Utah Administrative Code
Topic - Environmental Quality
Title R309 - Drinking Water
Rule R309-520 - Facility Design and Operation: Disinfection
Section R309-520-8 - Ultraviolet Light

Universal Citation: UT Admin Code R 309-520-8

Current through Bulletin 2024-18, September 15, 2024

(1) General Requirements.

This rule shall apply to the public drinking water systems that use ultraviolet (UV) disinfection for inactivation of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and virus. The Director may reduce the requirements of monitoring and reporting on a case by case basis for the water systems that use UV as ancillary means of disinfection and do not claim credit for UV disinfection or for water systems using UV without a SCADA system and treating less than 30 gallons per minute.

Terminology used in this rule is based on the definitions in the EPA Ultraviolet Disinfection Guidance Manual for the Final Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (2006 Final UVDGM).

(a) Water systems using surface water or ground water under the influence of surface water shall not use UV as the sole means of disinfection. For these types of water systems, at least one alternative primary disinfectant must be used for virus disinfection, and a secondary disinfectant shall be provided to maintain a disinfectant residual in the distribution system.

(b) The following requirements apply to the water systems that wish to receive credit for UV disinfection:
(i) The water system shall submit a UV plan which clearly identifies the dose monitoring strategy, such as the UV intensity setpoint approach, the calculated dose approach or an alternative approach.

(ii) The water system shall identify the goals for the UV facility as part of a comprehensive disinfection strategy, including target pathogens, target log inactivation, and corresponding required UV dose per Table 215-5 in R309-215-15(19)(d).

(iii) The water system shall submit a UV reactor validation report in accordance with R309-520-8(2), to the Director for review prior to installation of UV facility.

(iv) The water system must demonstrate that the reactor is delivering the required UV dose using a validated dose monitoring system and continue to comply with the monitoring and reporting requirements specified in R309-215-15(19) and (20).

(2) Validation Testing.

The Director may accept a validation report that was conducted based on the 2003 draft UV Disinfection Guidance Manual on a case-by-case basis.

(a) Each model and specific configuration of UV reactor must undergo off-site, full-scale validation testing by an independent third party test facility prior to being approved for use. The validation testing shall be conducted in qualified test facilities that are deemed acceptable by NSF, EPA, or the Director.

(b) Validation testing results shall provide data, including calculations and tables or graphical plots, on dose delivery by the UV reactor under design conditions of flow rate, UV transmittance (UVT), UV intensity, lamp status, power ballast setting, as well as consideration of lamp aging and lamp fouling. The validation report shall demonstrate that the monitoring algorithm is valid over the range expected with the application. The data is used to define the dose monitoring algorithm for the UV reactor and the operating conditions that can be monitored by a utility to ensure that the UV dose required for a given pathogen inactivation credit is delivered.

(c) The UV reactor validation report shall include:
(i) Description of the reactor and validation test set-up, including general arrangement and layout drawings of the reactor and validation test piping arrangement.

(ii) Description of the methods used to empirically validate the reactor.

(iii) Description of the dose monitoring equation for the reactor to achieve the target pathogen inactivation credit and related graphical plots showing how the equation was derived from measured doses obtained through validation testing under varying test conditions.

(iv) Range of validated conditions for flow, UVT, UV dose, and lamp status.

(v) Description and rationale for selecting the challenge organism used in validation testing, and analysis to define operating dose for pathogen inactivation credit.

(vi) Tabulated data, analysis, and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) measures during validation testing.

(vii) A licensed professional engineer's third party oversight certification indicating that the testing and data analyses in the validation report are conducted in a technically sound manner and without bias.

(viii) The validation report shall be accompanied with completed Checklists 5.1 through 5.5 included in the EPA Ultraviolet Disinfection Guidance Manual for the Final Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (2006 Final UVDGM).

(3) Design Criteria

(a) A water system considering UV disinfection shall gather sufficient water quality data prior to design. The water samples shall be representative of the source water to be treated by the UV facility. Frequent testing may be required if significant variation or seasonal trending in water quality is expected.

(b) The following water quality parameters shall be considered in UV facility planning:
(i) UV Transmittance or UV Absorbance

(ii) Calcium

(iii) Alkalinity

(iv) Hardness

(v) Iron

(vi) Manganese

(vii) Turbidity

(viii) pH

(ix) Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP)

(x) Particle content and algae

(c) The design flow rate and UVT used to size the UV system shall be selected to provide the required dose at least 95 percent of the time, accounting for seasonal variations of flow and UVT combinations. Specifying a matrix of flow and UVT conditions for the UV reactors may be necessary.

(d) The water system may consider increasing the delivered dose beyond the required UV dose listed in Table 215-5 in R309-215-15(19)(d) to provide flexibility and conservatism.

(e) UV reactor inlet and outlet configurations shall meet the validated hydraulic distribution of flow conditions or be more hydraulically conservative. This can be achieved using one of the following approaches:
(i) The inlet and outlet configuration shall meet one of the conditions specified in Section 3.6.2 of the 2006 Final UVDGM.

(ii) Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based modeling may be used to demonstrate that the given conditions of inlet and outlet piping with the UV installation provides equal or greater dose delivery. The CFD modeling shall be conducted at the minimum and maximum values of the validated range of flow, UVT, and lamp status.

(f) The UV disinfection system shall be capable of applying the required design dose with a failed or out-of-service reactor. The design shall account for an on-line backup UV reactor or an operating scheme to apply the design dose with one reactor out of service.

(g) It shall be possible to isolate each reactor for maintenance.

(h) Signals and alarms shall be provided for the operation of the UV facility for the parameters necessary for dose monitoring algorithm, such as low UV dose, high flow rate, low UVT, UVT monitoring failure, UV sensor failure, off specification event, Ground Fault Interrupt (GFI), high water temperature, and low water level.

(i) All materials used in constructing or coating the UV reactors that come in contact with water shall be certified NSF Standard 61 - Drinking Water System Components - Health Effects.

(j) Any chemicals used in the cleaning of the UV reactor components in contact with the drinking water such as quartz sleeves shall be certified as meeting the ANSI/NSF Standard 60 - Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals - Health Effects.

(k) A flow or time delay shall be provided to permit a sufficient time for tube warm-up, per manufacturer recommendations, before water flows from the unit upon start up. The flow or time delay shall be included in the design so they do not result in excessive off specification conditions.

(l) To ensure a continuous supply of power, a backup power supply of sufficient capacity shall be provided for the UV disinfection system. If power quality problems, such as frequent power interruptions or brownouts, or remote location with unknown power quality, are anticipated, power conditioning equipment, such as uninterruptible power supply (UPS), shall be included in the design.

(m) The design shall include a redundant disinfection mechanism that will apply an approved primary disinfectant to achieve the CT or log removal/inactivation required for compliance if a UV facility is off specification or offline within a maximum response time of 15 minutes. One example of such response is to shut down the off- specification UV train and either bring a parallel UV train on line or initiate a back-up primary disinfection system within 15 minutes, so the continuous duration of an off- specification event is limited to no more than 15 minutes.

(n) UV disinfection units rated at 30 gallons per minute or less shall be certified as meeting the ANSI/NSF Standard 55, Class A, or other equivalent or more stringent validation or certification standards that are deemed acceptable by the Director.

(o) The dose monitoring approach used for UV facility must be reviewed and accepted by the Director. Typically the calculated dose approach is suitable for large systems or systems with significant flow variation, and the UV intensity setpoint approach is for small systems or systems with fixed flow rate. The dose monitoring approaches need to be consistent with the guidelines stated in the 2006 Final UVDGM.

(p) If Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) or SCADA interface is used for UV reactor's process control, the programming shall be in accordance with the validated dose monitoring algorithm and the validated conditions. The algorithm shall use inputs of flow, UV intensity sensor readings, lamps status, and/or UVT equal to or more conservative than values measured during the operation of the UV system. If the measured UVT is above the validated range, the maximum validated UVT shall be used as the input to the dose algorithm. If the measured flow rate is below the validated range, the minimum validated flow rate shall be used as the input to the dose algorithm. If the dose algorithm uses relative lamp output determined from the UV intensity sensor readings as an input, the relative lamp output shall be based on the measured UVT, even if it exceeds the maximum validated UVT.

(q) The UV reactor's PLC or microprocessor shall be programmed to record off specification events for the following conditions:
(i) Delivered UV dose less than the required dose,

(ii) Flow greater than the validated range,

(iii) UVT less than the validated range,

(iv) Lamp status outside the validated range,

(v) Failure of UV sensors, flow meters, or on-line UVT monitors used in the dose calculation. Laboratory measurements of UVT may be used temporarily in the program until the on-line UVT monitor is repaired.

(4) Operation and Maintenance

The operation and maintenance tasks and the frequency of performing them can be specific to the UV equipment installed. The water systems with approved UV installations should follow the manufacturer's recommendation or the operation and maintenance guidelines stated in Section 6.2 through 6.5 of the 2006 Final UVDGM.

(a) Startup testing.
(i) The UV reactor manufacturer must provide a site-specific operation and maintenance manual, which shall include the procedure for starting up and shutting down the UV treatment system.

(ii) Provide schedules and performance standards for start-up testing and initial operation. Schedules shall include anticipated start-up date and proposed testing duration. Performance standards shall reference applicable regulations and specific equipment capabilities.

(iii) Operators shall receive site-specific training on the operation of the UV disinfection system.

(b) An incident plan shall be developed to address lamp breakage and release of mercury, response to alarms, power supply interruptions, activation of standby equipment, failure of systems, etc.

(c) To verify that the UV reactors are operated within the validated limits, selected parameters shall be monitored. The routine operation and maintenance shall include the monitoring and calibration requirements listed in R309-215-15(19) and (20) and are in accordance with the monitoring and reporting protocol approved by the Director. For very small UV systems, the Director may consider granting exception to allow reduced monitoring and reporting on a case-by-case basis.

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