Massdep Legionella Information PFAS Update and Training Video
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MassDEP Drinking Water Program th One Winter Street – 5 Floor; Boston, MA 02108 [email protected] or 617-292-5770 Drinking Water Program Updates 2020-01-02 This week’s program director email has these topics of interest: Legionella Information PFAS Non-Revenue Water is Bad Business Appurtenances on Storage Tanks Training Calendar Spam Legionella Information To raise your awareness of Legionella and changes in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health care facilities requirements that may impact CMS and VHA facilities in your distribution system and your water system. The following information is attached: • Legionella information letter • Legionella FAQ and resources • List of health care facilities in Massachusetts This information is available on our webpage at: https://www.mass.gov/lists/drinking-water- contaminants-information-for-water-suppliers. PFAS Update and Training Video See attached letter for a PFAS update, including the following: 1) Availability of free sampling analysis for PFAS if you have not already collected baseline samples. 2) MassDEP’s proposed Drinking Water PFAS Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). When finalized around the summer of 2020, the PFAS Drinking Water Regulations will require all PWS to collect baseline PFAS sampling and take other actions if samples exceed the MCL. 3) Pending update of the Massachusetts Office of Research and Standards Revised Guideline (ORSG) for PFAS from 70 ppt to 20 ppt. This revised ORSG harmonizes with the proposed PFAS MCL. MassDEP Drinking Water Program has a new video for PWS on how to sample their sources for PFAS. It is available at: https://youtu.be/zrwhwSI-R9M. Appurtenances on Storage Tanks The policy on attaching appurtenances to water storage tanks has been updated. Policy # 2019- 01 now includes references to antennas, solar sheets, and other appurtenances. Before installing anything to your storage tanks please refer to this updated policy and consult with MassDEP. Policy on Antennas, Solar Sheets, and/or other Appurtenances Proposed to Be Attached to Public Drinking Water Storage Tanks or on Water Supply Land Policy #2019-01 is attached, and will soon be available online at: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/drinking-water-policies- and-guidance. This updated policy supersedes policy 98-01. Non-Revenue Water is Bad Business Click on the link below to read an interesting article from Master Meter, Inc. (MassDEP has no affiliation with Master Meter, Inc. nor does it endorse them.) The article discusses how non-revenue water, lost water, is a big problem for water utilities. Water that’s lost in the distribution network jacks up production costs and puts pressure on already- stressed resources. Leaks in aging pipes and misreads from older, inaccurate meters cause a significant portion of the financial drain. The article stresses a need for a strategy plan, use of smart meters, and data management. Click Link Here. Prioritize Source Water Protection in 2020 Whether you are responsible for operating a small or large public water system, it is important to practice a multi-barrier approach to protecting your drinking water from contamination. A Source Water Protection Program is the first part of the multi-barrier approach, along with optimizing your water treatment processes and maintaining water quality and security in the distribution system. How long ago did you put together your Source Water Protection Program? Have conditions in your watershed or aquifer changed over time? What potential threats exist today or are expected in the future? What messages about drinking water protection are most important to you to tell the public, municipal officials, students, etc.? Re-energize your program by updating or adding protection measures. The attached source water protection training slides can help you review your Program and select which parts need to be updated and re-energized in 2020. Drinking Water Program Staff are available to answer questions and assist with updating your program, as well as documenting it in a new wellhead or surface water protection plan, by contacting [email protected] (add Source Water Protection to the subject line) or 617-292-5770. Training Calendar When you need training please look at the training calendar located at: mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/water/drinking/drinking-water-training-class-schedules.html for upcoming trainings. If you need a refresher on recently given trainings, you can review several training videos located at: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJn2AKOcYr7lutGJB-UfDKtQPF_o_249m Or click here: Spam Please be reminded that official emails from MassDEP will never come from a Hotmail or any other personal account. If you receive an email of this nature, the email is spam. Do not click on the links, and delete it immediately. To safeguard yourself only click open emails that have [email protected]. MassDEP is sending this important drinking water information to all PWS responsible persons who are listed on the state database. If you are no longer the correct responsible person for the PWS please reply with the correct contact information. MassDEP needs one responsible contact person from each PWS. Operators, consultants, and others who are interested in Drinking Water Program Updates are encouraged to request to be subscribed to this email list. You may also request to be unsubscribed by replying to this email. This MassDEP Program Director technical assistance email is funded by the Safe Drinking Water Act Assessment (Section 70) Program. The Assessment is paid by all consumers of public water in Massachusetts and is collected by public water systems. For more information about the Assessment Program, go to mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/news/advisory- committees/safe-drinking-water-act-assessment-advisory-committee.html. Charles D. Baker Kathleen A. Theoharides Governor Secretary Karyn E. Polito Martin Suuberg Lieutenant Governor Commissioner December 20, 2019 IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON LEGIONELLA Dear Public Drinking Water Supplier, The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Drinking Water Program is writing to raise your awareness of Legionella and changes in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health care facilities requirements that may impact CMS and VHA facilities on your distribution system and your water system. The CMS and VHA changes are intended to prevent Legionella outbreaks at healthcare and nursing home facilities. This letter also highlights important information about Legionella from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Water Works Association, as well as other relevant resources. Legionella is a bacteria found naturally in freshwater environments at generally low levels but can become a health problem when amplified in building water systems, especially large, complex water systems such as hotels, hospitals, and office buildings. When Legionella grows in the biofilm of premise plumbing and is aerosolized through devices such as showers, cooling towers, hot tubs, or fountains, people can breathe in small, contaminated water droplets. Inhalation of Legionella may result in a severe form of pneumonia known as Legionnaires’ disease, or in milder Pontiac fever. Even though Legionella is primarily attributed to premise plumbing issues, public water systems should be aware of the issue. For more information on Legionella, see the attached “Frequently Asked Questions, Information and Resources”. It is also important that you know if there are any facilities on your distribution system that are responsible for complying with the CMS and VHA Directives and whether these facilities have made changes that may impact your water system program or plans, such as cross connection control or emergency response programs. For a list of these facilities, see the attachment “health-care-facilities- list.pdf”. What should you do with the facilities list? Check the list to identify facilities that receive water from your water system. Find out about the CMS and VHA Legionella compliance practices of these facilities in the course of your routine work (e.g. during cross connection control inspection). This information is available in alternate format. Contact Michelle Waters-Ekanem, Director of Diversity/Civil Rights at 617-292-5751. TTY# MassRelay Service 1-800-439-2370 MassDEP Website: www.mass.gov/dep Printed on Recycled Paper o For any of the facilities that are on your system you should determine if there are changes within these facilities that could impact your system programs (e.g. cross connection control or emergency response program) or that would require the facility to become a consecutive public water supplier and thus be regulated by MassDEP (e.g. treatment addition). Refer to MassDEP any facilities that meet the definition of a public water system per 310 CMR 22.00. (e.g. The facility installs permanent or temporary treatment). Send referral by email to MassDEP Drinking water Program at [email protected]. Subject: Potential PWS. Determine if you need to update any of your programs/plans (e.g. cross connection or emergency response) as a result of any new information about these facilities. Update programs/plans