What qualifies a Public Water System?

A Public Water System is defined by specific criteria that ensure it meets the necessary standards for providing safe drinking water to the community. The qualifying factors include the number of service connections and the number of individuals served.

The correct choice highlights that a Public Water System must have at least 15 service connections and serve at least 25 individuals. This definition is significant because it establishes a baseline for what constitutes a public water system, ensuring that systems are adequately equipped to provide reliable and safe water to a substantial population. Systems meeting these criteria fall under regulations that are designed to protect public health, requiring them to adhere to standards for water quality, monitoring, and reporting.

The other choices do not meet the criteria outlined in the regulations for public water systems. A system with at least 10 service connections, while close, does not satisfy the requirement for the minimum number of connections or individuals served. Systems that only serve individuals for less than 30 days a year might not provide sufficient service over a longer term, and those designed exclusively for industrial use are not intended for public consumption and therefore do not qualify as public water systems.