WATER LINE
MDH Drinking Water Web Site
Gets Shorter Address,
Hosts New Drinking Water Module
The web address for the Minnesota Department of Health
(MDH) drinking-water web site has gotten shorter. It is now:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/water
This is the site for an up-to-date training calendar for
Minnesota water operators as well as brochures and fact
sheets, source water assessments, and much more.
Urban Drinking Water Module Now on Web Site
The drinking water web site is now hosting a prototype
version of the Urban Water Cycle drinking-water module
developed by the Hamline University Center for Global
Environmental Education in conjunction with MDH and the
Minnesota Section of American Water Works Association.
(The prototype still has some technical glitches. A glitch-free
final version will be completed in the spring of 2008.)
The module is available through a link on the home page of
the web site or directly at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/water/urbancycle
The Urban Water Cycle will also be available on a
CD-ROM and can be used for presentations to school groups,
citizens, city councils, and anyone else who wants to know
more about drinking water. The module also contains a
teachers’ guide for classroom education. The Urban Water
Cycle has already received awards from American Water
Works Association and the Minnesota Association of
Government Communicators.
NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIERS IN MINNESOTA
Rules Changes
Total Coliform Rule
A federal advisory committee is considering changes to the
Total Coliform Rule. The group met in early December
following a meeting of the Technical Work Group, a team of
technical experts that provides data and analysis to support
the advisory committee’s work.
Ideas discussed and considered by the advisory committee,
which will continue to meet in 2008, include a change from a
maximum contaminant level-based rule to a treatmenttechnique rule, better matching of rule requirements to the
type and size of a system as well as to the system’s
compliance history and protective barriers that are in place, a
revision of the accepted analytical method list based on method
performance and how soon the test result can be generated,
more flexibility for routine and repeat sampling related to
number and location, more meaningful public notice, and
regulatory need for cross-connection control programs.
Jerry Smith, supervisor of the Noncommunity Water
Program for MDH, is one of the members of the advisory
committee. MDH will continue to provide information as the
rule revision progresses.
Lead and Copper Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently
published the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Short-Term
Regulatory Revisions and Clarifications, which is available at
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lcrmr. This final rule aims to
strengthen the implementation of the Lead and Copper Rule
in the following areas: monitoring, treatment processes,
public education, customer awareness, and lead service line
replacement. It affects community and noncommunity
nontransient water systems.
Rules Changes—Continued on page 5
Upcoming Water Operator Certification Exam Dates
March 6, St. Cloud
April 16, Brooklyn Center
March 14, Rochester
May 16, Ely
April 2, Redwood Falls
June 13, Deerwood
See calendar on back page for more information
Spring 2008 Volume Fifteen/4
Inside: Training News
Water System Provides Opportunities for Correctional Residents
Training News
2008 Metro School
The 2008 Metro Waterworks Operators School will be held from Monday, April 14 through Wednesday, April 16 at the Earle
Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center. Participants in the school will receive 16 credit hours for their attendance. The
registration for the school will be $155 ($190 at the door or after April 2). The Earle Brown Heritage Center does not have
lodging on-site (other than a bed and breakfast that is not available for individual bookings). However, there are a number of
hotels in the area, many of which provide shuttle service to the Heritage Center.
Registration will begin at 7 a.m. on April 14 with the sessions beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
A registration form is on the next page.
Wednesday, April 16
Monday, April 14
7:30 Breakfast
Minnesota AWWA Section Chair
Karla Peterson
8:00-9:45
• Urban Water Cycle Drinking-Water Module
• Time Management
The rest of the morning and the afternoon will be split into
concurrent sessions on water sources and water quality.
Speaking Program:
Writer, Speaker, Storyteller, Humorist Al Batt
Concurrent Session I
• Source Water Protection
• Water Chemistry
• WARN and Toolbox Response Kit
• Water Main Corrosion Mitigation
• Case Study of Contamination Incidents
• Sampling Techniques and PFCs
Concurrent Session II
• Metro Water Supply Plan and Conservation
• Hydrology
• Electric Power Managment
• Wells
• Pump Curves
• Pump Design and Selection
9:00 Product Exposition with Mini-Sessions
10:45 TopOps Competition
• • • • •
12:30
• Certification Exams
For updates on the Metro School agenda, go to
http://mnawwa.org/operator_training/metro.html
Surface Water Treatment Workshop
The 2008 Surface Water Treatment Workshop, sponsored
by the Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota sections
of American Water Works Association, will be held fromApril
29 to May 1 in Moorhead.
The workshop will feature tours, poster sessions, and
regulatory, technological, and case-study updates from
national and regional experts.
For more information, go to http://awwand.org/swtw.
Tuesday, April 15
7:30 to 11:00
Exam Study Session
or
Confined Space Training (Classroom Session)
or
Membranes (Classroom Session)
Waterline
• • • • •
11:45-3:30
Off-site sessions (choice of one)
• Dow Filmtech
• Minneapolis Ultrafiltration Plant
• Blaine Water Treatment Plant
• Excavation Demonstration
or
Exam Study Session
Published quarterly by the Drinking Water Protection
Section, Minnesota Department of Health
Editor:
Stew Thornley
Staff:
Karla Peterson
Jeanette Boothe
Noel Hansen
or
On-site hands-on sessions, including confined space,
tapping, hydrant maintenance, large meter testing, leak
detection, and brass installation.
Past issues of the Waterline are available at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/water/newsletters.htm
2
Other Spring 2008 Schools
Besides the Metro District Waterworks Operators School, several other schools, which are jointly sponsored by the
Minnesota American Water Works Association and the Minnesota Department of Health:
• Southeast School, March 12-14, Ramada Hotel and Conference Center, Rochester
• Southwest School, April 2, Redwood Area Community Center, Redwood Falls
• Northeast School, May 14-16, Grand Ely Lodge, Ely
• Central School, June 11-13, Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge near Deerwood
Information, including agendas, for all district schools is at http://mnawwa.org (under Training and Resources)
2008 Southeast School Agenda
Thursday, March 13
7:30-11:30
• Operator Breakfast
• Exhibitor and Product Fair
• Meter Competition
• TopOps Competition
Wednesday, March 12
8:00-11:30
• Panel: Southeastern Minnesota Floods of 2007
• Water System Computer Modeling
• Water for People
or
12:30-3:30
• Water Usage for Ethanol Plants
• Reduced-Pressure Zones
• Chemical Safety
• Phluoride and Phosphorus
Exam Study Session
12:30-3:30
• Perceptions and Safety
• Southeast Minnesota Flood Photos
• Testing the Chemicals in Your Water
or
Exam Study Session
or
Friday, March 14
8:00-noon
• Southeast District Business Meeting
• Direction of Minnesota AWWA
• Minnesota Department of Health Laboratory Certification
• Commercial Driver’s License Information
Exam Study Session
MRWA Technical Conference
The 2006 Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA)
Technical Conference will be held at the St. Cloud Civic
Center from Tuesday, March 4 through Thursday, March 6.
For more information, contact the MRWA office at
218-685-5197 or via e-mail at [email protected].
or
Certification Exams
REGISTRATION FORM FOR SPRING SCHOOLS
You may combine fees on one check if more than one person is attending a school; however, please make a copy of this form
for each person. Questions regarding registration, contact Jeanette Boothe at 651-201-4697.
To receive an exam application, contact Noel Hansen at 651-201-4690 or Mark Sloan at 651-201-4652.
Southeast School, March 12-14, 2008. Ramada Hotel and Conference Center, Rochester. Fee: $135 ($145 after March 3
or at the door).
Southwest School, April 2, 2008. Redwood Area Community Center, Redwood Falls. Fee: $25 ($30 at the door).
Metro School, April 14-16, 2008. Earle Brown Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center. Fee: $155 ($190 after April 2 or at the
door).
Northeast School, May 14-16, 2008. Grand Lodge Ely, Ely. Fee: $115 ($125 after May 2 or at the door).
Name
Employer
Address
City
Zip
Day Phone
E-mail Address
Please enclose the appropriate fee. Make check payable to Minnesota AWWA. Mail this form and fee to Drinking Water
Protection Section, Minnesota Department of Health, P. O. Box 64975, St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975.
3
Red Wing Residents Learn Job Skills while Maintaining Water System
The facility turns over only about 20,000 gallons a day out
of a 250,000-gallon ground-storage reservoir. This, along with
dead ends on the system, has resulted in some aesthetic
problems in the water.
In recent years, the system has also addressed
exceedances in the standards for copper and radium. In the
1990s, a polyphosphate was added to the existing treatment
of chlorine and fluoride for the purpose of iron suspension
and corrosion control to deal with the copper exceedance.
The radium issue surfaced in the early 2000s. With the
wells drawing from both the Franconia and Mount Simon
aquifers, the monitoring results were indicating both high and
low levels of radium. “It was difficult to predict what the
water quality would be with it drawing from different
aquifers,” said Minnesota Department of Health engineer
Karla Peterson, who worked with the facility on finding a
remedy. Peterson also noted that the size of one of the wells—
it has a 20-inch diameter—factored into the unpredictability
of the results.
To deal with the radium, the system added six ion-exchange
units for softening, two on each well and two on the water
heater. In addition to reducing the radium levels, the softeners
have helped with the aesthetic qualities of the water.
The Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) in Red Wing
has been described as a “placement of last resort for kids” by
associate warden John Handy. On an average day, the prison
has 130 male juvenile offenders, most of whom have already
been in county institutions. Though they are juveniles, the
average age of the resident is 17.9 years.
In addition to the juvenile residents, the facility has one
unit of 30 adult male minimum-security prisoners (housed
separately from the juvenile residents) and 160 staff
members. All are served by the water system on site. But in
addition to providing drinking water to residents and staff as
well as the other water needs (the laundry is the largest user),
the water system is providing a way for juvenile residents to
learn job skills before being released.
Mike Priem, a master plumber with a quarter-century of
experience in the profession, oversees the water supply at the
Minnesota Correctional Facility in Red Wing, about 50 miles
southeast of the Twin Cities. He says the young residents
have good attitudes. “They are very eager. They want to
learn.”
MCF Red Wing’s water comes from two multi-aquifer wells
that go back to around the time the facility opened in 1889.
One is 560 feet deep and produces 280 gallons per minute
(gpm). The other is 400 feet deep and produces 70 gpm.
Continued on page 5
Clockwise from above left: The administration building, constructed in 1889; the volunteer center, which used to be the warden’s home;
Maginnis High School; operators Elmer Sylvester (left) and Mike Priem (right) in front of the small well.
4
Continued from page 4
Working with Priem on the
water system are two other fulltime operators, Elmer Sylvester
and Allen Gullickson, in addition
to the residents, who can enter
the work program after they
receive their high-school
diploma or general educational
development (GED) equivalent.
Approximately 50 percent of
the juvenile residents graduate or
get their GED while at Red
Wing. Maginnis High School,
which is on-site, provides
classes. Residents who complete
the course work can receive their diploma from their home high
school or Maginnis High, which is accredited.
Upon entering the work program, the residents work with
maintenance staff on various jobs. Priem, Sylvester, and
Gullickson oversee the residents, who do testing of the water
and other jobs under staff supervision. They often obtain their
Class E operator license. “They
[the operators] do a great job of
working with residents as far as
work skills go,” says associate
warden Steve Hammer.
Handy points out that, along
with the specific skills they
acquire, the residents learn the
overall traits needed to stay
employed. “The absence of
employment is a high-risk
factor,” Handy says. “A big
problem outside [for them] is
maintaining employment.”
But learning basic skills, such
as being reliable and punctual, helps the residents maintain
employment when they get out. “They see the world
differently,” Handy says. “At Red Wing, they learn to
manage their emotions, solve problems.
“They learn to make the right choices after a history of not
making right choices.”
Glad You Asked?
Actual Comments Received at the Bridger-Teton National Forest in 1996
“Trail needs to be reconstructed. Please avoid building
trails that go uphill.”
“Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spider webs.
Please spray the wilderness to rid the area of these pests.”
“Too many rocks in the mountains.”
“The places where trails do not exist are not well marked.”
“A McDonald’s would be nice at the trailhead.”
Rules Changes—Continued from page 1
occupants at sites that are tested in the LCR tap monitoring
program. Content of the notification must include results for
the tap that was tested, health effects, actions to reduce
exposure, name and phone number of a contact person at
the utility, maximum contaminant level goal, and action level.
Systems are also required to certify that notification
requirements have been met and certifications must arrive
at the MDH within 90 days from the end of the monitoring
period.
For more information, contact Lih-in Rezania at 651-2014661, [email protected].
Some of the highlights of the revisions to the Lead and
Copper Rule include:
Pre-Notification and Approval from MDH for Source
or Long-term Treatment Change: All systems on reduced
lead and copper tap monitoring making a long-term
treatment change or adding or changing to a new water
source must notify MDH in writing and obtain approval prior
to implementing the change(s). Long-term treatment changes
include but are not limited to the addition of new treatment
processes, modifications of existing treatment processes,
such as switching disinfectants, coagulants, or corrosion
inhibitor products, and/or long-term dose changes to existing
chemicals that would have long-term impacts on water
quality.
Public Education: All systems are required to put
educational language about lead in their Consumer
Confidence Reports. Required language includes statements
about lead in drinking water, health effects on children, and a
flushing recommendation of 30 seconds to two minutes.
For systems that exceed the lead action level, the public
education must contain mandatory language about the health
effects of lead, including affects on I.Q., and where to find
additional information. The organizations that must receive
this information include childcare facilities and pre-schools.
Customer Awareness: Systems must provide lead/copper
test results within 30 days upon receipt of results to the
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 2
The U. S. EPA promulgated rules requiring public water
systems serving populations of 10,000 or more to monitor
for a number of unregulated contaminants sometime between
2008 and 2010 and report the results to the EPA. A randomly selected subset of small water systems (serving fewer
than 10,000 people) has also been chosen to participate in
the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 2.
Samples will be collected by MDH district engineers, and
results will be electronically reported to the EPA by the laboratory designated to analyze the samples. A copy of the results will be sent to the system as soon as they are available.
For more information, contact Cindy Swanson at 651-2014656, [email protected].
5
CALENDAR
Water Operator Training
Minnesota Section, American Water
Works Association
*March 12-14, Southeast Water
Operators School, Ramada Hotel and
Conference Center, Rochester. Contact
Dean Huschle, 507-645-3051.
*April 2, Southwest Water Operators
School, Redwood Area Community
Center, Redwood Falls. Contact John
Blomme, 507-537-7308.
*April
14-16, Metro Water
Operators School, Earle Brown Heritage
Center, Brooklyn Center. Contact
Jeanette Boothe, 651-201-4697, or Stew
Thornley, 651-201-4655.
*May 14-16, Northeast Water
Operators School, Grand Ely Lodge, Ely.
Contact Jeanette Boothe, 651-201-4697,
or Stew Thornley, 651-201-4655.
*June 11-13, Central Water
Operators School, Ruttger’s Bay Lake
Lodge, Deerwood, Contact Lyle Stai,
320-212-8590.
Minnesota Rural Water Association
Contact Kyle Kedrowski, 800-367-6792.
*March 4-6, Technical Conference, MRWA Class D and E Training
St. Cloud
March 5, St. Cloud (Class D)
April 9, Elbow Lake, Operation &
April 2, Sturgeon Lake (Class D)
Maintenance
April 22, Shakopee (Class D)
April 23, Waconia, Operation & MainApril 29, Detroit Lakes (Class E)
tenance
May 6, St. Paul (Class E)
May 7, Edgerton, Operation & MainJune 5, St. Peter (Class E)
tenance
June 4, Litchfield, Hands-on SpecialNote: Class D workshops are eight hours,
ized Treatment Training
and Class E workshops are four hours.
June 18, Wahkon, Operation & Main- The morning session of a Class D worktenance
shop is the same as a stand-alone fourhour workshop for Class E
operators; thus, Class E operators may
attend either the stand-alone four-hour
Safe Water for All Minnesota People workshop or the morning session of the
Contact Steve Kleist, 218-365-7281
Class D workshop.
Vermilion Community College offers
training courses that is free to small St. Cloud Technical College
water systems at the Outdoor Learning Contact Keith Redmond or Bill Spain,
Center outside Ely.
320-308-5952.
*Includes a water certification exam. To be eligible to take a certification exam,
applicants must have hands-on operations experience at a drinking water system.
For an up-to-date list of events, see the training calendar on the MDH web site at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/water/wateroperator/trng/wat_op_sched.html
MDH Drinking Water Protection: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/water
WATER LINE
NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIERS IN MINNESOTA
Environmental Health Division
625 North Robert Street
P. O. Box 64975
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Presort Standard
US Postage
PAID
Permit No. 171
St. Paul, MN