DDW-2025-001392

4

195 North 1950 West • Salt Lake City, UT
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 144830 • Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4830
Telephone [phone] • Fax [phone] • T.D.D. [phone]
www.deq.utah.gov
Printed on 100% recycled paper
State of Utah

SPENCER J. COX
Governor

DEIDRE HENDERSON
Lieutenant Governor
Department of
Environmental Quality

Kimberly D. Shelley
Executive Director

DIVISION OF DRINKING WATER
Nathan Lunstad, Ph.D., P.E.
Director
January 9, 2025

Katherine Munns
Portage Town Water System
PO Box 4
Portage, Utah 84331

Subject: Water System Violation – Portage Town Water System, UTAH02012

Katherine Munns:

Our records indicate your water system is in violation of the State of Utah Public Drinking Water Rules as
follows:

An Escherichia coli (E. coli) positive sample was collected from your system on June 11, 2024. This
sample was not reported to the Division of Drinking Water (DDW) until the Division became aware of it in
December 2024.

If E. coli are present, then you must notify the DDW by the end of the day when the system is notified of
the test result, unless the system is notified of the result after the Director office is closed in which
case the system must notify the DDW before the end of the next business day.

Your system failed to report an E. coli positive sample in a timely manner as required by Section R309-
211-11(a)(i) of the rules. This violation may result in the addition of points to your system’s Improvement
Priority System Report (IPS) and could adversely affect your water system’s rating.

If you have any questions concerning this letter, please contact Sitara Federico at [phone] or
[e-mail]. Please reference your water system number in all correspondence.
Sincerely,
Mark Berger
Monitoring and Standards Section Manager

Enclosure

CC: Katherine Munns, [e-mail]
Grant Koford, Bear River Health Department
RTCR Public Notification Templates 27
Instructions for Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) Failure to Report E. coli-
positive Sampling Events to the State – Template 3-4
Template on Reverse
Description of Violation or Situation
Beginning April 1, 2016, failure to notify the state of events that are related to E. coli-positive sample results are reporting
violations that require Tier 3 public notification. The reporting violations addressed by this Tier 3 template require similar
public notification content and include:
• Failure to notify the state within 24 hours of an E. coli MCL violation.
• Failure to notify the state within 24 hours of an E. coli-positive sample result.
You must provide public notice to persons served within one year after you learn of the violation [40 CFR 141.204(b)]. Check
with your state to make sure you meet all requirements.
Community water systems (CWSs) must use all of the following methods to deliver the notice to consumers [40 CFR
141.204(c)]:
• Mail or hand delivery (public notice delivery may be provided by CCR if the one year requirement is met), and
• Another method as needed to reach consumers not likely to receive a notice from methods noted above and approved in
writing by the state. Such methods could include newspapers, e-mail, or delivery to community organizations.
The notice on the reverse is appropriate for insertion in an annual notice or the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) (CWSs
only), as long as public notification content, timing and delivery requirements are met [40 CFR 141.204(d)]. If you do modify
the notice, you must still include all 10 required public notice elements from 40 CFR 141.205(a) and leave the mandatory
language unchanged (see below).
Non-community water systems (NCWSs) must use all of the following methods to deliver the notice to consumers [40 CFR
141.204(c)]:
• Posting in a conspicuous place throughout the system, or by hand delivery or mail, and
• Another method as needed to reach consumers not likely to receive a notice from methods noted above and approved in
writing by the state. Such methods could include newspapers, e-mail, or delivery to community organizations.
If you:
• Post the notice, it must remain posted until the violation is resolved.
• Post the notice and the violation has already been resolved, you must still post the notice for at least seven days [40 CFR
141.204(b)].
• Mail, post, or hand deliver, EPA recommends printing your notice on your system’s letterhead, if available.
Repeat notice(s) are required annually if the violation or situation persists, unless otherwise directed by the state.
Mandatory Language
You must also include standard language to encourage the distribution of the public notice to all persons served, where
applicable [40 CFR 141.205(d)]. This language is also presented in this notice in italics with an asterisk on each end.
Corrective Actions
In your notice, you must describe corrective actions you took, or are taking [40 CFR 141.205(a)(7)] and when you expect to
return to compliance or resolve the situation [40 CFR 141.205(a)(8)]. You can use the following language, if appropriate, or
develop your own:
• We have provided the missing reports to the state and have revised our procedures to ensure we comply with reporting
requirements in the future. We are no longer in violation.
After Issuing the Notice
Make sure to send a copy of each type of notice and a certification that you have met all the public notification requirements
to your state within 10 days after the original or any repeat notice(s) [40 CFR 141.31(d)].
RTCR Public Notification Templates 28
Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) Failure to Report E. coli-positive Sampling
Events to the State – Template 3-4
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
Reporting Requirement(s) Not Met for [Water System Name]
Our system failed to notify the state drinking water program that we [enter either “detected E. coli bacteria in a water
sample” or “have incurred an MCL violation for E. coli bacteria”]. We are required to notify the state of this information
within 24 hours of when we learned of the situation but we failed to do so.
[If applicable, enter, “We notified you of the E. coli MCL violation on [enter date] and resolved the contamination problem on
[enter date]”].
Although this situation does not create a risk to public health, as our customers you have a right to know what happened and
what we did to correct the situation.
What should I do?
There is nothing you need to do at this time. If a situation arises where the water is no longer safe to drink, you will be
notified within 24 hours. We will announce any emergencies on [media source].
What is being done?
[Describe your corrective actions including when your water system expects to return to compliance or resolve the violation].
For more information, please contact [name of contact] at [phone number] or [mailing address].
*Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not
have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and
businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.*
This notice is being sent to you by [water system name]. State Water System ID# _______.
Date distributed: _______.