Water is not an infinite resource. With competing demands on water supply, along with increasing standards for monitoring contaminants in public drinking water, water management and regulation efforts involve nearly twenty federal agencies and thousands of regional, state, and city entities. As surely as the challenges grow and more regulations are implemented, good water practices--that is, water conservation and improved water management--is fundamental to safeguarding our health, the economy, and our future.
Protecting the safety and reliability of our water sources and distribution infrastructure is requisite.
POTABLE WATER REGULATION
Drinking water standards are regulations that the EPA and state government agencies set to control the level of contaminants in the nation's drinking water. These standards are part of the Safe Drinking Water Act's "multiple barrier" approach to drinking water protection, which includes assessing and protecting drinking water sources, protecting wells and collection systems, making sure water is treated and distributed by qualified operators; ensuring the integrity of distribution systems, and making information available to the public on the quality of their drinking water.
The state of California, and many other western states administer the EPA's drinking water standards, while imposing, in some cases, even more stringent requirements.
For the protection of consumers, public health departments require certain businesses to have a state-licensed water treatment and distribution operator on staff or under contract if they are providing their own non-municipal potable water for employee and visitor use.
SOLUTIONS
Heritage Systems holds both treatment and distribution licenses and is experienced in providing contract management services to the wine industry, as well as food-processing and industrial-manufacturing industries, to meet, and even exceed, regulations imposed by the state and local municipalities.
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Chlorinated Systems
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) credits the chlorination of drinking water for helping to control infectious diseases, thereby increasing life expectancy in people by nearly 30 years.
CHLORINE: 100 + YEARS OF PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH
Chlorine has been used as a water disinfectant since 1908 and has helped to virtually eliminate such waterborne diseases as typhoid, cholera, and hepatitis A. This proven track record is the reason why the more than 98% of North American water supply systems, both public and private, that disinfect drinking water, use chlorine-based disinfectants. It also is the reason why leading health groups throughout the world have lauded chlorine for its contributions to public health and extolled the importance of drinking water disinfection.
RESIDUAL BENEFITS
Chlorine is also added for its residual properties. Chlorine remaining in the water supply, or added after disinfection is first accomplished, is available to fight against potential contamination that could enter water distribution and storage systems through broken pipes, crossed connections, or infiltration. This secondary disinfection is an important property of chlorination.
INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS
In wine, food processing, and industrial communities, numerous chlorination systems have been installed and are maintained by Heritage Systems, ensuring an ongoing safe source of potable water to winery and industry employees and visitors.
In addition to supplying liquid chlorine, we furnish all the necessary equipment, including storage tanks, pumps, and controllers, to support chlorination operations. This equipment is provided and maintained free of charge.
Liquid chlorine is delivered directly from our truck to our storage tank located at your facility, which eliminates any handling and exposure risks to your employees.
Disinfection
Many transient non-community (TNC) and non-transient non-community (NTNC) water system facilities are required to disinfect their source water before it enters into the distribution system. The federal Ground Water Rule, applicable to all public water systems receiving or providing groundwater, mandates further regulation.
CHLORINE: NOT A PERFECT SOLUTION
Chlorine has been used routinely in water systems for 100 years. Chlorine not only kills bacteria in the water at the treatment plant but also continues to disinfect all the way into the facility and through to the tap.
Because of concerns with chlorine, and the undesirable by-products formed in reaction to natural organic matter and the chemical compound bromide found in water, many wineries, food processors and other industries choose to use such alternatives as ozone or ultraviolet radiation; however, these approaches disinfect water only at the site of treatment, not throughout the distribution system--so there are some limitations to their effectiveness.
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
Heritage Systems is experienced in the operation and maintenance of ultraviolet, ozone and chemical disinfection platforms. Each of these approaches has monitoring and reporting requirements unique and specific to the type of disinfection used.
We understand the process and are able to assist you in providing safe and sustainable products and services to meet ever-changing environmental regulations.
Maintenance
Proper disinfection of drinking water sources is paramount to a safe and consistent supply of this most important resource.
Many wineries, food processors and other industries use ozone or ultraviolet light to disinfect their drinking water sources. Water systems that employ these methods require vigilant oversight and maintenance to ensure efficient and uninterrupted service. This can be a difficult task for often-understaffed maintenance departments.
Heritage Systems offers outsourced maintenance services to assist you with managing your critical system components. We will keep you up and running and help protect the quality and safety of your drinking water.
pH Adustment
Water sources frequently have mineral and metal imbalances. If not addressed, such conditions can cause scaling and corrosion of your water system infrastructure, resulting in unexpected capital costs, and could generate by-products throughout your potable water supply that pose health risks to consumers.
MANAGING pH
Often times, the solution is to adjust the pH of the water source to provide a process stable and safe drinking water.
Heritage Systems provides design, construction and operation services to ensure that your system meets all public safety requirements. We provide tanks, pumps, controllers, and chemistry without impacting your capital budgets.
Our equipment, including tanks, pumps and control equipment, is provided to our clients free of charge. .
We also provide delivery of pH adjustment chemistries from our truck to a tank we install at your facility. This eliminates handling and exposure for your employees.
Reporting
Time is precious, and these days, it’s hard to find enough of it to complete our daily job responsibilities.
A challenge to operators of water systems is the reporting requirement that the California Department of Public Health and other states impose.
Water systems must report site-specific sampling at prescribed intervals throughout the year. In addition, there are requirements for Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) and other annual reports each year.
As a function of the potable water management services provided by Heritage Systems, we interact with regulators on your behalf and complete all the required reports in a professional and timely manner.
Sampling / Lab Analysis
The EPA defines a water contaminant as any physical chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water, and it prescribes legal limits on the levels of certain contaminants in drinking water. These legal limits reflect both the level that protects human health and the level that water systems can achieve using the best available technology for treatment.
EPA STANDARDS AND THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT
In addition, the EPA sets water-testing schedules and methods that operators of water systems, large and small, must follow, mandating acceptable techniques for treating contaminated water. The Safe Drinking Water Act gives individual states the opportunity to set and enforce their own drinking water standards if these standards are at least as stringent as the EPA's national standards.
STATE OVERSIGHT OF WATER SYSTEMS
California, as well as many other states, directly oversees water systems within the state and reviews the results of all water systems testing.
To ensure the safe quality of the public’s drinking water, states require that water systems must sample from the source water and within the distribution system on a schedule established for your facility.
SOLUTIONS
Heritage Systems manages these events by collecting samples at the appropriate time using correct techniques, by testing the samples using approved methods, and by generating submittal reports to the state.