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Test Yourself—Donna Kaluzniak
Test Yourself What Do You Know About Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring?
Donna Kaluzniak
1. Per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, Monitoring Unregulated Drinking Water
Contaminants, EPA uses the Unregulated
Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) to collect data for contaminants that are known or suspected to be present in drinking water and
a. are regulated by the National Primary Drinking
Water Regulations (NPDWR). b. do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). c. have health-based standards set under the
SDWA. d. have no potential health effects on the population.
2. Per the EPA Monitoring Unregulated Drinking
Water Contaminants website, the UCMR establishes a program to monitor for priority unregulated contaminants in drinking water every five years. Which public water systems (PWS) must conduct the monitoring?
a. All systems b. All systems serving 3,300 people and greater and a representative sample of systems serving under 3,300 people c. Only systems serving 3,300 people and greater d. Only systems serving 10,000 people and greater
3. Per Revisions to the Unregulated Contaminant
Monitoring Rule for the Fifth Monitoring Cycle (UCMR 5): Public Meeting and Webinar (UCMR 5 Public Meeting), the SDWA requires EPA to establish a list of contaminants that are not subject to any NPDWR, known or anticipated to occur in PWS, and may require regulation. This is called the
a. Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). b. Contaminant Priority List (CPL). c. Monitoring Cycle List (MCL). d. Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring List (UCML). 4. Per the EPA Monitoring Unregulated Drinking
Water Contaminants website, all laboratories conducting analyses for the UCMR must be approved by
a. a state environmental regulatory agency. b. a state public health agency. c. EPA. d. the National Environmental Laboratory
Accreditation Center.
5. Per the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring
Rule 5 Public Meeting, who funds the costs for sampling and analysis for PWS serving 10,000 people and less?
a. EPA b. The state environmental regulatory agency c. The state public health department d. PWS
6. Per Revisions to the Unregulated Contaminant
Monitoring Rule 5 for Public Water System Fact
Sheet (UCMR 5 Fact Sheet), the 30 contaminants proposed for the fifth UCMR (UCMR 5) include 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and
a. Dibromoacetonitrile. b. Haloacetonitriles. c. Legionella pneumophila. d. Lithium.
7. Per the EPA Monitoring Unregulated Drinking
Water Contaminants website, the proposed UCMR 5 was published on March 11, 2021. The UCMR 5 would require a sample collection for 30 chemical contaminants between what years?
a. 2021 and 2023 b. 2022 and 2026 c. 2022 and 2024 d. 2023 and 2025
8. Per the UCMR 5 Public Meeting, where are the sampling points for the proposed UCMR 5?
a. Entry point to the distribution systems b. Entry point to the treatment facility c. Every source water entry point d. Multiple locations throughout the distribution system 9. Per the UCMR 5 Public Meeting, what is the sampling frequency for surface water systems (including those using groundwater under the direct influence of surface water) during their year of sampling?
a. Monthly b. Four times per year (about every three months) c. Three times per year (about every four months) d. Twice per year (five to seven months apart)
10. Per the EPA Monitoring Unregulated Drinking
Water Contaminants website, who is responsible for posting the analytical results to the EPA webbased Safe Drinking Water Accession and Review
System (SDWARS)?
a. Laboratories that performed the sample analysis b. PWS c. State environmental regulatory agency d. State public health agency
Answers on page 62
References used for this quiz: • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
Monitoring Unregulated Drinking Water
Contaminants webpage: https://www.epa.gov/dwucmr • U.S. EPA, Revisions to the Unregulated
Contaminant Monitoring Rule for the Fifth Monitoring
Cycle (UCMR 5): Public Meeting and Webinar: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/202109/815a21001.pdf • U.S. EPA, Revisions to the Unregulated
Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) for Public
Water System Fact Sheet (UCMR 5 Fact Sheet) https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/ documents/ucmr5-proposal-factsheet-draft.pdf
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