Ala. Admin. Code r. 335-7-6-.01

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 11, August 30, 2024

Section 335-7-6-.01 - Definitions

The following words and phrases, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meaning:

(a) Bag filters--pressure-driven separation devices that remove particulate matter larger than 1 micrometer using an engineered porous filtration media. They are typically constructed of a non-rigid, fabric media housed in a pressure vessel in which the direction of flow is from the inside of the bag to outside.

(b) Bank filtration-- a water treatment process that uses a well to recover surface water that has naturally infiltrated into ground water through a riverbed or bank(s). Infiltration is typically enhanced by the hydraulic gradient imposed by a nearby pumping water supply or other well(s).

(c) Cartridge filters--pressure-driven separation devices that remove particulate matter larger than 1 micrometer using an engineered porous filtration media. They are typically constructed as a rigid or semi-rigid, self-supporting filter elements housed in pressure vessels in which flow is from the outside of the cartridge to the inside.

(d) Clarification-- a process with the primary purpose of reducing the concentration of suspended matter in a liquid.

(e) Comprehensive performance evaluation (CPE)-- a thorough review and analysis of a treatment plant's performance-based capabilities and associated administrative, operation and maintenance practices. It is conducted to identify factors that may be adversely impacting a plant's capability to achieve compliance and emphasizes approaches that can be implemented without significant capital improvements. The comprehensive performance evaluation must consist of at least the following components: Assessment of plant performance; evaluation of major unit processes; identification and prioritization of performance limiting factors; assessment of the applicability of comprehensive technical assistance; and preparation of a CPE report.

(f) Conventional treatment--treatment of surface water or ground water under the influence that includes the addition of a coagulant to the raw water and undergoes coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection. Filtration is by gravity and the media is either slow sand or dual/multi-media.

(g) Day Tank-- a tank sized to hold one day's average chemical usage.

(h) Disinfection profile--a summary of daily Giardia lamblia inactivation through the treatment plant and to the first customer.

(i) Disinfection segment--each individually confined volume of water before the first customer between the first point of disinfectant addition and the next point of disinfectant addition or the first customer.

(j) Enhanced coagulation--the addition of sufficient coagulant for improved removal of disinfection byproduct precursors by conventional filtration treatment.

(k) Filter profile-- a graphical representation of individual filter performance, based on continuous turbidity measurements or total particle counts versus time for an entire filter run, from startup to backwash inclusively, that includes an assessment of filter performance while another filter is being backwashed.

(l) Flowing stream-- a course of running water flowing in a definite channel.

(m) Intake--the structure where raw water is removed from source water for the purpose of transferring it to a water treatment plant.

(n) Lake/reservoir--refers to natural or man made basin or hollow of the Earth's surface in which water collects or is stored that may or may not have a current or single direction of flow.

(o) Membrane filtration-- a pressure or vacuum driven separation process in which particulate matter larger than 1 micrometers is rejected by an engineered barrier, primarily through size-exclusion mechanism, and which has a measurable removal efficiency of a target organism that can be verified through a direct integrity test. This definition includes the common membrane technologies of microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis.

(p) Mixing Basin-- a tank, basin or pipe wherein agitation is applied to increase the dispersion rate of chemicals.

(q) Multi-stage flocculation--two or more defined stages or compartments that impart different G values to the coagulated water.

(r) Plant intake--the works or structures at the head of a conduit through which water is diverted from a source (e.g., river or lake) into a treatment plant.

(s) Presedimentation-- a preliminary treatment process used to remove gravel, sand and other particulate material from the source water though settling before the water enters the primary clarification and filtration processes in a treatment plant.

(t) Raw water--water within a watershed used to supply an intake structure.

(u) Two-stage lime softening-- a process in which chemical addition and hardness precipitation occur in each of two distinct unit clarification processes in series prior to filtration.

(v) SUVA--Specific Ultraviolet Absorption at 254 nanometers (nm), an indicator of the humic content of a water. It is a calculated parameter obtained by dividing a sample's ultraviolet absorption at a wavelength of 254 nm (UV254) (in m^-1) by its concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (in mg/L).

Ala. Admin. Code r. 335-7-6-.01

New Rule: Filed December 21, 1998; effective January 25, 1999. Amended: Filed May 2, 2000; effective June 6, 2000. Repealed and New Rule: Filed November 7, 2005; effective December 12, 2005. Amended: Filed December 18, 2007; effective January 22, 2008.

Authors: Joe Alan Power, Edgar K. Hughes, Dennis D. Harrison

Statutory Authority:Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 22-23-1 through 22-24-12.