15.06.010 Findings and purpose. 

A. The County of Monterey regulates local small water systems consisting of two (2) to four (4) service connections, and state small water systems consisting of five (5) to fourteen (14) service connections. Many of these water systems are impacted by contaminants of concern such as nitrate, arsenic, fluoride or chromium VI. 

B. The County recognizes that centralized treatment systems treating contaminants of concern are expensive, and there is a lack of state funding for state and local small water systems. The installation of point-of-use (POU) or point-of-entry (POE) water treatment devices is a viable affordable option for these impacted water systems while they pursue a long term solution for provision of safe potable water such as but not limited to centralized water treatment, a new well, or consolidation. 

C. POE treatment ensures that all water entering a structure provides a higher level of protection to public health from ingestion and exposure to contaminants than POU treatment. 

D. POU treatment provides treated water at a single tap for reducing contaminants in drinking water only at that tap to protect public health from ingestion and exposure to contaminants. 

E. On October 9, 2015, State of California Assembly Bill No. 434 (“AB 434”) took effect. AB 434 amended California Health and Safety Code sections 116380 and 116552, which pertain to POE and POU treatment by public water systems. 

F. On January 22, 2019, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted regulations that allow the permitted use of POE and POU treatment by public water systems in lieu of centralized treatment by making modifications to Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, beginning with section 64417. On February 7, 2019, the State Water Resources Control Board submitted the adopted regulations to the Office of Administrative Law for review and approval. On March 22, 2019, the state regulations were signed by the Secretary of State and became effective. The state law applies to public water systems of 15 service connections or more and limits the use of POE and POU treatment to public water systems of fewer than 200 service connections and limits the period of use to three years or until funding for centralized treatment is available, whichever occurs first. 

G. Monterey County Code Section 15.04.146(c) allows local small water systems (2 to 4 service connections) and state small water systems (5 to 14 service connections) to install POU or POE water treatment devices in conformance with the regulations of this Chapter. The purpose of this Chapter is to establish local County regulations, to govern the use of POE and POU treatment by local small water systems and state small water systems, similar to the recent changes in state law which govern larger public water systems. 

H. By establishing regulations for POE and POU treatment, the County also recognizes that local small and state small water systems differ significantly in technical, managerial, and operational capacity in comparison to public water systems in that local small and state small water systems may find installation of centralized treatment financially, managerially, and operationally infeasible. 

I. The County finds that bottled water use, although appropriate for disaster emergency response, is not a suitable alternative nor a permanent substitute for an environmentally sustainable, financially affordable, readily accessible and reliable source of drinking water for local small and state small water systems. 

J. On December 4, 2018, the Board of Supervisors of the County of Monterey recognized the importance of the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and passed Resolution No. 18-385 proclaiming that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking and sanitary purposes and that this right is extended to all residents of Monterey County including disadvantaged individuals and groups and communities in rural and urban areas”.