Washington Administrative Code
Title 246 - Health, Department of
WATER SYSTEMS
Chapter 246-294 - Drinking water operating permits
Section 246-294-010 - Definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms

Universal Citation: WA Admin Code 246-294-010

Current through Register Vol. 24-24, December 15, 2024

The definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) "Adequacy" means an assessment, based upon evaluation of the department's records, of a water system's current ability to provide safe and reliable drinking water in accordance with applicable drinking water statutes and regulations.

(2) "Community water system" means any Group A water system:

(a) With 15 or more services used by residents for 180 or more days within a calendar year, regardless of the number of people; or

(b) Regularly serving 25 or more residents for 180 or more days within the calendar year, regardless of the number of services.

(3) "Department" means the Washington state department of health.

(4) "Drinking water regulations" means the provisions of chapter 70A.125 RCW, chapter 246-290 WAC, state board of health drinking water regulations and chapter 246-292 WAC, water works operator certification regulations, that help assure Group A public water systems provide safe and reliable drinking water.

(5) "Dwelling unit" means a structure, or unit within a structure, with independent living facilities for one or more persons that include permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation. A dwelling unit includes, but is not limited to:

(a) A single family residence; or

(b) Each unit of an apartment building or multifamily building.

(6) "EPA" means the Environmental Protection Agency.

(7) "ERU (equivalent residential unit)" means a system-specific unit of measure used to express the amount of water consumed by a typical full-time single family residence.

(8) "Group A water systems" are defined as community and noncommunity water systems.

(a) Community water system means any Group A water system providing service to 15 or more service connections used by year-round residents for 180 or more days within a calendar year, regardless of the number of people, or regularly serving at least 25 year-round (i.e., more than 180 days per year) residents.

(b) Noncommunity water system means a Group A water system that is not a community water system. Noncommunity water systems are further defined as:
(i) Nontransient (NTNC) water systems that provide service opportunity to 25 or more of the same nonresidential people for 180 or more days within a calendar year.

(ii) Transient (TNC) water systems that serve:
(A) Twenty-five or more different people each day for 60 or more days within a calendar year;

(B) Twenty-five or more of the same people each day for 60 or more days, but less than 180 days in a calendar year; or

(C) One thousand or more people for two or more consecutive days within a calendar year.

(9) "MCL (maximum contaminant level)" means the maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water the purveyor delivers to any public water system user, measured at the locations identified under WAC 246-290-300, Table 3.

(10) "Nonresident" means a person having access to drinking water from a public water system who lives elsewhere. Examples include travelers, transients, employees, students, etc.

(11) "Nonresidential service connection" means a connection to a public water system that provides potable water including, but not limited to a:

(a) Commercial property;

(b) Industrial property;

(c) Civic property;

(d) Municipal property;

(e) Institutional property;

(f) School; or

(g) Other authorized use that provides potable water to a nonresidential population.

(12) "NTNC" means nontransient noncommunity.

(13) "Owner" means any agency, subdivision of the state, municipal corporation, firm, company, mutual or cooperative association, institution, partnership, or person or any other entity, that holds as property, a public water system.

(14) "Public water system" means any system, providing water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, excluding a system serving only one single-family residence and a system with four or fewer connections all of which serve residences on the same farm. The term includes:

(a) Collection, treatment, storage, and/or distribution facilities under control of the purveyor and used primarily in connection with the system.

(b) Collection or pretreatment storage facilities not under control of the purveyor, but primarily used in connection with the system.

(15) "Recreational service connection" means a connection to a public water system that provides potable water to each:

(a) Campsite; or

(b) Recreational vehicle site.

(16) "Resident" means an individual living in a dwelling unit served by a public water system.

(17) "Residential service connection" means a connection to a public water system that provides potable water to a dwelling unit. When the service connection provides water to a residential population without clearly defined dwelling units, the following formulas are used to determine the number of residential service connections to be included on the WFI form:

(a) Divide the average population served each day by two and one-half; or

(b) Using actual water use data, calculate the total ERUs represented by the service connection in accordance with department design guidance.

(c) The calculated number of services is not less than one.

(18) "SMA (satellite management agency)" means an individual, purveyor, or entity that is approved by the department in accordance with chapter 246-295 WAC to own or operate more than one public water system on a regional or county-wide basis, without the necessity for a physical connection between such systems.

(19) "Service connection" means a residential, nonresidential, or recreational service connection as defined in this section.

(20) "SSNC (state significant noncomplier)" means a system that is violating or has violated department rules, and violations may create, or have created an imminent or a significant risk to human health. Such violations include, but are not limited to, repeat violations of monitoring requirements, failure to address exceedance of permissible levels of regulated contaminants, failure to comply with treatment technique standards or requirements, failure to comply with water works operator certification requirements, or failure to submit to a sanitary survey.

(21) "TNC" means transient noncommunity.

(22) "WFI (water facilities inventory)" means the department form summarizing each public water system's characteristics.

Statutory Authority: RCW 70.119A.110. 12-05-079, § 246-294-010, filed 2/16/12, effective 3/18/12. Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.119A RCW. 04-06-047, § 246-294-010, filed 3/1/04, effective 4/1/04; 93-03-047 (Order 325), § 246-294-010, filed 1/14/93, effective 2/14/93.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Washington may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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