Oregon Operations Office
United States 522 S.W. Fifth Avenue
Environmental Protection Yeon Building, Second Floor
Agency	Portland OR 97204	

Oregon Operations Office	October 1984

Your Drinking Water

A Guide to Safe
Drinking Water
Regulations in Oregon

Re

vised

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Intent This booklet has been prepared by the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and the Oregon State Health Division
{OSHD) to help water suppliers understand State and EPA
drinking water requirements in Oregon. We hope the booklet
will answer your everyday questions about monitoring and
reporting under the Federal and State laws.

Background In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act which
established a national program for protecting drinking water for
all Americans. The 7981 Oregon State Legislature, recognizing
a need in Oregon to supplement and enhance the national law,
passed the Oregon Drinking Water Quality Act. The
fundamental purpose of both laws is the same ". . . to ensure
safe drinking water at all water systems. . ."

In implementing these two parallel laws, the EPA and the
Oregon State Health Division are firmly committed to avoiding
burdensome and inefficient program duplication.

Who are we? EPA

At the present time in Oregon, EPA takes the lead role in
determining whether water suppliers comply with the basic
water quality requirements called maximum contaminant levels
(MCL's). Therefore, water quality sample results should
continue to be sent to EPA.

For the water quality sampling required by the State only; such as for the
secondary contaminants, results may be sent directly to the Health Division, The
table entitled Oregon Sampling Requirements shows which sampling is
required by the State only.

OSHD

The State drinking water program, operated by the Oregon
State Health Division (OSHD), also includes water quality
requirements. These are generally quite similar to EPA's, with a
few noted exceptions (see Oregon Sampling Requirements
table). In addition, the OSHD program addresses several topics
not covered by the EPA program. Most noteable among these
are water system construction standards, plan review and
approval requirements, and operation and maintenance rules.
The primary goals for the OSHD program include providing
prompt and accurate technical assistance to water suppliers
and improving and enhancing training opportunities for
operators and others in the water supply field.

Joint Agreement

We believe that the OSHD and EPA programs comjSfiement
each other. To facilitate this complementary relationship and to
prevent duplication, EPA and OSHD have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding which defines the roles of
each agency in implementing the drinking water requirements
in Oregon.

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The pin-up Located in the center of this booklet is an Oregon Sampling
Requirements table showing the monitoring requirements for
various drinking water contaminants and categories of public
water systems. By working your way through the next section.
Who Are You?, you should be able to determine which
category (community or non-community) you fall into. Then, if
you also know the type of source you have (surface, ground or
purchased), you should be able to find the monitoring
requirements which apply to you (both State and EPA) by
looking through the Oregon Sampling Requirements table.

Who Are You? Since the monitoring requirements depend on water system
characteristics, your water system must first be identified
according to the following categories (based on State
definitions which are more inclusive):

Category or Classification

Public Water Systerrt'—a system for provision of piped water to
the public for human consumption, and which a. serves more
than three service connections used by year-round residents, or
b. regularly serves 10 or more year-round residents, or c. supplies
water to a public or commercial establishment which operates at
least 60 days per year and is patronized by 10 or more customers
or visitors per day, or is licensed by the OSHD.

Community Water System—a public water system which has
15 or more service connections used by year-round residents or
regularly serves 25 or more year-round residents.

Non-Community Water System*—a public water system that
is not a Community Water System.

*The federal definition of non-community is different from the State's and
includes fewer systems. By the federal definition, a non-community public
water system is one that serves a transient population of 25 or more
persons, or has 15 or more service connections and operates at least 60
days per year. This includes such facilities as campgrounds, schools,
factories, motels, etc. where people are there only temporarily or only part
of each day.

Size of Water Systems—minimum microbiological sampling
requirements (coliform bacteria) are based upon population size. The
tables on page 5 indicate the sampling requirements for EPA and for
OSHD.

2

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Oregon Samplir*

Based on Oregon and EP£

Community

Surface Water

Stream or Lake

Ground Water

Well

Purchased
Water

Bought
From
Another
System

1

Bacteria cofiform: Monthly —number of samples depends	,

upon population (see EPA Table).

Turbidity: Daily

Inorganic arsenic, mercury, etc.: Annually

Organic pesticides, herbicides: Every three years

Radionuclides: One per quarter for the first year; repeat at 4
year intervals

Trihalomethanes: 4 per quarter for the first year, then 1 per
quarter*

Secondary Contaminants pH, TDS, etc. : One time only—by
12/31/83t

Bacteria co/iform: Monthly —number of samples depends
upon population (see EPA Table).

Inorganic arsenic, mercury, etc.: Every three years

Radionuclides: One per quarter for the first year; repeat at 4
year intervals

Trihalomethanes: 4 per quarter for the first year, then
annually*

Organic pesticides, herbicides: Only for EPA or State specified
systems

Secondary Contaminants pH, TDS, etc.: One time only —by
12/31/83t

Bacteria co/iform: Monthly —number of samples depends
upon population (see EPA Table).

All data should be sent to EPA i

*EPA requirement only. Send data to EPA, Seattle, WA.
tState requirement only. Send data to OSHD, P.O.Box 231, Portland,
OR 97207

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g Requirements

' drinking water regulations

Non-Community

during operating season only

Bacteria co/iform: One sample in each calendar quarter in
which system operates Quarters: Oct.-Dec.; Jan.-Mar.,
I Apr.-Jun.; and Jul.-Sept.

Turbidity: Daily*

Inorganic arsenic, mercury, etc.'. One time only-by
12/31 /83t Nitrate only-annually thereafter! EPA requires
Nitrate only —one time only*

Organic pesticides, herbicides'. Only for EPA or State specified
systems

Secondary Contaminants pH, TDS, etc.'. One time only by

12/31/83t

Bacteria co/iform: One sample in each calendar quarter in
which system operates Quarters: Oct.-Dec.; Jan.-Mar.;
Apr.-Jun.; and Jul.-Sept.

Inorganic arsenic, mercury, etc.: One time only —by
12/31 /83t Nitrate only-annually thereaftert EPA requires
Nitrate only —one time only*

Organic pesticides, herbicides: Only for EPA or State specified
systems

Secondary Contaminants pH, TDS, etc.: One time only—by
12/31/83t

No Sampling Requirements

unless marked by the symbol t

Surface Water

Stream or Lake

Ground Water

Well

Purchased
Water

Bought
From
Another
System

tState rules allow sampling frequency to be reduced at Health
Division's discretion.

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We hope this booklet helps you better understand Oregon's
safe drinking water programs. If you have questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact us. Our phone numbers
and addresses are listed in the section entitled Organizations.

Tables EPA Table

Population

Samples

Population

Samples

Served

Per Month

Served

Per Month

up to 1,000

1

24,001 to 24,900

28

1,001 to 2,500

2

24,901 to 25,000

29

2,501 to 3,300

3

25,001 to 28,000

30

3,301 to 4,100

4

28,001 to 33,000

35

4,101 to 4,900

5

33,001 to 37,000

40

4,901 to 5,800

6

37,001 to 41,000

45

5,801 to 6,700

7

41,001 to 46,000

50

6,701 to 7,600

8

46,001 to 50,000

55

7,601 to 8,500

9

50,001 to 54,000

60

8,501 to 9,400

10

54,001 to 59,000

65

9,401 to 10,300

11

59,001 to 64,000

70

10,301 to 11,100

12

64,001 to 70,000

75

11,101 to 12,000

13

70,001 to 76,000

80

12,001 to 12,900

14

76,001 to 83,000

85

12,901 to 13,700

15

83,001 to 90,000

90

13,701 to 14,600

16

90,001 to 96,000

95

14,601 to 15,500

17

96,001 to 111,000

100

15,501 to 16,300

18

111,001 to 130,000

110

16,301 to 17,200

19

130,001 to 160,000

120

17,201 to 18,100

20

160,001 to 190,000

130

18,101 to 18,900

21

190,001 to 220,000

140

18,901 to 19,800

22

220,001 to 250,000

150

19,801 to 20,700

23

250,001 to 290,000

160

20,701 to 21,500

24

290,001 to 320,000

170

21,501 to 22,300

25

320,001 to 360,000

180

22,301 to 23,200

26

360,001 to 410,000

190

23,201 to 24,000

27

410,001 to 450,000

200

OSHD*

Population Served	Samples Per Month

up to 100,000	1 per 1,000 population

100,000 to 360,000	1 per 1,500 population

over 360,000	1 per 2,000 population

"This table will not become effective while EPA retains primary enforcement
responsibility in Oregon.

5

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Organizations Organizations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Drinking Water Programs Branch

M/S 412

1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101

Oregon Operations Office

522 S.W. Fifth Avenue
Yeon Building, Second Floor
Portland, Oregon 97204

(503) 221-3250

Office Director, Michael Gearheard; Drinking Water Program
Coordinator, Vacant; Project Officers, Harold Rogers, Kevin
Dyer, Ron Culver, and Larry Payette.

Oregon State Health Division
Drinking Water Section

1400 S.W. Fifth Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97201

Mailing Address:

P.O.Box 231
Portland, Oregon 97207

(503) 229-5954

Section Manager, James Boydston; Non-Community
Administrative Assistant, Dolores Melone; Community
Resource Specialist, Dave Phelps; Plan Review Program
Manager, Al Smythe; Plan Review Engineer, Joe Jenson;
Health Hazard Studies Program Manager, Ron Hall; Education
& Training, Environmental Specialist, John Huffman;

Regional Field Engineer, Portland, Dave Leland; Regional Field
Engineer, Portland, Paul Berg; Regional Sanitarian, Portland,
Guy Beachler; Regional Field Engineer, Eugene, Mel
Damewood, (503) 686-7686; Regional Field Engineer,

Roseburg, Tom Charbonneau, (503) 440-3508; and Regional
Field Engineer, Pendleton, Gary Burnett, (503) 276-8006

6

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