Sec.19-13-B101. Testing of water quality in private water supply systems

(a) Definitions. As used in this section:

(1) "Approved laboratory" means a laboratory facility issued a certificate of approval by the Department of Public Health pursuant to sections 19-4-1, 19a-36-a25 through 19a-36-a33, and 19a-36-a57 through 19a-36-a63 of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(2) "Consumer" means any private dwelling, hotel, motel, boarding house, apartment building, store, office building, institution, mechanical or manufacturing establishment or other place of business or industry to which water is supplied by a source of private water supply.

(3) "Department" means the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

(4) "Disinfected" means pathogenic organisms in the water have been deactivated by chemical oxidants such as chlorine or equivalent agents.

(5) "Domestic purposes" means drinking, bathing, washing of clothes and dishes, cooking, and other common household uses.

(6) "Local director of health" means and includes the city, town, borough, or district director of health and any person legally authorized to act for the local director of health.

(7) "Maximum contaminant level (MCL)" means the maximum permissible level of a biological or chemical substance in water for a private water supply system.

(8) "Organic chemicals" means all substances listed in section 19-13-B102(e) (4) of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(9) "Private water supply system" means any source of private water supply serving a single consumer and less than twenty five (25) persons, and used for drinking or other domestic purposes.

(10) "Qualified individual" means a licensed sanitarian, local director of health, employee of the department, employees of local or state agencies as part of their regulatory or statutory responsibilities, or a person, including an owner or general contractor of a residential construction on which a private water supply system is located, found to be qualified by an approved laboratory to collect water samples from a private water supply system for submission to that laboratory.

(11) "Source of private water supply" means any surface water, spring, well, or underground water source from which water is available by a private water supply system for domestic purposes.

(b) A sample of water collected from a private water supply by a qualified individual shall not be analyzed by the approved laboratory unless it is accompanied by a statement signed by the qualified individual indicating the location of the sample and the address of the private water supply.

(c) MCLS for a private water supply system shall conform to those specified in subdivisions (2), (3) and (4) of subsection (e) of section 19-13-B102 of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. The MCL for total coliform bacteria in a private water system is exceeded if the analytical result of the water sample is positive for total coliform bacteria.

(d) The owner of a private water supply system shall have the source of the private water supply sampled directly or sampled from a cold water faucet supplying water for domestic purposes that is located within the building. If water treatment is provided the owner shall have the sample collected prior to any treatment. The sample shall be at a minimum analyzed for total coliform, nitrate, nitrite, sodium, chloride, iron, manganese, hardness, turbidity, pH, sulfate, apparent color and odor. The local director of health shall require a sample to be analyzed for organic chemicals when reasonable grounds exist to suspect that organic chemicals may be present in the private water supply system. For purposes of organic chemical analyses reasonable grounds means any information that is known by the local director of health that indicates that at the time of sampling the particular private water supply system is located on or in proximity to land associated with the past or present production, storage, use, or disposal of organic chemicals or such information as derived from a phase I environmental site assessment. In the event nitrate is at or greater than 10 milligrams per liter and the local director of health has reasonable grounds to suspect such pesticides or herbicides are present the sample shall also be tested for alachlor, atrazine, dicamba, ethylene dibromide (EDB), metolachlor, simazine and 2,4-D. For purposes of these seven pesticide or herbicide analyses, reasonable grounds includes but is not limited to any information that is known by the director of health at the time of sampling that the particular private water supply is located on or in proximity to land where any of these seven pesticides or herbicides are or were applied on or in proximity to land used for the production, storage, use or disposal of any of these seven pesticides or herbicides or such information as derived from a phase I environmental site assessment. Compliance with this section shall conform to the following conditions as applicable:

(1) The water quality of a newly constructed source of private water supply shall be sampled by a qualified individual and analyzed by an approved laboratory. The private water supply system shall have been disinfected and the system shall not be sampled until all disinfectant has dissipated. The results of such analyses and a statement signed by a qualified individual attesting to the exact address and location of sampling shall be reported by the approved laboratory to the local director of health of the municipality where the property is located within thirty (30) days of the completion of such analyses. Approval by the local director of health that the results of the laboratory analyses comply with MCLS applicable to this section shall be obtained before the private water supply is used for domestic purposes.

(2) If an existing private water supply system is sampled within six (6) months of the sale of the property on which the private water supply system is located, it must be sampled by a qualified individual and analyzed by an approved laboratory. The results of the analyses conducted shall be reported by the approved laboratory to the local director of health of the municipality where the property is located within thirty (30) days of the completion of the analyses. A test of a private water supply system shall not be required by this section as a consequence or condition of sale, exchange, transfer, purchase or rental of the real property on which the private water supply system is located.

(e) This section shall apply to purchase agreements or contracts for the sale of real estate executed on or after December 30, 1996 where title to real estate has not yet passed and to transfers of real estate occurring between December 30, 1996 and the effective date of these regulations where the tests or analyses described in this section were not performed prior to the transfer.

(Effective June 21, 1985; Amended December 30, 1996; Amended December 23, 1997)