Rule 3745-81-52 | Revised total coliform rule - repeat monitoring and E. coli requirements.
(A) Repeat monitoring.
(1) When a sample collected in accordance with rule 3745-81-51 of the Administrative Code is total coliform-positive, the public water system shall monitor with a set of three repeat samples within twenty-four hours of being notified of the positive result. The system must collect no fewer than three repeat samples for each total coliform-positive sample.
(a) The director shall not waive the requirement for a system to collect repeat samples in accordance with paragraphs (A)(1) to (A)(3) of this rule.
(b) The twenty-four hour time limit to collect repeat samples may be extended up to an additional seventy-two hours when one or more of the following conditions beyond the control of the public water system prevent it from complying:
(i) The certified laboratory that performs sample collection for the system is not available on a weekend or holiday.
(ii) Collection of samples within twenty-four hours would result in the holding time being exceeded before analysis is started due to limited delivery service or a laboratory not being open.
(iii) Sample bottles could not be obtained due to certified laboratories being closed on a weekend or holiday.
(iv) Extreme weather conditions create unsafe travel or on-site conditions for the person collecting the samples.
(c) A public water system using the time extension provisions of this paragraph shall record the reasons for the delay in collecting repeat samples on the sample submission form.
(d) Upon a request from a public water system, the director may extend the twenty-four-hour limit on a case-by-case basis when the public water system has a logistical problem collecting the repeat samples within twenty-four hours other than those specified in this paragraph or when one or more of the conditions in paragaph (A)(1)(b) of this rule create an unavoidable delay longer than an additional seventy-two hours. When an extension is granted by the director, the director shall specify how much time the public water system has to monitor with repeat samples.
(2) Public water systems shall collect all total coliform repeat samples on the same day.
(3) When one or more repeat sample in the current set is total coliform-positive, the public water system shall continue to monitor with an additional set of repeat samples in the manner specified in paragraphs (A)(1) to (A)(3) of this rule until total coliforms are not detected in one complete set of repeat samples or the system determines that a coliform treatment technique trigger as set forth in paragraph (A) of rule 3745-81-53 of the Administrative Code has been exceeded as a result of a repeat sample being total coliform-positive and notifies the director no later than the end of the next business day after the public water system learns of the total coliform-positive result.
(4) When a trigger identified in rule 3745-81-53 of the Administrative Code is exceeded as a result of a routine sample being total coliform-positive, public water systems are required to monitor with only one set of repeat samples for each total coliform-positive routine sample.
(5) After a public water system monitors with a routine sample and before the public water system learns the results of the analysis of that sample, when the public water system collects one or more other routine sample from within five adjacent service connections of the initial sample, and the initial sample, after analysis, is found to contain total coliforms, then the public water system may consider the subsequent samples as repeat samples instead of as routine samples.
(6) Results of all routine and repeat samples taken under rule 3745-81-51 and this rule of the Administrative Code not invalidated by the director shall be used to determine whether a coliform treatment technique trigger specified in rule 3745-81-53 of the Administrative Code has been exceeded.
(B) When any routine or repeat sample is total coliform-positive, the public water system shall have that total coliform-positive culture further analyzed to determine if Escherichia coli (E. coli) are present. When E. coli are present, the public water system shall notify the director by the end of the day when the system is notified of the test result, unless the system is notified of the result after the director's office is closed, in which case the system shall notify the director before the end of the next business day. All repeat sample results shall be submitted no later than the end of the next business day following analysis.
Last updated May 4, 2022 at 11:59 AM
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