v>EPA
       United States
       Environmental Protection
       Agency
Total  Coliform  Rule  Monitoring  Requirements
Community Water  Systems Serving 25 -1,000  People
                 ROUTINE
              MONITORING
                     REPEAT MONITORING
         POSITIVE REPEAT SAMPLES
             AND MCL VIOLATIONS
    • You must sample at the sites in your distribution system
     identified in your primacy agency reviewed sampling
     plan.
    • You must take 1 sample every month unless your primacy
     agency has allowed you to sample quarterly.
    You must take at least 5 routine samples in the month fol-
    lowing a total coliform (TC) positive result. For example,
    if your routine sample in June wasTC-positive, you must
    take at least 5 routine samples in July.
                 •You must collect repeat samples within 24 hours of being
                  notified of a TC-positive sample. Any TC-positive routine
                  or repeat sample must also be analyzed for either fecal
                  coliform or £ Co//.
                 • At a minimum, you must collect 4 repeat samples for
                  every TC-positive sample found.
                 • If you have more than 1 service connection, you must
                  collect repeat samples within 24 hours of learning  about
                  the positive results (unless your primacy agency gives
                  you more time).
                 • If you have only 1 service connection, your primacy
                  agency may give you approval to collect repeat samples
                  within 4 days of learning of the positive result.
                                                          You must collect at least 1 repeat sample from each of the
                                                          sites identified below:
                                                          * The tap where the routine TC-positive was taken.
                                                          * A tap within 5 service connections upstream of the tap
                                                          where the routine TC-positive was taken.
                                                          *Tap within 5 service connections downstream of the tap
                                                          where the routine TC-positive was taken.
• If a repeat sample is positive, you must continue to collect repeat samples,
 per repeat monitoring instructions, until TC is no longer positive or until there
 is an MCL violation (as defined below). If a repeat sample is TC -positive, it
 must also be analyzed either for fecal coliform or £ Co//.
• If you have 2 or more TC-positive samples in 1 month (including both repeat
 and routine samples), your system has a monthly MCL violation.
• If you have any fecal coliform or £ Co//-positive repeat samples or have a
 fecal coliform or £ Co//-positive sample followed by a TC -positive repeat
 sample, your system has an acute MCL violation.

Besides sampling, what else are we required to do?
There are also requirements on what
you report to the primacy agency every
month, and requirements on how and
when to notify your customers if you
have a violation. Contact your primacy
agency to make sure you are providing
them with all the information that
is required.

      Where can I find more
      information on the
      Total Coliform Rule?
      You can find more information on the Total Coliform
      Rule by calling EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at:
      1.800.426.4791; or you can visit EPA's Total Coliform
      Rule Website:
      http://www.epa.gov/safewater/disinfection/
      tcr/index.html.
  Primacy Agency,
               (contact name and phone number)
                                      Off ice of Water (4606M)
EPA816-F-08-005
www.epa.gov/safewater
January, 2008

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