(A) Before the construction, expansion, or modification of any public water system, application for a permit to construct must be made to, and a permit to construct obtained from, the department.

(B) All applications for a permit to construct shall include such engineering, chemical, physical, radiological, or bacteriological data as may be required by the department and must be accompanied by engineering plans, drawings, and specifications prepared by or under the direct supervision of a person properly qualified to perform engineering work as provided in Chapter 22 of Title 40 and must be signed or certified by a professional engineer as defined in Chapter 22 of Title 40.

(C) Upon the completion of construction, modification, or extension to a public water system, arrangements must be made for a final inspection and approval before operation as prescribed by regulation. No new facility may be operated prior to approval by the department.

(D) Any public water system must be adequately protected and maintained so as to continuously provide safe and potable water in sufficient quantity and pressure and free from potential hazards to the health of the consumers. No person may install, permit to be installed, or maintain any unprotected cross-connection between a public water system and any other water system, sewer, or waste line or any piping system or container containing polluting substances. To facilitate the prevention and control of cross-connections, the department shall certify qualified individuals who are capable of testing cross-connection control devices to ensure their proper operation.

(E) Hand dug and bored wells constructed with casing materials of rock, concrete, or ceramic must not be used as a source of water for a public water system.

(F) In exercising its responsibility under this article, the department is authorized to investigate the public water system as often as the department considers necessary. Records of operation of public water systems must be kept on forms approved or furnished by the department, and this data must be submitted at such times and intervals as the department considers necessary. Samples of water must be collected and analyzed by the systems as required.

(G) The department may authorize variances or exemptions from the regulations issued pursuant to this section under conditions and in such manner as the board considers necessary and desirable; however, these variances or exemptions must be permitted under conditions and in a manner which is not less stringent than the conditions under, and the manner in which, variances and exemptions may be granted under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

(H) The department or its authorized representative has the authority to enter upon the premises of any public water system at any time for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article.

(I) The department may issue, modify, or revoke any order to prevent any violation of this article after adequate notice and proper hearing as required by the Administrative Procedures Act.

(J) The department may hold public hearings and compel the attendance of witnesses; conduct studies, investigations, surveillance of laboratories, including certification programs, and research with respect to the operation and maintenance of any public water system; adopt and implement plans for the provision of drinking water under emergency circumstances; and issue, deny, revoke, suspend, or modify permits under such conditions as it may prescribe for the operation of any public water system; however, no permit may be revoked without first providing an opportunity for a hearing.

(K) The Commissioner of the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall classify all public water system treatment facilities giving due regard to the size, type, complexity, physical condition, source of supply, and treatment process employed by the public water system treatment facility and the skill, knowledge, and experience necessary for the operation of these facilities. Each treatment facility must be classified at the highest applicable level of the following classification system, with Group VII Treatment being the highest classification level:

Group I Treatment. A facility which provides disinfection treatment using a sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite solution as the disinfectant.

Group II Treatment. A facility which provides disinfection treatment using gaseous chlorine or chloramine disinfection or includes sequestering, fluoridation, or corrosion control treatment.

Group III Treatment. A facility treating a groundwater source which is not under the direct influence of surface water, utilizing aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, lime softening, filtration, chlorine dioxide, ozone, ultra-violet light disinfection, powdered activated carbon addition, granular activated carbon filtration or ion exchange, or membrane technology or that includes sludge storage or a sludge dewatering process.

Group IV Treatment. A facility treating a surface water source or a groundwater source which is under the direct influence of surface water, utilizing aeration, coagulation, clarification with a minimum detention time of two hours in the clarification unit, lime softening, rapid rate gravity filtration (up to four gallons per minute per square foot), slow sand filtration, chlorine dioxide, powdered activated carbon addition, or granular activated carbon filtration or ion exchange or that includes sludge storage or a sludge dewatering process. This classification also includes any treatment facility which does not provide filtration for a surface water source or a groundwater source which is under the direct influence of surface water.

Group V Treatment. A facility treating a surface water source or a groundwater source which is under the direct influence of surface water, utilizing high rate gravity filtration (greater than four gallons per minute per square foot), clarification with a detention time of less than two hours in the clarification unit, diatomaceous earth filtration, or ultraviolet light disinfection.

Group VI Treatment. A facility treating a surface water source or a groundwater source which is under the direct influence of surface water, utilizing direct filtration, membrane technology, or ozone.

Group VII Treatment. Drinking water dispensing stations and vending machines which utilize water from an approved public water system or bottled water plants which treat water from the distribution system of a public water system or from a groundwater source which is not under the direct influence of surface water.

(L) The Commissioner of the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall classify all public water distribution systems giving due regard to the size, type, and complexity of the public water distribution system and the skill, knowledge, and experience necessary for the operation of these systems. The classification must be based on:

Group I Distribution. Distribution systems associated with state and transient noncommunity water systems.

Group II Distribution. Distribution systems associated with community and nontransient noncommunity public water systems which have a reliable production capacity not greater than six hundred thousand gallons a day and which do not provide fire protection.

Group III Distribution. Distribution systems associated with community and nontransient noncommunity water systems which have a reliable production capacity greater than six hundred thousand gallons a day but not greater than six million gallons a day (MGD) or have a reliable production capacity not greater than six hundred thousand gallons a day and provide fire protection.

Group IV Distribution. Distribution systems associated with community and nontransient noncommunity water systems which have a reliable production capacity than six MGD, but not greater than twenty MGD.

Group V Distribution. Distribution systems associated with community and nontransient noncommunity water systems which have a reliable production capacity greater than twenty MGD.

(M) It is unlawful for a person to operate a public water treatment facility or distribution system classified in subsection (K) or (L) unless the operator-in-charge holds a valid certificate of registration issued by the South Carolina Environmental Certification Board in a grade corresponding to the classification of the public water treatment facility or distribution system supervised by the operator in charge. All public water treatment facilities classified in Group IV Treatment through Group VI Treatment of subsection (K) must have an operator of the appropriate grade certified by the South Carolina Environmental Certification Board on duty while the facility is in operation.

(N) Effective July 1, 1983, it is unlawful for a person to engage in the business of well drilling or represent himself or herself to the public as a well driller without obtaining certification from the South Carolina Environmental Certification Board or employing well drillers which are certified by the South Carolina Environmental Certification Board. Persons constructing or abandoning wells on their own property for their own personal use only are not required to be licensed by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

(O) The board, to ensure that underground sources of drinking water are not contaminated by improper well construction and operation, may promulgate regulations as developed by the Advisory Committee established pursuant to § 44-55-45, setting standards for the construction, maintenance, operation, and abandonment of any well except for wells where well construction, maintenance, and abandonment are regulated by the Groundwater Use Act of 1969, Sections 49-5-10 et seq.; the Oil and Gas Exploration, Drilling, Transportation, and Production Act, Sections 48-43-10 et seq.; or the Water Use Reporting and Coordination Act, § 49-4-10 et seq. For these excepted wells, the board may promulgate regulations. The board shall further ensure that all wells are constructed in accordance with the standards. The board shall make available educational training on the standards to well drillers who desire this training.

(P) The owner of a public water system must possess a valid operating permit to operate a public water system in this State.