SAFE DRINKING WATER HOTLINE
MONTHLY REPORT
September 2001
I.	Monthly Summary of Calls and Emails	 1
II.	Comparison to Previous Year	 1
III.	Hot Topics	 1
IV.	Frequent Referrals	 2
V.	Selected Questions and Answers	 2
VI.	Specific Water System Enforcement Issues	 3
VII.	Corrections (from previous reports)	3
VIII.	Question of the Month	 5
IX.	OGWDW Calendar of Events and Meetings	5
Appendix A - Customer Profiles	 8
Appendix B - Question Types	 9
Appendix C - Safe Drinking Water Regulations Federal Register Abstracts	 11
Appendix D - Daily Call Monitoring System Data	 12
Appendix E - Contract Management Information	 13
Booz I Allen I Hamilton
Safe Drinking Water Hotline
National Toil-Free No.: (800) 426-4791 or (877) EPA WATER
£
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Safe Drinking Water Hotline Monthly Report
September 2001
I. Monthly Summary of Calls and Emails
Total number of calls answered:
1,530
Average wait time:
19 seconds
Percent of all calls answered in < 1 min:
91.20%
Percent of calls satisfied immediately:
98.4%
Percent of callbacks answered in 5 days:
100%
Total number of emails received:
385
Percent of emails answered in 5 days:
100%
Phone System Message Retrievals:

- Local Drinking Water Quality
1180
- Arsenic Rule
68
II. Comparison to Previous Year

Calls
Emails
Sep 2001
1,530
385
Sep 2000
2,653
370
III. Hot Topics
Topic
Questions (via
phone & email)
Percent of
Total
Local Drinking Water Quality
192
8
Household Wells
227
10
Tap Water Testing
239
10
CCR General
73
3
Lead & Copper
160
7
Health Effects/Assessments
67
3
Home Water Treatment Units
120
5
Cryptosporidium
35
1
Secondary DW Regs
61
3
Radon
58
2
Coliforms
75
3
Arsenic
46
2
Bottled Water
69
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
IV. Frequent Referrals
Referral
Number of
Percent of
Referrals
Total Referrals
Local Water System
135
8
State Lab Certification
246
15
Local Public Health
130
8
EPA Internet
217
13
NSF/WQA/UL/NAIN
206
12
AGWT
116
7
State PWSS
170
10
FDA/IBWA
43
3
Other Hotlines
68
4
Non-EPA Internet
22
1
Other Federal Agencies
22
1
Regional Offices (combined)
31
2
V. Selected Questions and Answers
A.	Microbial/Disinfectant and Disinfection Byproduct Rules (M/DBPR)
When does a large PWS have to be in compliance with the DBP rule for THM which
becomes effective on January 1, 2002?
According to Tom Grubb in EPA's OGWDW Standards and Risk Reduction Branch,
40 CFR § 141.133(b)(l)(i) states that a PWS will have to be in compliance with the
new TTHM MCLs after four quarters of testing using a running annual average.
If during the first year any one-quarter will cause the annual running average to
exceed the MCL, then the PWSS is out of compliance during that quarter (40 CFR
§141.133(a)(3)).
B.	Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) List 1:
We are a PWS that has been conducting List 1 monitoring of perchlorate. The result
of a sample sent to a laboratory was reported as <40 • g/L. Matrix interference in the
analysis prevented the result from being more specific. Since the detected range is
above but could potentially be below the minimum reporting level of 4 • g/L, should a
new sample be taken and if so, what is the protocol?
According to Dan Hautman of EPA's Technical Support Center (TSC), if there is still
holding time left for the sample, they can run the test again with pretreatment to
reduce matrix effects. Otherwise they must resample. Laboratories should
investigate pretreatment to address matrix interference. Additional concern could be
the use of a dilution factor that is too large in analyzing perchlorate (diluting sample
at 10:1 as opposed to 4:1).
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
C. and D. Underground Injection Control (UIC)
What is the meaning of USDW within the context of the UIC program?
The definition for Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW) is codified in 40
CFR §146.3. "Underground source of drinking water (USDW) means an aquifer or
its portion: Which supplies any public water system; or which contains a sufficient
quantity of ground water to supply a public water system; and currently supplies
drinking water for human consumption; or contains fewer than 10,000 mg/L total
dissolved solids; and Which is not an exempted aquifer."
What is an exempted aquifer?
An aquifer or a portion thereof which meets the criteria for an "underground source of
drinking water" in §146.3 may be determined under 40 CFR §144.8 to be an
"exempted aquifer" if it meets the following criteria:
It does not currently serve as a source of drinking water; and
It cannot now and will not in the future serve as a source of drinking water
because:
it is mineral, hydrocarbon, or geothermal energy producing, or can be
demonstrated by a permit applicant as part of a permit application for a
Class II or III operation to contain minerals or hydrocarbons that
considering their quantity and location are expected to be commercially
producible.
it is situated at a depth or location which makes recovery of water for
drinking water purposes economically or technologically impractical;
it is so contaminated that it would be economically or technologically
impractical to render that water fit for human consumption; or
it is located over a Class III well mining area subject to subsidence or
catastrophic collapse; or
The total dissolved solids content of the ground water is more than 3,000 and
less than 10,000 mg/L and it is not reasonably expected to supply a public
water system (40 CFR §146.4).
E. Sole Source Aquifer
How many designated Sole Source Aquifers are there in the United States?
As of September 2001, there are 72 designated Sole Source Aquifers nationwide.
VI. Specific Water System Enforcement Issues
N/A
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
VII.	Corrections (from previous reports)
N/A
VIII.	Question of the Month
A citizen emailed the Hotline with the following dilemma:
"We have an occasional vacation cabin in Southern Indiana that uses a cistern for collection of
water from the roof. (The water runs through an underground gravel filter, which has not been
opened for several years.) We use the cistern water for plumbing, bathing, washing dishes, etc.
Two issues have recently occurred:
1.	A flashlight containing batteries was dropped into the cistern.
2.	The flashlight was dropped into the water while observing a couple dozen foot-long snakes
swimming in the cistern water.
My questions are: 1. Are there any options besides pumping all of the water out of the cistern
and eliminating the snakes? Currently, we have not been chlorinating the water, and wonder if a
couple of gallons of bleach will kill the snakes. If so, will the dead snakes create a health hazard
for our drinking water? There is about 3 feet of water in the cistern now, and the diameter is
about 8 feet. 2. Will the batteries in the flashlight decompose and create a health hazard to the
water?"
The citizen was referred to his local health department and the American Ground Water Trust for
information on how to correct his problem. In the meantime, he was instructed to find an
alternative source of drinking water.
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
IX. OGWDW Calendar of Events and Meetings
Fy 2002 Conference Calendar
November
11/5-7
11/6
11/9-13
11/12-14
11/14-16
2201
ECOS 2001 Natn'l.
EPA rescheduled
APHA, 130th
National
Groundwater

Environmental
public meeting on
Annual Meeting -
Pollution
Foundation -

Performance
Draft Strategy for
Philadelphia, PA
Prevention
Annual Fall

Summit - Crystal
Waterborne Microbial

Roundtable Fall
Conference,

City, VA
Disease - Arlington,
11/8-9
Conference -
Pittsburgh, PA


Virginia
Full NDWAC
Charleston, SC


11/ 8-9

Council meeting -

11/28-30

Full NDWAC
11/6-7
D.C.

EPA's 4th Annual

Council meeting ~
Synthetic Organic


Customer Service

Washington DC
Chemical
11/11-15,2001

Conference -


Manufacturers Assoc.
WQTC

Washington, D.C.


Symposium
Meeting,




on Pollution
Nashville, TN

11/28-29, 2001


Prevention and


NDWA


Environmental


C Research


Regulations -


Working


Columbus, Ohio


Group+Future





Scenarios





Workshop - D.C.
December
12/5-7
12/7-9
12/10-13


2001
ECOS 2001 Grants
Natn'l. Ground Water
EPA Region Ill's



Performance
Assoc., Natn'l.
Chemical



Summit - Wyndham
Convention &
Emergency



City Center, D.C.
Exhibition - Nashville,
Preparedness




TN
& Prevention



12/3-6

Conference and



EPA National

EPA HQ



Environmental

HAZMAT Spills



Justice Advisory

Conference



Council Meeting

- Baltimore, MD



Seattle, WA




January 2002



1/22-23





GWPC UIC





Meeting -





Houston, TX

February

2/18-20


2/23-27
2002

AS CE/AWRA/EP A


EPA Watershed


and others -


Conference 2002-


Conference on


Ft. Lauderdale,


Stormwater and Urban


FL


Water Systems





Modeling -Toronto,





Canada



March 2002
3/5-9
3/8-12
3/10-13
3/19
3/27-3/30

WQA 28th Annual
Natn'l League of
ASWIPCA Mid-
Groundwater
NSTA Natn'l.

Convention &
Cities - Congressional
Year Meeting,
Foundation
Science Teachers

Exhibition, New
City Conference -
Alexandria, VA
Children's
Assoc. Natn'l.

Orleans, LA
D.C.

Festival - Grand
Convention - San



3/10-13
Island, NE
Diego, CA
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001



AAPG Annual
Mtg.-Houston,
TX
3/12-15
USGS/EPA
Conference on
SWP in Fractured
-Aquifer Settings
- Denver, CO


April 2002
4/1-5, 2002
Spring National P2
Roundtable -
Portland, OR
4/7-9
GWPC Annual Policy
Meeting - Alexandria,
VA
4/22
Earth Day-32nd
Annual
Observance


May 2002
5/5-11
National Drinking
Water Week


5/21-23
National Water
Quality
Monitoring
Council Natn'l.
Meeting -
Madison, WI

June 2002

6/16-20, 2002
AWWA Annual
Conference &
Exposition - New
Orleans, LA

6/24-28
Community
Involvement
Conference -
Portland, OR
6/23-28
26th Annual
Association of
State Floodplain
Managers
Conference ~
Phoenix, AZ,
6/30-7/3
NEHA Annual
Education
Conference-
Minneapolis, MN
July 2002
7/13-16
Natn'l. Governors
Assoc. Annual
Meeting - Boise, ID
7/10-13
NACCHO Annual
Meeting
New Orleans, LA



August 2002
8/11-13
ASWIPCA Annual
Meeting, Richmond,
VA




September
2002




9/29-10/2
ICMA Annual
Conference
Philadelphia, PA
October 2002
10/6-8
ECOS Annual
Meeting - San
Antonio, TX
10/6-9
NRWA Annual
Management &
Technical Conference
& Technology Exhibit
Center, Spokane, WA


10/27-30
AMWA Annual
Conference - San
Juan, PR
10/27-30
Geological
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report	September 2001





Society of Amer.
Denver, CO
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
November
2002
11/4-7
AWRA Annual
Conference -
Philadelphia, PA
11/9-13
American Public
Health Assoc. 130th
Annual Meeting
Philadelphia, PA
11/11-13,
Council Of
Infrastructure
Financing Authorities
Louisville, KY



December
2002
12/3-7
Natn'l League of
Cities - Congress of
Cities Conference -
D.C.




Conference Dates not yet available:
6th National Tribal Conference in Environmental Management in 2002
GWPC Annual Forum (last week in September?)
Spring CIFA Legislative meeting in May
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
Appendix A - Customer Profiles
Calls
Analytical Laboratories	19
Citizens	1179
Consultants/Industry/Trade Associations 113
Environmental Groups	2
EPA HQ	10
EPA Regions	18
Government	18
Media	8
Medical Professional	3
Schools/University	30
PWS	87
Trans Non Community	0
NTNC	0
Spanish Speaking	1
Other	9
Hangups	33
Total Number of Callers	1530
Emails
Analytical Laboratories	3
Citizens	271
Consultants/Industry/Trade Associations	43
Environmental Groups	2
EPA HQ	0
EPA Regions	2
Government	2
Media	0
Medical Professional	2
Schools/University	42
PWS	8
Trans Non Community	0
NTNC	0
Spanish	3
Other	7
Hangups	0
Total Number of Emails	385
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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
Appendix B - Question Types
Calls
NPDWRs
Microbial/DBP/ICR
Coliforms
SWTR, ESWTR & LT1FBR
GW Rule
Cryptosporidium
Other Microbial
Waterborne Diseases
ICR
Chlorine
THM
Other D/DBPs
Home Water Disinfection
IOC/SOC
Phase I, II & V
Arsenic
Fluoride
MTBE
Perchlorate
Sodium Monitoring
Sulfate
LEAD and COPPER
Lead & Copper
LCCA/Lead Ban
RADIONUCLIDES
Other Rads
Radon
SECONDARY DW REGULATIONS
Secondary DW Regulations
BACKGROUND/OVERVIEW
Definitions & Applicability
EPA Homepage
Science Fair Projects
SDWA
Standard Setting
WOT, Hands & MCL List
Other Background
OTHER DRINKING WATER
REGULATIONS
Analytical Methods
CCL & DWPL
CCR Compliance
CCR General
CCR Saw PSA
NCOD
Operator Certification
Public Notification
Small System Variances & SSCTs
SRF Funds
State Primacy & Indian Lands
UCMR Lab Methods Issues
UCMR PWS Monitoring	13
UCMR Other	12
Variances, Exemptions & Waivers	1
OTHER DRINKING WATER
Additives Program	6
61 Affordability/Cost/Needs Capacity	0
18 Bottled Water	53
1 Complaints about PWS	36
31 Compliance & Enforcement	12
11 Health Effects & Health Assessments	56
1 HWTUs	90
1 Local DW Quality	150
18 Meeting Registration	20
9 State Lab Certification	51
14 Tap Water Testing	212
10 Treatment/BATs	34
OTHER PROGRAMS
36 Air	6
31 CWA	6
13 Pesticides	4
26 Pollution Prevention	10
1 RCRA	4
6	TSCA	0
7	Non-EPA Environmental	9
Non Environmental	8
151	GROUND WATER/WELLHEAD
10 Household Wells	195
Sole Source Aquifer	2
28 Groundwater	17
50 WHP	0
Source Water	20
52 UIC Wells	10
TOTAL QUESTIONS	1887
35
4
6
8
7
42
52
12
1
9
61
0
0
1
14
2
4
2
4
10

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SDW Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
Emails
Microbial/DBP/ICR
Coliforms
SWTR, ESWTR & LT1FBR
GW Rule
Cryptosporidium
Other Microbial
Waterborne Diseases
ICR
Chlorine
THM
Other D/DBPs
Home Water Disinfection
IOC/SOC
Phase I, II, V
Arsenic
Fluoride
MTBE
Perchlorate
Sodium Monitoring
Sulfate
LEAD and COPPER
Lead & Copper
LCCA/Lead Ban
RADIONUCLIDES
Other Rads
Radon
SECONDARY DW REGULATIONS
Secondary DW Regulations
BACKGROUND/OVERVIEW
Definitions & Applicability
EPA Homepage
Science Fair Projects
SDWA
Standard Setting
WOT, Hands & MCL List
Other Background
OTHER DRINKING WATER
REGULATIONS
Analytical Methods
CCL & DWPL
CCR Compliance
CCR General
CCR Saw PSA
NCOD
Operator Certification
Public Notification
Small System Variances & SSCTs
SRF Funds
State Primacy & Indian Lands
UCMR Lab Methods Issues
UCMR PWS Monitoring	1
UCMR Other	0
14	Variances, Exemptions & Waivers	0
1 OTHER DRINKING WATER
0	Additives Program	3
4 Affordability/Cost/Needs Capacity	0
3	Bottled Water	16
1	Complaints about PWS	18
0	Compliance & Enforcement	9
4	Health Effects/Health Assessments	11
1	HWTUs	30
1	Local DW Quality	42
11 Meeting Registration	0
State Lab Certification	5
10 Tap Water Testing	27
15	Treatment/BATs	6
10 OTHER PROGRAMS
5	Air	1
2	CWA	2
1	Pesticides	2
5	Pollution Prevention	5
RCRA	6
9 TSCA	0
4 Non-EPA Environmental	25
Non Environmental	27
6	GROUNDWATER/WELLHEAD
8	Household Wells	33
Sole Source Aquifer	0
9	Ground Water	9
WHP	1
7	Source Water	6
3	UIC Wells	2
6 TOTAL QUESTIONS	494
2
2
17
13
8
1
3
12
0
0
3
0
0
5
1
0
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Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
Appendix C - Safe Drinking Water Regulations Federal Register Abstracts
Public Notification (PN) and Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rules
"National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Minor Revision to Public Notification
Rule and Consumer Confidence Report Rule; Proposed Rule" (66 FR 46928, September
7, 2001)
This action proposed to make specific changes to the health effects language for di(2-
ethylhexyl)adipate (DEHA) and di(2-ethylhexyl)pthalate (DEHP) in the Public
Notification Rule and the Consumer Confidence Reporting Rule. EPA also clarified
proper use of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database.
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR)
"Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulations for Public Water Systems;
Amendment to the List 2 Rule and Partial Delay of Reporting of Monitoring Results" (66
FR 46221, September 4, 2001)
EPA took direct final action to correct an omission in January 11,2001, List 2 UCMR
concerning laboratory certification. This correction will automatically approve
laboratories of public water systems, that are certified to conduct compliance monitoring
using Method 515.33 to also use Method 515.4 for UCMR analyses. Additionally, EPA
is delaying requirements for the electronic reporting of unregulated contaminant
monitoring results until its electronic reporting system is ready to accept data. This rule
is effective on November 5, 2001 unless EPA receives adverse comment by October 4,
2001.
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Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
Appendix D - Daily Call Monitoring System Data
Total No. No. Calls Average Wait

Calls
Aband
Time mmrsec
4-Sep
103
6
0:13
5-Sep
102
7
0:33
6-Sep
112
3
0:28
7-Sep
99
1
0:17
10-Sep
107
8
0:25
11-Sep
13
4
0:21
12-Sep
58
5
0:40
13-Sep
73
2
0:12
14-Sep
73
3
0:15
17-Sep
93
10
0:20
18-Sep
91
6
0:17
19-Sep
95
4
0:19
20-Sep
98
4
0:10
21-Sep
68
0
0:10
24-Sep
87
3
0:15
25-Sep
84
3
0:14
26-Sep
80
1
0:17
27-Sep
77
3
0:14
28-Sep
92
2
0:21

1605
75
0:19
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Monthly Hotline Report
September 2001
Appendix E - Contract Management Information
Pending and Completed Actions
A.	Hotline took registrations for training sessions in Regions 1, 4, 5, 7, and 10.
During September, Hotline took registrations for trainings conducted in Regions 2
and 6.
B.	Hotline worked with other contractors to coordinate and expedite the meeting
registrations for the training sessions.
C.	Hotline worked with Project Officer in developing OGWDW's Counter-terrorism
position. The Hotline provided weekly tabulations of calls concerning terrorism
and continues to assess callers concerns and issues surrounding this topic for PO.
D.	Hotline received 26 phone and 7 email inquiries regarding terrorism.
Report on Internet Activities
Our searches revealed no errors on the OGWDW Web site in September.
Hotline Operational Issues (operational changes, difficulties encountered, remedial
actions taken or needed, or personnel changes )
C. Hotline staff continued to work with PO in efforts to correct a problem related to
direct email inquiries sent to hotline-sdwa@epa.gov, and worked with OGWDW
staff to appropriately route direct email inquiries to Hotline for efficient, timely
response. This routing problem was corrected on September 5, 2001, when the
Hotline experienced a surge of 438 emails, some of which were duplicates. All
emails were answered within 5 working days of receipt by the Hotline.
Hotline Suggestions (for areas of frequent concern among callers that EPA may
wish to consider addressing in future publications)
A. The Hotline has been receiving frequent calls concerning emergency disinfection
of drinking water. Currently, the Hotline is directing callers to the Educational
Resource Information Center (ERIC) and National Technical Information Service
(NTIS) for the EPA Fact Sheet on Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water
(EPA 810-F-93-002). The Hotline believes that making this publication available
from Water Resource Center would greatly expedite these requests from
concerned citizens. The document is available on the web, but many callers do
not have internet access.
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