A. The department shall establish and enforce rules for the classification of systems for potable water and certifying operating personnel according to the skill, knowledge and experience necessary within the classification. The rules shall also provide that operating personnel may be certified on the basis of training and supervision at the place of employment. The department may assess and collect reasonable certification fees to reimburse the cost of certification services, which shall be deposited in the water quality fee fund established by section 49-210. Such rules apply to all public water systems involved in the collection, storage, treatment or distribution of potable water. The rules do not apply to systems that are not public water systems, including irrigation, industrial or similar systems where the water is used for nonpotable purposes.

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B. For the purposes of this article:

1. A public water system is a water system that:

(a) Provides water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances.

(b) Has at least fifteen service connections or regularly serves an average of at least twenty-five persons daily for at least sixty days a year.

2. A public water system as described in paragraph 1, subdivisions (a) and (b) of this subsection includes any collection, treatment, storage and distribution facilities that are under the control of the operator of a public water system and that are used primarily in connection with the system and any collection or pretreatment storage facilities that are not under the control of the operator of a public water system and that are used primarily in connection with a public water system.

3. A service connection does not include a connection to a system that delivers water by a constructed conveyance other than a pipe, if any of the following applies:

(a) The water is used exclusively for purposes other than residential uses consisting of drinking, cooking or bathing or other similar uses.

(b) The department determines that alternative water is provided for residential or similar uses for drinking and cooking and that the water achieves a level of public health protection that is equivalent to the applicable national primary drinking water regulations.

(c) The department determines that the water that is provided for residential or similar uses for drinking, cooking and bathing is centrally treated or is treated at the point of entry by the water provider, a pass-through entity or the user to achieve the level of public health protection that is equivalent to the applicable national primary drinking water regulations.

4. An irrigation district in existence before May 18, 1994 and that provides primarily agricultural service through a piped water system with only incidental residential or similar use is not a public water system if the system or the residential or other similar users of the system comply with paragraph 3, subdivision (b) or (c) of this subsection.

5. Persons who receive water through connections that are not service connections pursuant to paragraph 3 of this subsection are not included in the computation of the number of persons prescribed by paragraph 1, subdivision (b) of this subsection.