maximum allowable concentration of a primary drinking water
					 contaminant in treated drinking water has been set by the United States
					 Environmental Protection Agency at the lowest level that is considered to be
					 technically and economically achievable at this time. The department also finds
					 that it is not technically or economically feasible to require that residual
					 concentrations of chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane, and
					 dibromochloromethane be removed from the injected water when a disinfection
					 residual is desired at the wellhead to provide additional protection to the
					 water system from potential biological contamination.
(2) All water that is retrieved through an
				  aquifer storage recovery well shall comply with the primary drinking water
				  standards contained in ch. NR 809 and shall be treated to provide a
				  disinfectant residual prior to recovery into any municipal water distribution
				  system.
(3) The quality of treated
				  drinking water stored in a displacement zone shall at all times comply with the
				  primary drinking water standards contained in ch. NR 809. ASR systems shall be
				  designed and operated to maintain compliance with the groundwater standards
				  contained in ch. NR 140, as required by s.
				  NR
				  140.22. Therefore, treated drinking water stored
				  underground in an ASR system shall comply with the applicable enforcement
				  standards established in ch. NR 140 prior to movement beyond the property
				  boundary of the ASR well site.
Note: An ASR well site is considered to include lands
					 adjacent to the ASR wellhead that are directly owned by the municipal water
					 system and any contiguous properties that are directly owned by the local unit
					 of government of which the water system is a subunit.
(4) At the completion of each aquifer storage
				  recovery cycle, the subsurface water in any portion of a displacement zone may
				  not attain or exceed ch. NR 140 enforcement standards for iron, manganese,
				  nitrate, nitrite, copper, lead, fluoride, asbestos, chloroform, bromoform,
				  bromodichloromethane or dibromochloromethane or ch. NR 140 preventive action
				  limits established for any other substance. The department may grant an
				  exemption from this requirement, in accordance with s.
				  NR
				  140.28, when an ASR well or ASR system is located in
				  an area where the background concentration of a substance attains or exceeds
				  the groundwater preventive action limit or enforcement standard established for
				  that substance.
Pursuant to s.
						160.19(2)
						(b), Stats., the department finds that
						routine operation of an ASR system may result in an exceedance of the
						preventive action limits established for iron, manganese, nitrate, nitrite,
						copper, lead, fluoride, asbestos chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane,
						and dibromochloromethane in a displacement zone. An ASR cycle is normally
						completed when the volume of water recovered equals the volume of water that
						was originally injected; however, the department recognizes that some of the
						treated drinking water injected during an aquifer storage recovery cycle may
						remain in an aquifer at the completion of the cycle and that substances present
						in this residual treated drinking water may result in ch. NR 140 preventive
						action limits being exceeded in an aquifer at the completion of an aquifer
						storage recovery cycle.