(1) A licensed dentist shall use water for nonsurgical procedures that meets United States Environmental Protection Agency regulatory standards for drinking water of five hundred or less colony-forming units or CFUs/mL.

(2) A licensed dentist shall follow dental equipment manufacturer's instructions when testing the water delivery system for acceptable water quality. If manufacturer's instructions are unavailable, a licensed dentist shall test the water delivery system for acceptable water quality quarterly. A licensed dentist shall test the water delivery system five to ten days after repair or changes in the plumbing system and again at twenty-one to twenty-eight days later.

(a) Effective December 1, 2021, all water lines must be tested.

(i) All water lines for each operatory or dental unit can be pooled as one single sample.

(A) A pooled sample must use an equal amount of water from each water line.

(B) A pooled sample can have up to ten water lines included.

(C) The number of water lines pooled into one sample must be documented.

(ii) All water lines for each operatory or dental unit can be tested individually.

(b) In the event of an unacceptable level of colony-forming units or CFUs, a licensed dentist shall take immediate remedial action. For the purposes of this section, remedial action means any action necessary to reduce the CFUs to five hundred or a lesser number currently recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as acceptable for drinking water.

(c) A licensed dentist shall record the water delivery system testing and maintenance either in the form of a log reflecting dates and person or persons conducting the test or maintenance or copies of reports from an independent testing entity. A licensed dentist shall maintain this documentation for a period of five years.