News & Events
Newsletter
January 2006
WaterTrax Helps Compliance with New Stage 2 Rules
For years WaterTrax has been helping water operators manage their water quality information by automating the collection, notification and reporting of compliance and operating data in the WaterTrax Service. To make water quality sampling and monitoring even more efficient, WaterTrax recently introduced the WaterTrax Sampling Planner. With the Sampling Planner, utilities reduce the likelihood of monitoring-related violations and simplify monitoring by creating a sampling plan that is easily understood, revised, and followed.
The introduction of the Sampling Planner is timely because of the December 2005 promulgation of the so-called Stage 2 Rules, consisting of the Stage 2 DBP Rule (DBPR) published in the Federal Register on January 4, 2006, and the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR) published on January 5, 2006. Both rules are founded on water quality monitoring as the first step, and require water utilities to submit sampling plans for approval as early as July 1, 2006.
Ensuring that regulatory and operating data are collected at the right time and in the right place is an ongoing headache for utilities of all sizes. The new Stage 2 rules add more complexity to the existing monitoring plans, potentially adding new sampling points, recurrence intervals, and sample types. The Sampling Planner can help make planning and executing each water system’s overall monitoring plan more effective and efficient.
Both Rules Require Monitoring / Sampling Plans
Source water monitoring under the LT2ESWTR requires that water systems monitor their source water at each plant for microbiological parameters and turbidity to develop data that will be used to determine whether additional treatment is required. Monitoring must commence by October 2006 according to a Sampling Plan that must be submitted by July 1, 2006.
The Stage 2 DBPR requires water utilities to complete an Initial Distribution System Evaluation (IDSE) Monitoring Plan by as early as October 1, 2006, depending on the water system size and type. Monitoring of THMs and HAA5s to meet the Monitoring Plan must then commence.
Using the WaterTrax Sampling Planner
In less time that it takes to do a sampling round, a utility can set up the Watertrax Sampling Planner and be ready to meet the monitoring and sampling requirements of the Stage 2 rules. With the LT2ESWTR and DBPR sampling schedules configured in the Sampling Planner, utility staff will always know where, when, and what type of samples to collect – regardless of whether the sampling is driven by these 2 new rules, or the existing routine sampling schedules. The chance of missing a required sample is dramatically reduced.
During the monitoring period, laboratories submit analytical results to WaterTrax electronicially. When it comes time to report to the State on the monitoring results of either rule, the Sampling Planner will provide reports on scheduled sampling, and automatically determine if the required samples were collected. And, WaterTrax will quickly report the results of the sampling to make preparation of the ISDE Report, or determining bin classification for the LT2ESWTR, quick and easy without data entry.
An Opportunity to Improve Data Management Practices
The additional planning, sampling, and reporting that the Stage 2 rules require is an opportunity for water utilities to review their approach to water quality data management. The WaterTrax Service can improve practices across all of a utility’s sampling programs, from the Total Coliform rule through the new Stage 2 rules. With the Sampling Planner, WaterTrax continues to deliver on its mission to provide simple, powerful, and cost-effective water quality information tools for the drinking water industry.
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