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Water: Total Coliform Rule

Total Coliform Rule Revisions

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Background

The Total Coliform Rule (TCR) was published in 1989 and became effective in 1990. The rule set both health goals (Maximum Contaminant Level Goals, or MCLGs) and legal limits (Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs) for the presence of total coliform in drinking water. The rule also details the type and frequency of testing that water systems must undertake.

The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act [Section 1412(b) (9)] require the Administrator to review and revise, as appropriate, each national primary drinking water regulation not less often than every 6 years. EPA published as part of its National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) Review its decision to revise the TCR in July 2003. EPA published the final rule revisions to the 1989 TCR in the Federal Register February 13, 2013.

You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

Revised Total Coliform Rule – Final Rule

On February 13, 2013, EPA published in the Federal Register the revisions to the 1989 TCR.  EPA anticipates greater public health protection under the Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) requirements.  The RTCR:

  • Requires public water systems that are vulnerable to microbial contamination to identify and fix problems; and
  • Establishes criteria for systems to qualify for and stay on reduced monitoring, which could reduce water system burden and provide incentives for better system operation.

new For more information on requirements, please review RTCR Webinar - April 10, 2013 (PDF) (59 pp, 496K).

Public water systems (PWSs) and primacy agencies must comply with the revised requirements by April, 2016.  Until then, PWSs and primacy agencies must continue complying with the 1989 TCR.

Federal Register Notice and Supporting Documents

Proposed Assessments and Corrective Actions

Proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule Assessments and Corrective Actions Guidance Manual, Draft (123 pp, 2MB)
EPA 815-D-10-001, August 2010
Target audience: Public water systems, States, Primacy agencies.
Status: Draft guidance manual for public review and comment
Description: The draft guidance manual provides public water systems and primacy agencies with guidance on complying with and implementing the assessment and corrective action requirements of the proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR). Under the proposed RTCR, public water systems that are vulnerable to microbial contamination in the distribution system (as indicated by their monitoring results for total coliforms and E. coli) are required to assess the problem and take corrective action that may reduce cases of illnesses and deaths due to potential fecal contamination and waterborne pathogen exposure. The draft guidance manual provides information on how to conduct assessments to identify the causes of total coliform and E. coli occurrence in the distribution system, and on the corresponding corrective actions that systems can take to correct the problem.

Rule Making History

Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee

EPA established the Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee (TCRDSAC) under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide advice and make recommendations to the Agency on revisions to the 1989 TCR. For more information about the Federal Advisory Committee that recommended changes to the 1989 TCR please review our TCRDSAC page.

Proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule

In July 14, 2010, EPA proposed revisions to the 1989 TCR that are consistent with the recommendations of the TCRDSAC. The proposed rule was open for public comment for 90 days.

Federal Register Notice

Supporting Document

Request for Review by the Science Advisory Board Drinking Water Committee on EPA's Draft Supporting Analyses for the Proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Water, is requested that the Science Advisory Board (SAB) Drinking Water Committee (DWC) review the draft supporting analyses for the proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR). The SAB review focused on (1) the data sources used to estimate baseline total coliform and E. coli occurrence, public water system profile, and sensitive subpopulations in the United States, (2) the occurrence analysis used to inform the benefits analysis, (3) the qualitative analysis used to assess the reduction in risk due to implementation of the rule requirements, and (4) analysis of the engineering costs and costs to states resulting from implementation of the revisions. A copy of the report that contains the SAB's findings and recommendations is available per Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0876 in the following link:

The following files are provided to facilitate the SAB DWC review:

Draft Supporting Analyses

Supplemental Information

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Past meetings and webcasts

This section contains information on past meetings and webcasts that EPA conducted to support the revision process of the 1989 TCR.

  • Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee (TCRDSAC) Meetings
    The Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee met 13 times to deliberate on the revisions to the TCR.  For information on these meetings and on the TCRDSAC, please review ourTCRDSAC page.
  • Total Coliform Rule / Distribution System Stakeholder Technical Workshop and Request for Nominations – January 2007
    EPA held a technical workshop in Washington, DC, to discuss available information on the 1989 TCR and available information regarding risks in distribution systems. As part of the technical workshop, EPA discussed information and analytic approaches for characterizing risks posed by the distribution system. Subsequently, the Agency established the Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide advice and recommendations on potential revisions to the 1989 TCR and to address public health risks from contamination of distribution systems. See the links to the agenda and presentations below for more information on the topics covered.
  • Agenda (PDF) (15 pp, 40K) 

TCR Issue Papers

EPA and AWWA developed a series of TCR Issue Papers to present available information on a range of issues related to the TCR. The paper topics were based on feedback from stakeholders and comments received on the TCR since promulgation. The objective of the issue papers is to review the available data, information and research regarding issues relevant to the revision of the TCR, and where relevant, identify areas in which additional research may be warranted. Draft papers were completed in June 2006 and were reviewed by a range of industry experts and stakeholders from :

  • EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW);
  • academia;
  • water utilities;
  • Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA);
  • American Water Works Association (AWWA);
  • American Water Works Service Company (AWWSC);
  • National Rural Water Association (NRWA);
  • environmental consulting companies;
  • and state regulators.

EPA held a TCR Experts workshop in June 2006 to discuss the draft papers and possible rule revisions. The review and comment by the experts constitutes peer review of the papers.

EPA will use the papers as information sources for discussions of TCR issues with the drinking water community, experts and stakeholders. The papers are:

Note - The papers present available information and do not represent Agency policy or necessarily reflect the views of EPA. The papers on Distribution System Monitoring Strategies and Distribution System Inventory were prepared by AWWA.

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Recommendations from Stage 2 M/DBP Agreement in Principle on Distribution Systems

In 2000, as part of its recommendations concerning the Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule and the Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts Rule, the Stage 2 Microbial/Disinfection Byproducts (M/DBP) Federal Advisory Committee recognized the following points in its Agreement in Principle

"Finished water storage and distribution systems may have an impact on water quality and may pose risks to public health." "Cross-connections and backflow in distribution systems represent a significant public health risk." "Water quality problems can be related to infrastructure problems and that aging of distribution systems may increase risks of infrastructure problems." "Distribution systems are highly complex and that there is a significant need for additional information and analysis on the nature and magnitude of risk associated with them."

The FACA concluded that EPA should review and evaluate available data and research on those aspects of distribution systems that may create or pose risks to public health as a part of the Six-Year Review of the TCR. The FACA also concluded that EPA should initiate a process with stakeholder participation for addressing requirements for cross-connection control and backflow prevention, and distribution systems issues related to significant health risks.

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