Code of Massachusetts Regulations
310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Title 310 CMR 22.00 - Drinking Water
Section 22.09A - Maximum Radionuclide Contaminant Levels, Monitoring Requirements and Analytical Methods Effective as of December 8, 2003

(a) MCL for Combined Radium-226 And radium-228. The maximum contaminant level for combined radium-226 and radium-228 is 5 pCi/L. The combined radium-226 and radium-228 value is determined by the addition of the results of the analysis for radium-226 and the analysis for radium-228.

(b) MCL for Gross Alpha Particle Activity (Excluding Radon and Uranium). The maximum contaminant level for gross alpha particle activity (including radium-226 but excluding radon and uranium) is 15 pCi/L.

(c) MCL for Beta Particle and Photon Radioactivity.

(d) MCL for Uranium. The maximum contaminant level for uranium is 30 µg/L.

(e) Compliance Dates for Combined Radium-226 and 228, Gross Alpha Particle Activity, Gross Beta Particle and Photon Radioactivity, and Uranium. Community water systems must comply with the MCLs listed in 310 CMR 22.09A(1): Table A beginning December 8, 2003 and compliance shall be determined in accordance with the requirements of 310 CMR 22.09A(1) through (5). Compliance with reporting requirements for the radionuclides under 310 CMR 22.16 and 22.16A is required beginning December 8, 2003.

(f) Best Available Technologies (BATs) for Radionuclides. The USEPA Administrator, pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, § 1412, has identified as indicated in 310 CMR 22.09A: Table C, Table D, and Table E of the best technology available for achieving compliance with the maximum contaminant levels for combined radium-226 and radium-228, uranium, gross alpha particle activity, and beta particle and photon radioactivity.

1 National Research Council (NRC). Safe Water from Every Tap: Improving Water Service to Small Communities. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 1997.

2 A POU, or ''point-of-use'' technology is a treatment device installed at a single tap used for the purpose of reducing contaminants in drinking water at that one tap. POU devices are typically installed at the kitchen tap. See the April 21, 2000 NODA for more details.

Limitations Footnotes: Technologies for Radionuclides:

a The regeneration solution contains high concentrations of the contaminant ions. Disposal options should be carefully considered before choosing this technology.

b When POU devices are used for compliance, programs for long-term operation, maintenance, and monitoring must be provided by water utility to ensure proper performance.

c Reject water disposal options should be carefully considered before choosing this technology. See other RO limitations described in the SWTR Compliance Technologies Table.

d The combination of variable source water quality and the complexity of the water chemistry involved may make this technology too complex for small surface water systems.

e Removal efficiencies can vary depending on water quality.

f This technology may be very limited in application to small systems. Since the process requires static mixing, detention basins, and filtration, it is most applicable to systems with sufficiently high sulfate levels that already have a suitable filtration treatment train in place.

g This technology is most applicable to small systems that already have filtration in place.

h Handling of chemicals required during regeneration and pH adjustment may be too difficult for small systems without an adequately trained operator.

i Assumes modification to a coagulation/filtration process already in place.

Note:

1 Numbers correspond to those technologies found listed in 310 CMR 22.09A(1): Table D.

(a) Monitoring Frequency and Compliance Requirements for Gross Alpha Particle Activity, Radium-226, Radium-228, and Uranium.

(b) Initial Monitoring. The supplier of water must conduct initial monitoring for gross alpha particle activity, radium-226, radium-228, and uranium as follows:

(c) Reduced Monitoring. The Department may allow community water systems to reduce the future frequency of monitoring from once every three years to once every six or nine years at each sampling point, based on the following criteria.

(d) Compositing. To fulfill quarterly monitoring requirements for gross alpha particle activity, radium-226, radium-228, or uranium, a supplier of water may composite up to four consecutive quarterly samples from a single entry point if analysis is done within a year of the first sample. The Department will treat analytical results from the composited sample as the average analytical result to determine compliance with the MCLs and the future monitoring frequency. If the analytical result from the composited sample is greater than 1/2 MCL, the Department may direct the supplier of water to take additional quarterly samples before allowing the supplier of water to sample under a reduced monitoring schedule.

(e) A gross alpha particle activity measurement may be substituted for the required radium-226 measurement provided that the measured gross alpha particle activity does not exceed 5 pCi/1. A gross alpha particle activity measurement may be substituted for the required uranium measurement provided that the measured gross alpha particle activity does not exceed 15 pCi/1. The gross alpha measurement shall have a confidence interval of 95% (1.65o, where o is the standard deviation of the net counting rate of the sample) for radium-226 and uranium. When a supplier of water uses a gross alpha particle activity measurement in lieu of a radium-226 and/or uranium measurement, the gross alpha particle activity analytical result will be used to determine the future monitoring frequency for radium-226 and/or uranium. If the gross alpha particle activity result is less than detection, 1/2 the detection limit will be used to determine compliance and the future monitoring frequency.

(a) Community water systems (both surface and ground water) designated by the Department as vulnerable must sample for beta particle and photon radioactivity. The supplier of water must collect quarterly samples for beta emitters and annual samples for tritium and strontium-90 at each entry point to the distribution system (hereafter called a sampling point), beginning within one quarter after being notified by the Department. Systems already designated by the Department must continue to sample until the Department reviews and either reaffirms or removes the designation.

(b) Community water systems (both surface and ground water) designated by the Department as utilizing waters contaminated by effluents from nuclear facilities must sample for beta particle and photon radioactivity. The supplier of water must collect quarterly samples for beta emitters and iodine-131 and annual samples for tritium and strontium-90 at each entry point to the distribution system (hereafter called a sampling point), beginning within one quarter after being notified by the Department. Systems already designated by the Department as systems using waters contaminated by effluents from nuclear facilities must continue to sample until the Department reviews and either reaffirms or removes the designation.

(c) Community water systems designated by the Department to monitor for beta particle and photon radioactivity can not apply to the Department for a waiver from the monitoring frequencies specified in 310 CMR 22.09A(3)(a) or (b).

(d) Community water systems may analyze for naturally occurring potassium-40 beta particle activity from the same or equivalent sample used for the gross beta particle activity analysis. The supplier of water is allowed to subtract the potassium-40 beta particle activity value from the total gross beta particle activity value to determine if the screening level is exceeded. The potassium-40 beta particle activity must be calculated by multiplying elemental potassium concentrations (in mg/L) by a factor of 0.82.

(e) If the gross beta particle activity minus the naturally occurring potassium-40 beta particle activity exceeds the appropriate screening level, an analysis of the sample must be performed to identify the major radioactive constituents present in the sample and the appropriate doses must be calculated and summed to determine compliance with 310 CMR 22.09A(1)(c)1., using the formula in 310 CMR 22.09A(1)(c)2. Doses must also be calculated and combined for measured levels of tritium and strontium to determine compliance.

(f) The supplier of water must monitor monthly at the sampling point(s) which exceed the maximum contaminant level in 310 CMR 22.09A: Table A beginning the month after the exceedance occurs. The supplier of water must continue monthly monitoring until the system has established, by a rolling average of three monthly samples, that the MCL is being met. Systems who establish that the MCL is being met must return to quarterly monitoring until they meet the requirements set forth in 310 CMR 22.09A(3)(a)2. or (b)1.

(a) The Department may require more frequent monitoring than specified in 310 CMR 22.09A(2) and (3), or may require confirmation samples at its discretion. The results of the initial and confirmation samples will be averaged for use in compliance determinations.

(b) Each supplier of water shall monitor at the time designated by the Department during each compliance period.

(c) Compliance with 310 CMR 22.09A(1)(a) through (d) will be determined based on the analytical result(s) obtained at each sampling point. If one sampling point is in violation of an MCL, the system is in violation of the MCL.

(d) The Department has the discretion to delete results of obvious sampling or analytic errors.

(e) If the MCL for radioactivity set forth in 310 CMR 22.09A(1)(a) through (d) is exceeded, the operator of a community water system must give notice to the Department pursuant to 310 CMR 22.15 and shall notify the public as required by 310 CMR 22.16.

(a) Analysis for the following contaminants shall be conducted to determine compliance with 310 CMR 22.09A(1) in accordance with the methods in 310 CMR 22.09A: Table F or their equivalent as determined by USEPA.

TABLE F

ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR RADIONUCLIDE MONITORING

1 Prescribed Procedures for Measurement of Radioactivity in Drinking Water, EPA 600/4-80-032, August 1980. Available at U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161 (Telephone 800-553-6847), PB 80-224744, except Method 200.8, "Determination of Trace Elements in Waters and Wastes by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry", Revision 5.4, which is published in "Methods for the Determination of Metals in Environmental Samples-Supplement 1", EPA 600-R-94-111, May 1994. Available at NTIS, PB95-125472.

2 Interim Radiochemical Methodology for Drinking Water, EPA 600/4-75-008 (revised), March 1976. Available at NTIS, ibid. PB 253258.

3 Radiochemistry Procedures Manual, EPA 520/5-84-006, December 1987. Available at NTIS, ibid. PB 84-215581.

4 Radiochemical Analytical Procedures for Analysis of Environmental Samples, U.S. Department of Energy, March 1979. Available at NTIS, ibid. EMSL LV 053917.

5 Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 13th, 17th, 18th, 19th, or 20th editions, 1971, 1989, 1992, 1995 and 1998. Available at American Public Health Association, 1015 Fifteenth Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005. Methods 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306 are only in the 13th edition. Methods 7110B, 7500-Ra B, 7500-Ra C, 7500-Ra D, 7500-U B, 7500-Cs B, 7500-I B, 7500-I C, 7500-I D, 7500-Sr B, 7500-3H B are in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th editions. Method 7110C is in the 18th, 19th, and 20th editions. Method 7500-U C Fluorometric Uranium is only in the 17th Edition, and 7500-U C Alpha spectrom-etry is only in the 18th, 19th, and 20th editions. Method 7120 is only in the 19th and 20th editions. Methods 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306 are only in the 13th edition. Method 3125 is only in the 20th edition. Methods 7110 B-00, 7110 C-00, 7500-Ra B-01, 7500-Ra C-01, 7500 Ra D-01, 7500-U B-00, 7500-U C-00, 7500-1 B-00, 7500-1 C-00, 7500-1 D-00, 7120-97, 7500-Sr B-01, and 7500-3H B-00 are available online at http://www.standardmethods.org. The year in which each method was approved by the Standard Methods Committee is designated by the last two digits in the method number. The methods listed are the only online versions that may be used.

6 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 11.01 and 11.02, 1999, 2002; American Society for Testing and Materials International; any year containing the cited version of the method may be used. Copies of these two volumes and the 2003 version of D 5673-03 may be obtained from the American Society for Testing and Materials, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959.

7 Methods for Determination of Radioactive Substances in Water and Fluvial Sediments, Chapter A5 in Book 5 of Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations of the United States Geo-logical Survey, 1977. Available at U.S. Geological Survey Information Services, Box 25286, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225-0425.

8 EML Procedures Manual, 27th (1990), or 28th (1997) Editions, Volume 1 and 2; either edition may be used. In the 27th Edition Method Ra-04 is listed as Ra-05 and Method Ga-01-R is listed as Sect. 4.5.2.3. Available at the Environmental Measurements Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 376 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3621.

9 Determination of Ra-226 and Ra-228 (Ra-02), January 1980; Revised June 1982. Available at Radiological Sciences Institute Center for Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201.

10 Determination of Radium 228 in Drinking Water, August 1980. Available at State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Environmental Quality, Bureau of Radiation and Inorganic Analytical Services, 9 Ewing Street, Trenton, NJ 08625.

11 Natural uranium and thorium-230 are approved as gross alpha-particle activity calibration standards for the gross alpha co-precipitation and evaporation methods; americium-241 is approved for use with the gross alpha co-precipitation methods.

12 If uranium (U) is determined by mass-type methods (i.e., fluorometric or laser phosphorimetry), a 0.67 pCi/mg uranium conversion factor must be used. This conversion factor is conservative and is based on the 1:1 activity ratio of U-234 to U-238 that is characteristic of naturally-occurring uranium in rock.

13 Determination of Trace Elements in Waters and Wastes by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry, Revision 5.4, which is published in Methods for the Determination of Metals in Environmental Samples-Supplement 1, EPA 600-R-94-111, May 1994. Available at NTIS, PB 95-125472.

14 The Determination of Radium-226 and Radium-228 in Drinking Water by Gamma-ray Spectrometry using HPGE or Ge(Li) Detectors," Revision 1.2, December 2004. Available from the Environmental Resources Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, 620 Cherry Street, Atlanta, GA 30332-0335, USA, Telephone: 404-894-3776. This method may be used to analyze for radium-226 and radium-228 in samples collected after January 1, 2005 to satisfy the radium-226 and radium-228 monitoring requirements specified at 40 CFR 141.26.

(b) To determine compliance with 310 CMR 22.09A(1) the detection limit shall not exceed the concentrations as indicated in 310 CMR 22.09A Table G.

(c) To judge compliance with the maximum contaminant levels listed in 310 CMR 22.09A(1), averages of data shall be used and shall be rounded to the same number of significant figures as the maximum contaminant level for the substance in question.