Section 216-RICR-50-05-1.2 - DefinitionsA. Wherever used in these regulations the following terms shall be construed as follows: 1. "Abandoned well" means a well or borehole that has gone dry, is contaminated, or no longer serves a useful purpose.2. "Act" means R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 46-13.3. "Action level" means the concentration of lead or copper in water specified in § 1.7.1(C) of this Part, which determines, in some cases, the treatment requirements contained in § 1.7 of this Part that a water system is required to complete.4. "Administrative contact" means the entity that the legal water system owner designates to be the primary point of contact regarding the public water system.5. "Administrative penalty" or "Penalty" means a monetary sum assessed by the Director pursuant to this Part in response to a violation of, or a failure to comply with, R.I. Gen. Chapter 46-13 or any rule, regulation, license, permit or order adopted pursuant to the Director's authority thereunder.6. "Backflow" means flow of used or non-potable water, or other substances from any domestic, industrial, or institutional piping system back into the public water system. The reverse pressure gradient that leads to backflow is caused by either back-siphonage or backpressure.7. "Backflow preventer" means a mechanical device designed to prevent backflow through water pipes.8. "Backpressure" means backflow caused by connection of a public water system to a non-potable system which is operating under a higher pressure than the public water system. The cause of the higher pressure includes, but is not limited to, a pump, boiler, elevation difference, or air or steam pressure.9. "Back-siphonage" means backflow caused by negative or sub-atmospheric pressure in a portion of a public water system.10. "Bag filters" means pressure-driven separation devices that remove particulate matter larger than one (1) micrometer using an engineered porous filtration media. They are 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 outside.11. "Bank filtration" means a water treatment process that uses a 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 or other well(s).12. "Best available technology" means the best technology, treatment techniques, or other means which the EPA Administrator finds, after examination for efficacy under field conditions and not solely under laboratory conditions, are available for a specific contaminant or category of contaminants.13. "Cartridge filters" means pressure-driven separation devices that remove particulate matter larger than one (1) micrometer using an engineered porous filtration media. They are typically constructed as rigid or semi-rigid, self-supporting filter elements housed in pressure vessels in which flow is from the outside of the cartridge to the inside.14. "Certified laboratory" means an analytical laboratory licensed by R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 23-16.2, to perform biological, microbiological, chemical or radiochemical examination of potable water or a laboratory exempt from this law as provided for in R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-16.2-3 but which shall be certified by the State Certification official in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 142.10b.15. "Change of use" means a different or expanded activity at an existing PWS which significantly uses more or less water, or changes the duration of consumption between transient and non- transient, than previously approved through application or documented historical use.16. "Clean compliance history" for purposes of § 1.16.4 of this Part, means a record of no MCL violations under § 1.16.4 of this Part; no monitoring violations under § 1.16.4 of this Part; and no coliform treatment technique trigger exceedances or treatment technique violations under § 1.16.4 of this Part.17. "Coagulation" means a process using coagulant chemicals and mixing by which colloidal and suspended materials are destabilized and agglomerated into flocs.18. "Combined distribution system" means the interconnected distribution system consisting of the distribution systems of wholesale systems and of the consecutive systems that receive finished water.19. "Community water system" means a public water system which serves at least fifteen (15) service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least twenty-five (25) year-round residents.20. "Compliance cycle" means the nine-year calendar year cycle during which PWSs must monitor as required by this Part. Each compliance cycle consists of three-year compliance periods. The first calendar year cycle begins January 1, 1993 and ends December 31, 2001; the second begins January 1, 2002 and ends December 31, 2010; the third begins January 1, 2011 and ends December 31, 2019.21. "Compliance period" means a three-year calendar year period within a compliance cycle. Each compliance cycle has three (3), 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, 2001.22. "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. For purposes of compliance with § 1.6 of this Part, the comprehensive performance evaluation must consist of at least the following components: Assessment of plant performance; evaluation 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.23. "Confluent growth" means a continuous bacterial growth covering the entire filtration area of a membrane filter, or a portion thereof, in which bacterial colonies are not discrete.24. "Connection" means the water service line connecting a structure to the water distribution line. In the absence of data on the number of service connections, the population served divided by 2.5 shall be used as the default value.a. The following are excluded from the "connection" component of the PWS definition: (1) A connection to a system that delivers water through constructed conveyances other than pipes is excluded from consideration as a "connection" under three (3) circumstances: (AA) Where the water is used exclusively for purposes other than residential uses (consisting of drinking, bathing, and cooking, or other similar uses);(BB) Where the Director determines that alternative water to achieve the equivalent level of public health protection provided by the applicable national primary drinking water regulations is provided for drinking and cooking;(CC) Where the Director determines that the water provided for drinking, cooking, and bathing is treated (centrally or by point of entry) by the provider, a pass-through entity, or the user to achieve the equivalent level of protection provided by the applicable national primary drinking water regulations.(i) If the application of one (1) or more of these exclusions reduces the "connections" of a system providing water for human consumption (through construction conveyances other than pipes) to fewer than fifteen (15) service connections that serve fewer than twenty- five (25) individuals, the supplier's water system is not a public water system.(ii) However, if the supplier's remaining connections number fifteen (15) or more, or if its remaining connections [even if they number fewer than fifteen (15)] regularly serve at least twenty-five (25) individuals, then the system is a public water system although the excluded connections are not considered part of the public water system for as long as the exclusions apply and the system complies with any conditions governing their applicability.b. An irrigation district in existence prior to May 18, 1994 that provides primarily agricultural service through a piped water system with only incidental residential or similar use shall not be considered to be a public water system if the system or the residential or similar users of the system comply with §§ 1.2(A)(1)(AA) and (BB) of this Part.25. "Consecutive system" means a public water system that receives some or all of its finished water from one or more wholesale systems. Delivery may be through a direct connection or through the distribution system of one or more consecutive systems.26. "Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water.27. "Conventional filtration treatment" means a series of processes including coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration resulting in substantial particulate removal.28. "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.29. "Cross-connection" means an actual or potential connection between any parts of a public water system and any source of contamination or pollution.30. "CT" or "CTcalc" means the product of "residual disinfectant concentration" C in mg/L determined before or at the first customer, and the corresponding disinfectant contact time (T) in minutes, i.e., "C" x "T". "CT99.9" is the CT value required for 99.9 percent (3-log) inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts. CT99.9 for a variety of disinfectants and conditions appear in Tables 1.1-1.6, 2.1, and 3.1 of § 1.6.8 of this Part CTcalc/CT99.9, is the inactivation ratio. The sum of the inactivation ratios, or total inactivation ratio shown as the sum of (CTcalc)/(CT99.9), is calculated by adding together the inactivation ratio for each disinfection sequence. A total inactivation ratio equal to or greater than 1.0 is assumed to provide a 3-log inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts.31. "Cyanobacteria" means photosynthesizing bacteria, also called blue-green algae, which naturally occur in marine and freshwater ecosystems, and may produce cyanotoxins which at sufficiently high concentrations may pose a risk to public health.32. "Cyanotoxin" means a toxin (such as microcystins) produced by cyanobacteria, which include liver toxins, nerve toxins, and skin toxins.33. "Cyanotoxin maximum contaminant level" means the concentration of a cyanotoxin which, if exceeded, will require additional monitoring, and potentially other actions as described in this Part.34. "Decommissioned well" means an abandoned well that has been completely filled with sealant from the original depth to the surface, in accordance with this Part, so that it is no longer a conduit to the aquifer.35. "Department" means the Rhode Island Department of Health.36. "Detected" or "Detection" means an analytical result that is equal to or greater than the reporting limit for the analytical method being used, or the minimum detection limit included in this Part for the particular analyte, whichever is greater.37. "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); andb. 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 to maintain the permeability of the filter cake.38. "Direct filtration" means a series of processes including coagulation and filtration but excluding sedimentation resulting in substantial particulate removal.39. "Director" means the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health or his duly authorized agent.40. "Disinfectant" means any oxidant, including but not limited to chlorine, chlorine dioxide, chloramines, and ozone added to water in any part of the treatment or distribution process, that is intended to kill or inactivate pathogenic microorganisms.41. "Disinfectant contact time" ("T" in CT calculations) means the time in minutes that it takes for water to move from the point of disinfectant application or the previous point of disinfectant residual measurement to a point before or at the point where residual disinfectant concentration ("C") is measured. Disinfectant contact time in pipelines must be calculated based on "plug flow" by dividing the internal volume of the pipe by the maximum hourly flow rate through that pipe. Disinfectant contact time within mixing basins and storage reservoirs must be determined by tracer studies or an equivalent demonstration.42. "Disinfection" means a process which inactivates pathogenic organisms in water by chemical oxidants or equivalent agents.43. "Disinfection profile" means a summary of daily Giardia lamblia inactivation through the treatment plant. The procedure for developing a disinfection profile is contained in § 1.6. 44. "Distribution sampling points" means representative points in the distribution system.45. "Domestic or other non-distribution system plumbing problem" means a coliform contamination problem in a PWS with more than one (1) service connection that is limited to the specific service connection from which the coliform-positive sample was taken.46. "Dose equivalent" means the absorbed dose from ionizing radiation expressed in terms of Rads multiplied by such a factor 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 (ICRU).47. "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 sample analyzed for HAA5. Dual sample sets are collected for the purposes of conducting an IDSE under § 1.8.9 of this Part and determining compliance with the TTHM and HAA5 MCLs under § 1.8.10 of this Part.48. "Effective corrosion inhibitor residual" for the purpose of § 1.7 of this Part, means a concentration sufficient to form a passivating film on the interior walls of a pipe.49. "Effective operation" means a public water system's ability to meet an average daily demand while providing sufficient volume and pressure for fire protection, where applicable, while meeting drinking water standards.50. "Enhanced coagulation" means the addition of sufficient coagulant for improved removal of disinfection byproduct precursors by conventional filtration treatment.51. "Enhanced softening" means the improved removal of disinfection byproduct precursors by precipitative softening.52. "Filter profile" means a graphical representation of individual filter performance, based on continuous turbidity measurements or total particle counts versus time for an entire filter run, from startup to backwash inclusively, that includes an assessment of filter performance while another filter is being backwashed.53. "Filtration" means a process for removing particulate matter from water by passage through porous media.54. "Finished water" means water that is introduced into the distribution system of a public water system and is intended for distribution and consumption without further treatment, except as treatment necessary to maintain water quality in the distribution system (e.g., booster disinfection, addition of corrosion control chemicals).55. "Finished water sampling point" means each entry point to the distribution system which is representative of the water intended for distribution and consumption without further treatment, except as necessary to maintain water quality in the distribution system (e.g. booster disinfection, addition of corrosion control chemicals).56. "First draw sample" means a one-liter sample of tap water, collected in accordance with § 1.7.7(B)(2) of this Part, that has been standing in plumbing pipes at least six (6) hours and is collected without flushing the tap.57. "Flocculation" means a process to enhance agglomeration or collection of smaller floc particles into larger, more easily settleable particles through gentle stirring by hydraulic or mechanical means.58. "Flowing stream" means a course of running water flowing in a definite channel.59. "GAC10" means granular activated carbon filter beds with an empty-bed contact time of 10 minutes based on average daily flow and a carbon reactivation frequency of every one hundred eighty (180) days, except that the reactivation frequency for GAC10 used as a best available technology for compliance with § 1.8.1 of this Part MCLs under § 1.8.1(C) of this Part shall be one hundred twenty (120) days.60. "GAC20" means granular activated carbon filter beds with an empty-bed contact time of twenty (20) minutes based on average daily flow and a carbon reactivation frequency of every two hundred forty (240) days.61. "Gross alpha particle activity" means the total radioactivity due to alpha particle emission as determined from measurements on a dry sample.62. "Gross beta particle activity" means the total radioactivity due to beta particle emission as determined from measurements on a dry sample.63. "Groundwater under the direct influence of surface water" means any water beneath the surface of the ground with:a. Significant occurrence of insects or other macroorganisms, algae, or large-diameter pathogens such as Giardia lamblia or Cryptosporidium; orb. Significant and relatively rapid shifts in water characteristics such as turbidity, temperature, conductivity, or pH which closely correlate to climatological or surface water conditions.c. Direct influence must be determined for individual sources in accordance with criteria established by the Director. The Director's determination of direct influence may be based on site-specific measurements of water quality and/or documentation of well construction characteristics and geology with field evaluation.64. "Haloacetic acids (five)" or "HAA5" means the sum of the concentrations in milligrams per liter of the haloacetic acid compounds (monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid), rounded to two (2) significant figures after addition.65. "Halogen" means one of the chemical elements chlorine, bromine, or iodine.66. "Initial compliance period" means the first full three-year compliance period which begins at least eighteen (18) months after promulgation, except for dichloromethane, 1,2,4 trichlorobenzene, 1,1,2- trichloroethane, benzo[a]pyrene, dalapon, di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate, di(2- ethylhexyl)phthalate, dinoseb, diquat, endothall, endrin, glyphosate, hexachlorbenzene, hexachlorocyclopentadiene, oxamyl(Vydate), picloram, simazine, 2,3,7,8-TCDD (Dioxin), antimony, beryllium, cyanide, nickel, and thallium, initial compliance period means January 1993-December 1995 for systems with 150 or more service connections and January 1996-December 1998 for systems having fewer than 150 service connections.67. "Inner protective radius" means the land within two hundred (200) feet of drilled (bedrock), driven, or dug wells, or within four hundred (400) feet of stratified drift wells, to be reserved for the protection of the water quality of the well and free of potential sources of contamination, except as approved by the Director.68. "Lake/reservoir" means a natural or manmade basin or hollow on the Earth's surface in which water collects or is stored that may or may not have a current or single direction of flow.69. "Large water system" for the purpose of § 1.7 of this Part, means a public water system that serves more than fifty thousand (50,000) persons.70. "Lead service line" means a service line made of lead which connects the water main to the building inlet and any lead pigtail, gooseneck or other fitting which is connected to such lead line.71. "Legionella" means a genus of bacteria, some species of which have caused a type of pneumonia called Legionnaires Disease.72. "Level 1 assessment" 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 system triggered the assessment. It is conducted by the system operator or owner. Minimum elements include review and identification of atypical events that could affect distributed water quality or indicate that distributed water quality was impaired; changes in distribution system maintenance and operation that could affect distributed water quality (including water storage); source and treatment considerations that bear on distributed water quality, where appropriate (e.g. whether a groundwater system is disinfected); existing water quality monitoring data; and inadequacies in sample sites, sampling protocol, and sample processing. The system must conduct the assessment consistent with any State directives that tailor specific assessment elements with respect to the size and type of the system and the size, type, and characteristics of the distribution system.73. "Level 2 assessment" 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 system triggered the assessment. A Level 2 assessment provides a more detailed examination of the system (including the system's monitoring and operational practices) than does a Level 1 assessment through the use of more comprehensive investigation and review of available information, additional internal and external resources, and other relevant practices. It is conducted by an individual approved by the State, which may include the system operator. Minimum elements include review and identification of atypical events that could affect distributed water quality or indicate that the distributed water quality was impaired; changes in distribution system maintenance and operation that could affect distributed water quality (including water storage); source and treatment considerations that bear on distributed water quality, where appropriate (e.g. whether a groundwater system is disinfected); existing water quality monitoring data; and inadequacies in sample sites, sampling protocol, and sample processing. The system must conduct the assessment consistent with any State directives that tailor specific assessment elements with respect to the size and type of the system and the size, type, and characteristics of the distribution system. The system must comply with any expedited actions or additional actions required by the State in the case of an E. coli MCL violation.74. "License" means approval as specified in R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-13-2.1.75. "Locational running annual average" or "LRAA" means the average of sample analytical results for samples taken at a particular monitoring location during the previous four calendar quarters.76. "Manmade beta particle and photon emitters" means all radionuclides emitting beta particles and/or photons listed in Maximum Permissible Body Burdens and Maximum Permissible Concentrations of Radionuclides in Air or Water for Occupational Exposure, NBS Handbook 69, except the daughter products of thorium-232, uranium-235 and uranium-238.77. "Maximum contaminant level" means the maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water which is delivered to any user of a public water system.78. "Maximum contaminant level goal" or "MCLG" means the maximum level of a contaminant in drinking water at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons would occur, and which allows an adequate margin of safety. Maximum contaminant level goals are non-enforceable health goals.79. "Maximum residual disinfectant level" or "MRDL" means a level of a disinfectant added for water treatment that may not be exceeded at the consumer's tap without an unacceptable possibility of adverse health effects. For chlorine and chloramines, a PWS is in compliance with the MRDL when the running annual average of monthly averages of samples taken in the distribution system, computed quarterly, is less than or equal to the MRDL. For chlorine dioxide, a PWS is in compliance with the MRDL when daily samples are taken at the entrance to the distribution system and no two (2) consecutive daily samples exceed the MRDL. MRDLs are enforceable in the same manner as maximum contaminant levels under Section 1412 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. There is convincing evidence that the addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of waterborne microbial contaminants. Notwithstanding the MRDLs listed in § 1.8.2(A) of this Part, operators may increase residual disinfectant levels of chlorine or chloramines (but not chlorine dioxide) in the distribution system to a level and for a time necessary to protect public health to address specific microbiological contamination problems caused by circumstances such as distribution line breaks, storm runoff events, source water contamination, or cross-connections.80. "Maximum residual disinfectant level goal" or "MRDLG" means the maximum level of a disinfectant added for water treatment at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons would occur, and which allows an adequate margin of safety. MRDLGs are non-enforceable health goals and do not reflect the benefit of the addition of the chemical for control of waterborne microbial contaminants.81. "Maximum Total Trihalomethane Potential" or "MTP" means the maximum concentration of total trihalomethanes produced in a given water containing a disinfectant residual after seven (7) days at a temperature of 25 degrees C or above.82. "Medium-size water system" for the purpose of § 1.7 of this Part only, means a water system that serves greater than three thousand three hundred (3,300) and less than or equal to fifty thousand (50,000) persons.83. "Membrane filtration" means a pressure or vacuum driven separation process in which particulate matter larger than one (1) micrometer is rejected by an engineered barrier, 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.84. "Microcystins" means total microcystins; the combination of all the variants of a cyanotoxin microcystin, which is produced by a number of cyanobacteria.85. "Near the first service connection" means at one (1) of the twenty percent (20%) of all service connections in the entire system that are nearest the water supply treatment facility, as measured by water transport time within the distribution system.86. "Non-community water system" means a public water system that is not a community water system. A non-community water system is either a "transient non-community water system (TNC)" or a "non-transient non-community water system (NTNC)."87. "Noncompliance", "Nonconformance", "Failure to comply" and "Violation" each mean any act or failure to act which constitutes or results in or from:a. Engaging in any activity prohibited by, or not in compliance with the Act or any rule, regulation, permit, approval, or order adopted pursuant to the Director's authority thereunder;b. Engaging in any business or other activity without a necessary permit, or approval that is required by law or regulation;c. The failure to perform, or the failure to perform in a timely fashion, anything required by the Act, by a rule, regulation, permit, approval, or order adopted pursuant to the Director's authority.88. "Non-transient non-community water system" or "NTNC" means a non-community water system that regularly services at least twenty-five (25) of the same persons over six (6) months per year.89. "Operator" means an individual employed at a water treatment facility or transmission and distribution system whose routine job duties involve performing operational activities or making decisions regarding the daily operational activities of a public water treatment facility and/or transmission and distribution system, that may directly impact the quality and/or quantity of drinking water. "Operator" does not apply to an official exercising only general administrative supervision or engineering design duties, such as the city engineer or elected water commissioner, or clerical or administrative workers involved only in activities such as customer relations, billing, payroll, timekeeping, etc. The term "operator", as used in this Part, does not apply to individuals whose only responsibility is to install and/or read meters.90. "Optimal corrosion control treatment" for the purpose of § 1.7 of this Part, means the corrosion control treatment that minimizes the lead and copper concentrations at users' taps while insuring that the treatment does not cause the water system to violate any other regulations of this Part.91. "Order" means the whole or a part of a final disposition by the Department, whether affirmative, negative, injunctive, consent or declaratory in form, other than rulemaking but including notices of violation, compliance orders, permits, and approvals issued pursuant to the Director's authority.92. "Owner of a public water system" means any individual, corporation, partnership, public utility, nonprofit organization, trust, unincorporated association, federal, state, county, or local government, or any agency or subdivision thereof, or any combination of the foregoing, owning any public water system, distribution system, and/or water treatment plant. In addition, the owner of the land on which the well is located, where said well is the source for a public water system, is the owner of a public water system. A person or entity who leases the land on which a well is located is not the owner of the public water system.93. "Performance evaluation sample" means a reference sample provided to a laboratory for the purpose of demonstrating that the laboratory can successfully analyze the sample within limits of performance specified by the Director. The true value of the concentration of the reference material is unknown to the laboratory at the time of the analysis.94. "Permit" means an authorization, or equivalent control document issued by the Director to implement the requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 46-13.95. "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, or corporation, or any town or city or any agency thereof, or the state or any agency thereof, or any other legal entity.96. "Phytoplankton" means free-floating photosynthesizing microscopic organisms that inhabit almost all bodies of water, and include cyanobacteria, diatoms, green algae, and dinoflagellates.97. "Picocurie" means "pCi" means a unit of radioactivity equal to 2.22 nuclear transformations per minute.98. "Plant intake" means the works or structures at the head of a conduit through which water is diverted from a source (e.g., river or lake) into the treatment plant.99. "Point of disinfectant application" means the point where the disinfectant is applied and water downstream of that point is not subject to recontamination by surface water runoff.100. "Point-of-entry treatment device" or "POE" means a treatment device applied to the drinking water entering a house or building for the purpose of reducing contaminants in the drinking water distributed throughout the house or building.101. "Point-of-use treatment device" or "POU" means a treatment device applied to a single tap used for the purpose of reducing contaminants in drinking water.102. "Presedimentation" means a preliminary treatment process used to remove gravel, sand, and other particulate material from the source water through settling before the water enters the primary clarification and filtration processes in a treatment plant.103. "Public water system" or "PWS" means a system for the provision to the public of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if such system has at least fifteen (15) service connections or regularly serves at least twenty-five (25) individuals daily at least sixty (60) days out of the year. Such term includes: a. Any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution facilities under control of the operator of such system and used primarily in connection with such system, andb. Any collection or pretreatment storage facilities not under such control which are used primarily in connection with such system.104. "Rad" means a unit of absorbed dose equal to 100 ergs per gram in any medium. (100 rad = 1 gray)105. "Raw water sampling point" means each source of water in use prior to any treatment, or another sampling point acceptable to the Director.106. "Reconstructed water source" means an existing water source structure (well, intake, dam, etc.) that has been physically modified enough to have the potential to change the water quality or quantity supplying the water system. Well reconstruction includes, but is not limited to, deepening the well, installing a liner, installing or replacing a screen with one of different diameter or length, installing a pitless adapter, extending the casing, or hydrofracturing a well. Well reconstruction does not include the construction of a new well in the vicinity of an existing well. Replacing a component with one of identical composition is considered an in-kind replacement, not reconstruction.107. "Rem" means the unit of dose equivalent from ionizing radiation to the total body or any internal organ or organ system. (100 rem = 1 sievert)108. "Repeat compliance period" means any subsequent compliance period after the initial compliance period.109. "Requirement" means any provision of the Act, or any rule, regulation, permit, approval, or order adopted pursuant to the Director's authority.110. "Residual disinfectant concentration" ("C" in CT calculations) means the concentration of disinfectant measured in mg/1 in a representative sample of water.111. "RTCR" Revised Total Coliform Rule, 40 C.F.R. Part 141 Subpart Y (effective April 1, 2016).112. "Sanitary defect" means a defect that could provide a pathway of entry for microbial contamination into the distribution system or that is indicative of a failure or imminent failure in a barrier that is already in place.113. "Sanitary survey" means an on-site review of the water source (identifying sources of contamination by using the results of source water assessments where available), facilities, equipment, operation, maintenance, and monitoring compliance of a PWS for the purpose of evaluating the adequacy of such source, facilities, equipment, operation, and maintenance for producing and distributing safe drinking water.114. "Saxitoxin" means total saxitoxin; the combination of all of the variants of the cyanotoxin saxitoxin.115. "Seasonal system" means a non-community water system that is not operated as a public water system on a year-round basis and starts up and shuts down at the beginning and end of each operating season.116. "Sedimentation" means a process for removal of solids before filtration by gravity or separation.117. "Service line sample" means a one-liter sample of water, collected in accordance with § 1.7.7(B)(3) of this Part, that has been standing for at least six (6) hours in a service line.118. "Significant deficiency" means defects in design, operation, or maintenance, or a failure or malfunction of the sources, treatment, storage, or distribution system that the Director determines to be causing, or have potential for causing, the introduction of contamination into the water delivered to consumers.119. "Single family structure" for the purpose of § 1.7 of this Part only, means a building constructed as a single-family residence that is currently used as either a residence or a place of business.120. "Slow sand filtration" means a process involving passage of raw water through a bed of sand at low velocity (generally less than 0.4 m/h or 1 gal./ft2/h resulting in substantial particulate removal by physical and biological mechanisms.121. "Small water system" for the purpose of § 1.7 of this Part only, means a water system that serves three thousand three hundred (3,300) persons or fewer.122. "Special irrigation district" means an irrigation district in existence prior to May 18, 1994 that provides primarily agricultural service through a piped water system with only incidental residential or similar use where the system or the residential or similar users of the system if the Director determines that: a. Alternative water to achieve the equivalent level of public health protection provided by the applicable national primary drinking water regulation is provided for residential or similar uses for drinking and cooking; orb. The water provided for residential or similar uses for drinking, cooking, and bathing is centrally treated or treated at the point of entry by the provider, a pass-through entity, or the user to achieve the equivalent level of protection provided by the applicable national primary drinking water regulations.123. "Special monitoring evaluation" means the procedure for performing special monitoring evaluations during sanitary surveys for groundwater systems serving one thousand (1,000) or fewer people to determine whether systems are on an appropriate monitoring schedule.124. "Standard sample" means the aliquot of finished drinking water that is examined for the presence of coliform bacteria.125. "Subpart H systems" means PWSs using surface water or groundwater under the direct influence of surface water as a source that are subject to the requirements of § 1.6 of this Part. These systems are also called Section 1.6 (§ 1.6) systems.126. "Surface water" means all water which is open to the atmosphere and subject to surface runoff.127. "SUVA" means Specific Ultraviolet Absorption at two hundred fifty-four (254) nanometers (nm), an indicator of the humic content of water. It is a calculated parameter obtained by dividing a sample's ultraviolet absorption at a wavelength of 254 nm (UV 254) (in m-1) by its concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (in mg/L).128. "System with a single service connection" means a public water system which supplies drinking water to consumers via a single service line.129. "Too numerous to count" means that the total number of bacterial colonies exceeds two hundred (200) on a 47-mm diameter membrane filter used for coliform detection.130. "Total organic carbon" or "TOC" means total organic carbon in mg/L measured using heat, oxygen, ultraviolet irradiation, chemical oxidants, or combinations of these oxidants that convert organic carbon to carbon dioxide, rounded to two (2) significant figures.131. "Total trihalomethanes" or "TTHM" means the sum of the concentration in milligrams per liter of the trihalomethane compounds (trichloromethane [chloroform], dibromochloromethane, bromodichloromethane and tribromomethane [bromoform]), rounded to two significant figures.132. "Transient non-community water system" or "TNC" means a non-community water system that does not regularly serve at least twenty-five (25) of the same persons over six (6) months per year.133. "Trihalomethane" or "THM" means one of the family of organic compounds, named as derivatives of methane, wherein three of the four hydrogen atoms in methane are each substituted by a halogen atom in the molecular structure.134. "Two-stage lime softening" means a process in which chemical addition and hardness precipitation occur in each of two distinct unit clarification processes in series prior to filtration.135. "Uncovered finished water storage facility" means a tank, reservoir, or other facility used to store water that will undergo no further treatment to reduce microbial pathogens except residual disinfection and is directly open to the atmosphere.136. "Virus" means a virus of fecal origin which is infectious to humans by waterborne transmission.137. "Waterborne disease outbreak" means the significant occurrence of acute infectious illness, epidemiologically associated with the ingestion of water from a public water system which is deficient in treatment, as determined by the appropriate local or State agency.138. "Water purveyor" means any person who owns or operates a public water system. This person may also be designated in some US EPA documents as a "supplier of water."139. "Week" means a period of seven days beginning with Sunday and ending with Saturday.140. "Weekly" means once during the period of seven days beginning with Sunday and ending with Saturday.141. "Wellhead Protection Area" or "WHPA" means the land area contributing water to a public drinking water supply well.142. "Wholesale system" means a public water system that treats source water as necessary to produce finished water and then delivers some or all of that finished water to another public water system. Delivery may be through a direct connection or through the distribution system of one or more consecutive systems.216 R.I. Code R. 216-RICR-50-05-1.2
Amended effective 9/18/2024