49-352

49-352. Classifying systems and certifying
personnel; limitation

A. The department shall establish and enforce rules for the classification of
systems for potable water and certifying operating personnel according to the skill,
knowledge and experience necessary within the classification. The rules shall also
provide that operating personnel may be certified on the basis of training and
supervision at the place of employment. The department may assess and collect reasonable
certification fees to reimburse the cost of certification services, which shall be
deposited in the state general fund. Such rules apply to all public water systems
involved in the collection, storage, treatment or distribution of potable water. The
rules do not apply to systems that are not public water systems including irrigation,
industrial or similar systems where the water is used for nonpotable purposes.

B. For the purposes of this article:

1. A public water system is a water system that:

(a) Provides water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed
conveyances.

(b) Has at least fifteen service connections or regularly serves an average of at
least twenty-five persons daily for at least sixty days a year.

2. A public water system as described in paragraph 1, subdivisions (a) and (b)
includes any collection, treatment, storage and distribution facilities that are under
the control of the operator of a public water system and that are used primarily in
connection with the system and any collection or pretreatment storage facilities that are
not under the control of the operator of a public water system and that are used
primarily in connection with a public water system.

3. A service connection does not include a connection to a system that delivers
water by a constructed conveyance other than a pipe, if any of the following applies:

(a) The water is used exclusively for purposes other than residential uses
consisting of drinking, cooking or bathing or other similar uses.

(b) The department determines that alternative water is provided for residential or
similar uses for drinking and cooking and that the water achieves a level of public
health protection that is equivalent to the applicable national primary drinking water
regulations.

(c) The department determines that the water that is provided for residential or
similar uses for drinking, cooking and bathing is centrally treated or is treated at the
point of entry by the water provider, a pass-through entity or the user to achieve the
level of public health protection that is equivalent to the applicable national primary
drinking water regulations.

4. An irrigation district in existence before May 18, 1994 and that provides
primarily agricultural service through a piped water system with only incidental
residential or similar use is not a public water system if the system or the residential
or other similar users of the system comply with paragraph 3, subdivision (b) or (c).

5. Persons who receive water through connections that are not service connections
pursuant to paragraph 3 are not included in the computation of the number of persons
prescribed by paragraph 1, subdivision (b).