New Manuals to Help Small Public Water Systems Comply With Drinking Water Regulations
On March 15, EPA announced the release of new manuals to help small public water systems understand the Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule (Stage 2 DBP) and Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment (LT2) rules.
"EPA is committed to helping small and rural communities continue to provide safe and affordable drinking water for their citizens," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water.
In addition to providing an overview of the rules, the manuals provide step-by-step guidance on how small systems (those serving fewer than 10,000 people) can comply with the rule. The documents also provide helpful worksheets and examples of actions systems might take to comply with the rules. The documents serve as EPA's official compliance guide for small public water systems, as required by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 1996.
The Stage 2 DBP manual is available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/disinfection/stage2/compliance.html. The LT2 manual can be accessed at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/disinfection/lt2/compliance.html.
Both documents and other "Simple Tools for Effective Performance" guides also are available on EPA's small water systems Web page at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/smallsys/ssinfo.htm.
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.