Prepare the system’s source, treatment, storage, distribution and operating records for the sanitary survey scheduled by its drinking-water authority. Identify the responsible operator, provide safe access and organize previous findings and corrective work. A satisfactory water sample does not replace this system review; resolve required improvements and deadlines with the authority.
What is the survey reviewing?
A drinking-water sanitary survey examines the regulated system, not just one fixture or one laboratory result. Arizona's R18-4-208 requires surveys on the Department's schedule and permits a survey when needed to assure compliance. Confirm the system's classification, source and responsible authority before assigning an inspection interval from another facility.
A privately owned business well can still be a regulated public water system. The owner should confirm whether ADEQ or a delegated county agency administers its program. A cross-connection survey or backflow assembly test addresses a narrower protection question; neither replaces the drinking-water sanitary survey.
ADEQ's small-groundwater field guide helps operators organize the physical and operating review. It does not replace the current requirements or the inspector's instructions for a particular system.
For a system operated seasonally, the startup and certification checklist explains a separate return-to-service task; preparing for a survey does not complete it.
Which records and access should be prepared?
Build a readily available inspection file:
- System identification, owner contacts and the responsible certified operator.
- Current diagrams showing sources, treatment, storage and distribution.
- Operating logs, maintenance records and required sampling results.
- The applicable monitoring and sample-siting plans.
- Previous survey findings and evidence of completed corrective work.
- Equipment changes, unresolved faults and relevant approval documents.
Have the operator identify unknown routes or missing records accurately. Marking an uncertain line as verified can make the inspection less useful. Finding the right operator arrangement is a separate staffing duty, while positive-coliform response concerns a laboratory-triggered compliance task.
The source-water assessment and protection guide addresses risks around drinking-water sources. Keep that information distinct from the sanitary survey’s physical and operating findings; a favorable assessment does not guarantee an inspection result.
Prepare the current microbiological sample-siting plan and the drinking-water asset inventory when assembling those records. If a small system has a confirmed coliform assessment trigger, use its separate Level 1 or Level 2 assessment guide; the scheduled survey does not replace that event response.
Coordinate safe access and the people needed to explain operation. Owners should not enter storage tanks, pits or other hazardous spaces to prepare for a visit. Qualified personnel should plan any opening, inspection or repair requiring specialized precautions.
How should findings be closed out?
Obtain the written findings and distinguish a record correction from a physical or operating deficiency. Assign a responsible person, required evidence and deadline to each item. R18-4-208 requires the supplier to make the design, operation and maintenance changes specified by the Department within its stated time limits.
For a supplier using source blending for MCL compliance, retain the approved blending plan, monitoring program and amendments with the actual source and operating records. A survey closeout or repaired component does not replace those method-specific approvals.
Ask what acceptance or followup documentation the authority needs. Keep approvals, work records and verification together without describing a contractor's completed repair as regulatory clearance. A clean sample or an orderly file does not guarantee that the system will pass its survey.
Use the compliance-record retention guide to separate the survey file’s retention clock from laboratory results, corrective-action records and public notices. Preserve the actual survey and followup evidence rather than applying one disposal date to all documents.