{"id":288,"date":"2016-04-15T18:52:24","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T18:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/drinking-water\/?page_id=288"},"modified":"2026-03-23T09:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:40:19","slug":"revised-total-coliform-rule-rtcr","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/drinking-water\/office-of-drinking-water\/revised-total-coliform-rule-rtcr\/","title":{"rendered":"Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EPA adopted the RTCR in February 2013 to better address the public health protection goals of the original 1989 federal Total Coliform Rule (TCR).\u00a0 Waterworks in Virginia must now comply with this rule, which became effective\u00a0 April 1, 2016. On November 2, 2016, the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted the RTCR into its <em>Waterworks Regulations. <\/em>The new provisions\u00a0 include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Defines &#8220;seasonal systems&#8221; and requires them to have start-up procedures and sampling during high vulnerability periods.<\/li>\n<li>Requires Level I and Level II Assessments and corrective action if the waterworks identifies a vulnerability to coliform.<\/li>\n<li>Replaces TCR&#8217;s acute MCL with an <em>E. coli<\/em> MCL.<\/li>\n<li>Replaces TCR&#8217;s total coliform MCL violations with total coliform treatment techniques requirements.<\/li>\n<li>Revises Public Notice requirements for <em>E. coli<\/em> MCL violations.<\/li>\n<li>Adds specific CCR language for waterworks conducting a Level I or Level II Assessment, or for incurring an <em>E. coli<\/em> MCL violation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Existing TCR provisions that are retained include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Monitoring for total coliforms and <em>E. coli.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Following a written sample siting plan. This plan ensures samples are collected at locations representative of the entire distribution system. The plans are subject to state review and revisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Reference Guides<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><a title=\"http:\/\/nepis.epa.gov\/Exe\/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P100K9MP.txt\" href=\"http:\/\/nepis.epa.gov\/Exe\/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P100K9MP.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Revised Total Coliform Rule: A Quick Reference Guide (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><a title=\"https:\/\/nepis.epa.gov\/Exe\/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P100NGER.txt\" href=\"https:\/\/nepis.epa.gov\/Exe\/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P100NGER.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"2\">Revised Total Coliform Rule: A Guide for Small Public Water Systems (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>RTCR Factsheets<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/04\/1.-Requirements-for-Small-Waterworks-on-Quarterly-Monitoring.pdf\" rel=\"\">Requirements for Small Waterworks on Quarterly Monitoring (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/04\/2.-Requirements-for-Small-Waterworks-on-Monthly-Monitoring.pdf\" rel=\"\">Requirements for Small Waterworks on Monthly Monitoring (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/04\/3.-Requirements-for-Seasonal-Waterworks.pdf\" rel=\"\">Requirements for Seasonal Waterworks (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/04\/4.-Repeat-Monitoring-Requirements-for-Small-Waterworks.pdf\" rel=\"\">Repeat Monitoring Requirements For Small Waterworks (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/04\/5.-Level-1-Level-2-Assessments-and-Corrective-Actions.pdf\" rel=\"\">Level 1 &amp; Level 2 Assessments and Corrective Actions (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EPA adopted the RTCR in February 2013 to better address the public health protection goals of the original 1989 federal Total Coliform Rule (TCR).\u00a0 Waterworks in Virginia must now comply with this rule, which became effective\u00a0 April 1, 2016. On November 2, 2016, the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted the RTCR into its Waterworks Regulations. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"parent":2,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) - Drinking Water<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/drinking-water\/office-of-drinking-water\/revised-total-coliform-rule-rtcr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) - Drinking Water\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EPA adopted the RTCR in February 2013 to better address the public health protection goals of the original 1989 federal Total Coliform Rule (TCR).\u00a0 Waterworks in Virginia must now comply with this rule, which became effective\u00a0 April 1, 2016. On November 2, 2016, the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted the RTCR into its Waterworks Regulations. 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