Rule 62-565.200. Definitions

The following words and phrases when used in this chapter have the following meanings except when defined and instructed differently to a specific rule:

(1) “Advanced Treated Water” means water produced from an advanced treatment water facility for potable reuse applications. Advanced treated water can be from more than one advanced treatment water facilities.

(2) “Advanced Treatment Water Facility (ATWF)” means the facility where advanced treated water is produced. The specific combination of treatment technologies employed will depend on the quality of the reclaimed water and the type of potable reuse.

(3) “Annual Average Permit Limitation” means the maximum annual average pollutant value allowed by the permit and calculated as the arithmetic mean of the 12 monthly average reclaimed water or advanced treated water samples collected during any consecutive 12-month period.

(4) “Approved County Health Department” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(5) “Arithmetic Mean” means the value computed by dividing the sum of a set of terms by the number of terms.

(6) “Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR)” shall be as defined in subsection 62-610.466(1), F.A.C.

(7) “Average Daily Flow” means the total volume of wastewater flowing into a wastewater facility during some defined period of time, divided by the number of days in that period of time, expressed in units of millon gallons a day.

(8) “Bypass” means the intentional delivery of reclaimed water or advanced treated water, not meeting the standards for advanced treated water, from any portion of an Advanced Treatment Water Facility to a public water system or public water distribution system.

(9) “Capacity Development” means the process of acquiring and maintaining adequate technical, managerial, and financial capabilities to enable a facility consistently provide safe treated water.

(10) “CFR” means the Code of Federal Regulations.

(11) “Challenge Test” means a study comparing a pathogen, surrogate parameter, or indicator compound concentration between the influent and effluent of a treatment process to determine the removal capacity of the treatment process. The influent concentration must be high enough to ensure that a measurable concentration is detected in the effluent.

(12) “Commencement of Construction” means the beginning of the construction of an ATWF.

(13) “Composite Sample” means a single sample that is a combination of individual sub-samples of reclaimed water or advanced treated water taken at selected intervals, usually based on time or flow volumes, to minimize the effect of the variability of the individual sub-samples.

(14) “Co-permittee” means a permittee to an advanced treatment water facility permit that is only responsible for permit conditions relating to the potable reuse system for which it is the operator.

(15) “Constituent” means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter found in water, wastewater, or reclaimed water.

(16) “Contaminant” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(17) “Continuous Monitoring” means the automated sampling and analysis of a parameter in a continuous or timed sequence, using techniques which will adequately reflect actual parameter levels or concentrations in a water sample on a continuous basis.

(18) “Control Authority” means as defined in Rule 62-625.200, F.A.C.

(19) “Critical Control Point” means a point in water treatment where control can be applied to an individual unit process to reduce, prevent, or eliminate process failure and where monitoring is conducted to confirm that the control point is functioning correctly. The goal is to reduce the risk of pathogen and chemical constituents in the finished water, as defined in Rule 62 550.200, F.A.C.

(20) “Cross-Connection” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(21) “Cryptosporidium” means waterborne microsopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis.

(22) “CT” or “CTcalc” means the product of ‘‘residual disinfectant concentration’’ (C) in mg/L determined before or at the first customer, and the corresponding ‘‘disinfectant contact time’’ (T) in minutes, i.e., ‘‘C’’ x ‘‘T’’. If a potable reuse system applies disinfectants at more than one point prior to distribution, it must determine the CT of each disinfectant sequence before or at the first customer to determine the total percent inactivation or ‘‘total inactivation ratio.’’ In determining the total inactivation ratio, the potable reuse system must determine the residual disinfectant concentration of each disinfection sequence and corresponding contact time before any subsequent disinfection application point(s).

(23) “Department” means the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

(24) “Designated Representative” means a person for whom authorization has been given to sign reports and permit applications on behalf of the responsible official, as defined in subsection (82) of this rule. A person can only be a designated representative if:

(a) The authorization is made in writing by a person described in subsection (68) of this rule;

(b) The authorization specifies either an individual or a position having overall responsibility for the operation of the regulated facility or activity, including the position of plant manager, superintendent, certified chief operator, position of equivalent responsibility, or an individual or position having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company; and,

(c) The written authorization is submitted to the Department.

(25) “Design Capacity” means the average daily flow projected for the design year which serves as the basis for the sizing and design of the domestic wastewater facilities, advanced treated water facilities, or public water system. The design capacity is established by the permit applicant. The time frame associated with the design capacity (e.g., annual average daily flow, monthly average daily flow, three-month average daily flow) shall be specified by the permit applicant.

(26) “Direct Potable Reuse (DPR)” means the delivery of advanced treated water from an advanced treatment water facility to a drinking water treatment facility or directly into a potable water supply distribution system without an environmental buffer.

(27) “Disinfectant” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(28) “Disinfectant Contact Time” (“T” in CT calculations) shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(29) “Disinfection” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(30) “Domestic wastewater” shall be as defined in Rule 62-600.200, F.A.C.

(31) “Draft permit” means a document prepared under Rule 62-565.635, F.A.C., indicating the tentative decision of the Department to issue or deny, revise, revoke and reissue, terminate, or reissue a permit. Notices of intent to terminate a permit and to deny a permit are types of “draft permits.” A denial of a request for revision, revocation and reissuance, or termination is not a “draft permit.” A “proposed permit” is not a “draft permit.”

(32) “Drinking water” means water that is supplied for potable uses (including drinking, cooking, bathing, and other household uses) that meets standards prescribed by Rules 62-550.310 and .320, F.A.C.

(33) “Drinking water treatment facility (DWTF)” for purposes of Chapters 62-550, 62-555, 62-565 and 62-610, F.A.C., means a treatment component of a public water system. This could be a treatment component of an advanced treatment water facility providing water for potable reuse.

(34) “Emerging constituents” means natural and synthetic chemicals or compounds not regulated in water, wastewater or reclaimed water that may cause adverse ecological or human health impacts.

(35) “Environmental buffer” means a natural treatment barrier.

(36) “EPA” means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

(37) “Filtration” means a process for removing particulate matter from water by passage through porous media.

(38) “Finished Drinking Water” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(39) “Flow” means the flow values obtained from recording flow meters and totalizers, calibrated at least once every 12 months or in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions, whichever is lesser.

(40) “Giardia lamblia (Giardia)” means the waterborne protozoan parasites which occur in a trophozoite and an oval-shaped cyst form.

(41) “Grab sample” means a single sample of reclaimed water or advanced treated water.

(42) “Human Consumption” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(43) “Indicator Compound” means an individual chemical in reclaimed water that represents the physical, chemical, and biodegradable characteristics of a specific family of trace constituents; is present in concentrations that provide information relative to the environmental fate and transport of those chemicals; may be used to monitor the efficiency of trace organic compound removal by treatment processes; and provides an indication of treatment process performance.

(44) “Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR)” means the planned delivery or discharge of reclaimed water or advanced treated water to ground or surface waters for the development of, or to supplement, potable water supply in accordance with projects identified in paragraph 62-565.100(1)(c) and (d), F.A.C.

(45) “Industrial User” shall be as defined in Rule 62-625.200, F.A.C.

(46) “Internal Outfall” means the internal sampling location between two separate treatment processes within an ATWF.

(47) “Interference” means for purposes of this chapter a discharge from a non-domestic wastewater source which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources that inhibits or disrupts the treatment processes or operations that has a significant potential to have serious adverse effects on public health or to cause an exceedance either of a treatment requirement or of a Maximum Contaminant Level for finished drinking water.

(48) “Log Reduction” means a reduction in the concentration of a constituent or microorganism by a factor of 10.

(49) “Log Reduction Value Credit” means the number of credits assigned to a specific treatment process (e.g., microfiltration, chlorine disinfection, or ultraviolet disinfection), expressed in log units, for the inactivation or removal of a specific microorganism or group of microorganisms.

(50) “Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(51) “Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL)” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(52) “Membrane Filtration” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(53) “Method Detection Limit (MDL)” shall be as defined in Rule 62-160.200, F.A.C.

(54) “Minor Modification” means a modification to the facility or activity which is not expected to lead to a substantially different environmental impact or which will not involve a substantially different type of reclaimed water or advanced treated water. A minor modification does not substantially change the characteristics of the reclaimed water or advanced treated water, nor does it change the permitted capacity of the facility. This includes construction to replace a unit operation or process structure, and construction to a unit operation or mechanical equipment which is not associated with routine facility maintenance.

(55) “Minor Revision” means a change to the permit conditions, which may include changes in staffing requirements or monitoring frequencies, correction of minor errors or typographical mistakes, transfer of a permit to a new owner, extension of compliance dates or construction schedules, or authorization of a minor modification to a facility or activity.

(56) “Modification” means the alteration, expansion, upgrade, extension, replacement of, or addition to an existing advanced treatment water facility. “Modification” does not include, and no permit revision is required for:

(a) Structural changes to an existing advanced treatment water facility or activity, site or plant, that do not change the quality, nature, or quantity of the reclaimed water or advanced treated water or that do not cause water pollution, or

(b) Construction, replacement, or repair of components of an advanced treatment water facility which does not change the permitted treatment works or the terms and conditions of the potable reuse system permit.

(57) “Monthly Average Permit Limitation” means the maximum monthly average pollutant value allowed by the permit and calculated as the arithmetic mean of each reclaimed water or advanced treated water sample collected on a separate day during a period of 30 consecutive days.

(58) “New System” means, for the purposes of capacity development, ATWF, community water systems or non-transient non-community water systems being newly constructed; systems which do not currently meet the definition of a public water system under Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C., but which expand their infrastructure and thereby grow to become community water systems or non-transient non-community water systems; and transient non-community systems that expand their infrastructure and thereby grow to become community water systems or non-transient non-community water systems.

(59) “Off-spec” means produced water that does not meet the discharge standards as established by an applicable Department permit.

(60) “Operator” means any person who is in onsite charge of the actual operation, supervision, and maintenance of an advanced treatment water facility and includes the person in onsite charge of a shift or period of operation during any part of the day. Operator also means any person operating an electronic control system. Such persons shall be licensed in accordance with Chapter 62-602, F.A.C.

(61) “O3:TOC” means the ratio of the applied ozone to the actual total organic carbon (TOC) in the feedwater, which is the nitrite-corrected mass ratio of ozone to TOC calculated as the transferred ozone dose in milligram per liter (mg/L) divided by the sum of TOC concentration in the feedwater in mg/L plus 3.4 times the nitrite (NO2-) concentration (as N) in the feedwater in mg/L.

(62) “Pass Through” means for purposes of this chapter a condition where a constituent enters the potable reuse system in quantities or concentrations that have a significant potential to have serious adverse effects on public health or to cause an exceedance either of a treatment requirement or of an MCL in finished drinking water.

(63) “Pathogens” means disease-producing organisms, including enteric viruses, Giardia cysts, and Cryptosporidium oocysts.

(64) “Permit Condition” means a statement or stipulation which is issued with a permit and which must be complied with.

(65) “Permit” is the legal authorization to engage in or conduct any construction, operation, modification, or expansion of any installation, structure, equipment, facility, or appurtenances thereto, operation, or activity which will reasonably be expected to be a source of advanced treated water or pollution.

(66) “Permittee” means the owner, operator or other entity to which a permit for an advanced treatment water facility or activity is issued by the Department. The term “permittee” shall be functionally synonymous with the terms “owner,” “contractor,” and “licensee,” but shall not include licensed individuals, such as State licensed operators, unless they are the persons to whom a facility permit is issued by the Department. The term shall extend to a permit “applicant” for purposes of this chapter.

(67) “Permitted Capacity” means the treatment, reclaimed water or advanced treated water capacity for which a facility is approved by Department permit expressed in units of million gallons a day. The permit shall specify the time frame associated with the permitted capacity (e.g., annual average daily flow, monthly average daily flow, three-month average daily flow).

(68) “Person” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(69) “pH” means the negative common logarithm of the hydrogen-ion activity in moles per liter, obtained from using sensors for continuous pH monitoring that can perform a three-point calibration and calibrated at least once a month as described in FT1100 of “The Department of Environmental Protection Standard Operating Procedures for Field Activities,” DEP-SOP-001/01 (adopted and incorporated by reference in paragraph 62-160.800(1)(a), F.A.C.

(70) “Point of Disinfectant Application” means the point where the disinfectant is applied and water downstream of that point is not subject to recontamination by surface water runoff.

(71) “Potable Reuse” means augmentation of a drinking water supply with reclaimed water, which includes indirect potable reuse.

(72) “Potable Reuse System” means the permitted facilities interconnected for the purposes of producing finished drinking water from domestic wastewater.

(73) “Potable Water” means water that meets the primary and secondary drinking water quality standards prescribed by the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (40 CFR Part 141) of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and Chapter 62-550, F.A.C.

(74) “Practical Quantiation Limit (PQL)” shall be as defined in Rule 62-160.200, F.A.C.

(75) “Proposed Permit” means a permit prepared after the close of the public comment period and, when applicable, after any public meeting, but before final issuance by the Department. A “proposed permit” is not a “draft permit.”

(76) “Public Water System” or “PWS” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(77) “Raw Wastewater” means, for the purposes of this chapter, untreated wastewater and its contents entering a domestic wastewater treatment facility.

(78) “Raw Water” means intake water prior to any treatment or use.

(79) “Reclaimed Water” means water that has received at least secondary treatment and is reused after flowing out of a domestic wastewater treatment facility.

(80) “Redundancy” means the use of at least two treatment barriers, in addition to the comprehensive pretreatment and pollutant souce control program in Rule 62-565.505, F.A.C., to attenuate the same type of constituent so that if one barrier fails, performs inadequately, or is taken offline for maintenance, the overall system still will perform effectively, and risk is reduced.

(81) “Residual Disinfectant Concentration” (“C” in CT calculations) shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(82) “Responsible Official” means one of the following:

(a) For a corporation, the president, secretary, treasurer, or vice president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy- or decision-making functions for the corporation;

(b) For a partnership or sole proprietorship, a general partner or the proprietor, respectively; or

(c) For public agencies, a principal executive officer or ranking elected official. A principal executive officer includes the chief executive officer of the agency or a senior executive officer having the responsibility for the overall operations of a principal geographic unit of the agency, for example, a director of public works, or city or county manager.

(83) “Sanitary Hazard” means a physical condition which involves or affects any part of a public water system or the source water, and that creates an imminent or potentially serious risk to the health of any person who consumes water from that system.

(84) “Secondary Contaminants” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(85) “Secondary Drinking Water Standards” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(86) “Secondary Treatment” means wastewater treatment to a level that will achieve the limitations specified in Rule 62-600.420, F.A.C.

(87) “Severe Property Damage” means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass. Severe property damage does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.

(88) “Significant Industrial User” shall be as defined in Rule 62-625.200, F.A.C.

(89) “Substantial Modification” means a modification to the facility which is reasonably expected to lead to a substantially different environmental impact, or which involves a substantially different type of advanced treated water, treatment, or disposal system. A substantial modification includes changes in the characteristics of the advanced treated water, changes to the final disposition of the advanced treated water, or changes in the permitted capacity of the treatment system.

(90) “Source Control” means the elimination or control of the discharge of constituents into a wastewater collection system that at certain quantities can impact a reuse project.

(91) “Source Water” means allowable sources of water entering a potable reuse system.

(92) “Steady State” means a state in which all components of a system have achieved balance, where the volume of flow entering a system is equivalent to the volume of flow leaving a system.

(93) “Surface Water” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(94) “Surrogate Parameter” means a measurable physical or chemical property that has been demonstrated to provide a direct correlation with the concentration of an indicator compound, can be used to monitor the efficiency of trace constituent removal by a treatment process and/or provides an indication of a treatment process failure.

(95) “Technology-Based Treatment Requirements (TBTR)” means those treatment requirements, and associated surrogate parameters, determined specifically for emerging constituents based on the pilot study results pursuant to Rule 62-565.560, F.A.C.

(96) “Tertiary Treatment” means advanced treatment of wastewater that goes beyond secondary treatment, as defined in Rule 62-565.200, F.A.C.

(97) “Total Organic Carbon (TOC)” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(98) “Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(99) “Treatment Reliability” means the ability of a treatment process or treatment train to consistently achieve the desired degree of treatment, based on its inherent redundancy, robustness, and resilience.

(100) “Treatment Technique” means the technology, when installed in an ATWF, which leads to the reduction of constituent levels.

(101) “Treatment Train” means a series of treatment technologies or processes to achieve a specific treatment or water quality goal or objective.

(102) “Trihalomethane (THM)” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(103) “Virus” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C.

(104) “Well” shall be as defined in Rule 62-550.200, F.A.C. Rulemaking Authority 403.861(9), 403.064(17) FS. Law Implemented 403.852(12), 403.861(7), 403.853(6), 403.861(17), 403.064(17) FS. History – New 2-26-25.