- [Brittany] Hello and welcome
to the Revised Total Coliform Rule
Sample Siting Plan Tutorial.
I'm Brittany Earles, Revised Total Coliform analyst
for the east side of the state.
- [John] And I'm John Karnes, RTCR analyst
for the west side of the state.
The intent of this video is
to teach community water supplies how to properly fill
out the sample siting plan or SSP to adhere
to the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.
- [Brittany] If you're associated
with a non-community water supply,
the requirements are similar.
However, please check with your local health department.
All water supplies must have a complete
and current bacteriological sample siting plan
on file with EGLE.
These plans are subject to EGLE's review and revision.
- [John] Do I have to have an SSP, Brittany?
- [Brittany] Yes, John, sample siting plans
are important tools for water supplies
to identify and document the most representative points
in the distribution system.
Routinely sampling at these points
will alert supplies to potential coliform contamination.
If a sample is coliform positive,
SSPs aid in quick troubleshooting the cause
because sampling locations are preselected
and you know exactly where to go to collect your repeat
and triggered samples within 24 hours.
- [John] Thank you for stressing the importance
of SSPs Brittany.
So where do you find a blank form to fill out?
- [Brittany] You can go
to Michigan.gov/CommunityWater web page.
Near the bottom of that page,
you will find the Revised Total Coliform Rule link.
This page has a lot of information and guidance
about the Revised Total Coliform Rule.
For now, let's focus on the sample siting plan.
Here we have a Word document form link
and a PDF document form link.
- [John] Now that we have found the form,
let's go through each section.
For training purposes,
we will be using the fictitious water supply Candy Land
as an example of how to properly fill out this form.
The first section is for water supply information.
This includes the water supply name
and water supply serial number or WSSN,
the physical address and county, and population served.
- [Brittany] The next section is for water supply contacts.
Here, you want to list the key personnel
that have knowledge of you water system
such as the drinking water operator, director,
superintendent, owner, sampler, etc.
And it's helpful if you list both the e-mail
and phone number.
- [John] Next is a section for EGLE and other contacts.
EGLE contacts will include
the Revised Total Coliform Rule analyst,
the district analyst, and the district engineer.
In case of emergency,
the pollution emergency alerting system
or PEAS number is listed.
You can also use this number
to report an E. coli positive sample result
if district personnel cannot be reached.
- [Brittany] That's right John.
E. coli positive sample results must be reported
to the department by the end of the day.
Contacting the PEAS hotline fulfills this requirement
if you find out after hours.
- [John] Thanks, Brittany.
Also in this section, there are spaces
for other local officials that you deem necessary
for your supply.
And finally, your local health department.
The phone number needs to be listed.
If you don't have an e-mail contact,
you may list their website or leave it blank.
- [Brittany] The next section is
for public notification information.
List how and what media you'll use
to communicate to your customers
in case of a boil water advisory
or other emergencies that might arise.
For smaller supplies, it might be door to door
and for larger systems, it might be a combination
of TV, radio, and newspaper.
Finally, the last section on this page is
for the date when the water supply updated the cover sheet.
- [John] On to page two.
This page includes the sampler requirements and locations.
There is an easily-missed blank at the top of the page.
This is where the minimum required number
of total coliform samples per month is recorded.
Please fill that in.
- [Brittany] But John, how do I know
what my minimum required number
of total coliform samples is?
- [John] The required number of samples per month
is determined by the population served by the water supply.
Remember that population served blank
that was filled in at the top of page one?
In general, more people means more samples.
You may also, you may always collect more samples
than are required.
If you have questions regarding
the minimum required coliform sample number,
you may contact your district office or RTCR analyst.
Supplies may include a system map with sample locations.
Please be sure to mark whether you've enclosed a map or not.
- [Brittany] EGLE highly recommends including site maps
because it's easier to see where the routine
and repeat are collected in relation
to the rest of the system.
It also helps supplies assess
if they're sampling representatively
as is required by RTCR.
Examples of maps could range from engineering drawings
to online map screenshots to handwritten drawings.
- [John] Again, we recommend including a map,
but it is not required, your choice.
- [Brittany] The next section is
the distribution system sample sites table.
This table is where you'll list the routine sample locations
as well as the upstream and downstream locations
and the associated wells that serve those areas.
If you have more than five routine locations,
we do have a larger map available on our website.
- [John] Don't worry.
It looks complicated, but we're going to break
this down right now.
We're going to focus on distribution site number one,
highlighted in blue.
Let's look at the routine site address column.
The routine address is 56 Park Place.
Feel free to add a common name.
In this case, it's the library.
This should always match the sample location
on the lab reports.
If you don't want to write the whole address
on the sample label, a shorthand name needs
to be listed here too.
- [Brittany] The next column lists
how many samples are collected from each
of the routine locations.
In this example, the routine site is being sampled
once per month.
The numbers in the samples per month column
should add up to at least the minimum required number
of samples per month.
This supply collects two samples per month,
meaning they're collect one from each
of their routine locations.
- [John] Next comes the upstream
and the downstream sample locations.
These need to be within five service connections
of the routine site.
In case of a routine positive sample,
the upstream, downstream, and routine sites need
to be sampled within 24 hours.
These are called the repeat samples.
- [Brittany] The last column identifies the sources
of water that supply the routine and repeat locations.
The site code or codes are listed in this space.
Site codes are on your monitoring schedule,
which is sent out early in the calendar year.
In this example, two ground water wells supply the library
at 56 Park Place as well as the upstream
and downstream sites.
The next table will get more into detail
about the source wells.
- [John] But, Brittany, what if I don't own any wells?
- [Brittany] Well, John, if your supply purchases
ground water from another supply,
that supply well's site code should go here.
However, if you don't know your water supplier's well codes,
don't worry, we'll talk more about that later.
If your supply purchases surface water
or is a surface water system,
put NA in this column or surface water
because ground water sampling does not apply.
- [John] On to the source sample sites table.
Remember those source sample sites we just talked about?
This table goes into more detail.
The site codes we used above are listed in the first column.
In this example, WL001 is a designation of well one.
WL002 is a designation of well two.
Following a routine positive result,
these wells need to be sampled within 24 hours.
We refer to these as triggered well samples.
Please reference your supply's monitoring schedule
for the correct site code for each well.
- [Brittany] Some supplies have wells in multiple areas.
This is where the location and address column comes in.
You may list the physical address, general location,
for example, behind the community building,
or the geographic coordinates if known.
John, what's the comments section for?
- [John] Good question.
This is where any relevant supply specific information
should go.
Some examples could be if you purchase ground water
from another supply, the wholesaler information goes there.
If you are surface water supply, this is a good spot
to indicate that, any details
of multiple distribution systems
within the same water supply,
which well or wells are used as standby or emergency,
and finally, details about the sample collection schedule
or alternate sampling sites.
- [Brittany] On to the certified lab section.
Please list the name and address and contact information
of the lab you normally use.
In this example, we used the EGLE lab.
- [John] Does the state lab have to be used?
- [Brittany] No, John, actually you can use
any drinking water lab that is certified
in the state of Michigan
to perform bacteriological sample analysis,
specifically total coliform and E.coli.
For a list of the certified labs,
go back to the community water web page
and click certified labs
under the programs and activities section.
- [John] It is strongly recommended
that you have an alternate lab listed as well.
Try to identify a lab that is within driving distance
and open on Saturdays.
Remember, repeat and triggered well samples
must be collected within 24 hours
of a positive routine sample result.
If you get notified of a routine positive result
on a Friday, samples need to be collected
and analyzed by Saturday to remain in compliance.
- [Brittany] Once the form is filled out,
please sign and date the bottom of page two.
Then, the completed form should be sent
to the district office.
We'll tell you how in a few slides.
- [John] Alright, the last three pages give instruction
and guidance.
Our example was for groundwater supply
with their own wells.
Page three gives example guidance
on filling out the distribution system sample sites table
on page two for other supplies such as surface water
and supplies that purchase water.
- [Brittany] Page four gives examples and guidance
for filling out the source sample sites table.
- [John] And finally, the last page.
This page is full of guidance
on developing an SSP, monthly monitoring,
sampling instructions, and what to do
when a sample result is positive.
Where should you send your completed SSP?
- [Brittany] To the district office e-mail addresses.
Please note these e-mail addresses have been updated
recently due to the name change from DEQ to EGLE.
Please make sure you're using the e-mail addresses
that reflect the name change to EGLE.
These e-mails are good for anything you need
to send to the department such as sample results,
monthly operations reports, cross connection reports,
general questions, and yes, your SSP.
- [John] We hope this was helpful in developing
the bacteriological sample siting plan.
If you have any questions, please e-mail or call.
- [Brittany And John] Thanks for watching.