{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Mendocino water systems must comply with state regs","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":389,"description":"June 28, 2022 — About a hundred property owners in the town of Mendocino have received a letter from the State Water Board’s Division of Drinking Water, asking them to complete a questionnaire to determine whether or not they are operating a public water system. \r\nIt’s the first step in regulating businesses that may be serving water to the public without the inspections and treatments and permits required by law to prevent water-borne diseases. And it may be the first step in a state-regulated “regional solution” that includes the Town of Mendocino consolidating with other water users, though who would consolidate with whom and where the water would come from are questions that haven’t been answered yet. It’s also not entirely clear why the state and the county have not synchronized efforts to find out what kinds of businesses should have been identified as public water systems when they were first setting up shop. \r\nZachary Rounds is the Mendocino District Engineer for the State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water, overseeing public water systems in Mendocino, Lake and Napa Counties. It doesn’t take much to meet the definition of a public water system.\r\n“A public water system, at its most basic, is an entity that serves potable water for domestic use, and that serves at least 25 people, 60 days a year…I say if you have a restaurant that’s open one day a week, all year round, you actually are not a public water system, but if it’s two days a week, that would be 104 days with 25 people, that would make you a public water system,” he explained. “You could also be a public water system if you have 15 service connections with year-round residents.”\r\nAt Monday’s meeting of the Mendocino City Community Services District board, Rounds told directors what it will take to permit each system. “The water system needs to demonstrate that they have adequate technical, managerial and financial capacity to operate as a public water system…different tests...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}