| (II) The conditional approval shall be for a specified
performance and evaluation (monitoring) period, not to exceed an additional
five years. The system must be monitored according to a plan approved
by the executive director. Approval or disapproval of these systems
will be based on their performance during the monitoring period. Failure
of one or more of the installed systems may be cause for disapproval
of the proprietary system. The owner must be advised, in writing,
that the system is conditionally approved.
(III) If the executive director denies use of the system
after the two-year period, the executive director shall provide, in
writing, the reasons for denying the use of the system. If a system
fails, regardless of the reason, it shall be replaced with a system
that meets the requirements of this subchapter by the manufacturer
at the manufacturer's expense.
(v) Upon successful completion of the monitoring period,
the monitoring requirements may be lifted by the executive director,
the notice of approval may be made permanent for the test systems
and the systems will be deemed suitable for use in conditions similar
to areas in which the systems were tested and monitored.
(6) System reviews. The manufacturers of systems that
are approved for listing under this section shall ensure that their
systems are reviewed every seven years, or as often as deemed necessary
by the executive director, starting from the date the system was originally
added to the executive director's approved list. All reviews shall
be completed before the end of the seven-year period. The manufacturer
of any system that was approved by the executive director more than
seven years before the effective date of these rules, will be given
365 days from the effective date of these rules to complete a review.
(A) The review shall be performed by either an ANSI
accredited institution according to the reevaluation requirements
in NSF Standard 40 (2005), and Certification Policies for Wastewater
Treatment Devices (1997), or under any standards approved by the executive
director, or by an independent third party for those systems not tested
under NSF Standard 40.
(B) If the system being reviewed was not approved under
the requirements of NSF Standard 40, the independent third party shall
evaluate between 20 and 50 systems in the state that have been in
operation for at least two years and are the same design as originally
approved.
(C) The review under this subsection shall include
an evaluation of:
(i) the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the
system;
(ii) the structural integrity of the system;
(iii) the maintenance of the system;
(iv) owner access to maintenance support;
(v) any impacts that system failures may have had on
the environment; and
(vi) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the manufacturer's
installer training program.
(D) Any system that is not approved by the executive
director as a result of the review will be removed from the list of
approved systems. The manufacturer shall ensure that maintenance support
remains available for the existing systems.
(d) Non-standard treatment systems. All OSSFs not described
or defined in subsections (b) and (c) of this section are non-standard
treatment systems. These systems shall be designed by a professional
engineer or a professional sanitarian in accordance with §285.91(9)
of this title, and the planning materials shall be submitted to the
permitting authority for review according to §285.5(b)(2) of
this title (relating to Submittal Requirements for Planning Materials).
Upon approval of the planning materials, an authorization to construct
will be issued by the permitting authority.
(1) Non-standard treatment systems include all forms
of the activated sludge process, rotating biological contactors, recirculating
sand filters, trickling type filters, submerged rock biological filters,
and sand filters not described in subsection (b)(2) of this section.
(2) The planning materials for non-standard treatment
systems submitted for review will be evaluated using the criteria
established in this chapter, or basic engineering and scientific principles.
(3) Approval for a non-standard treatment system is
limited to the specific system described in the planning materials.
Approval is on a case-by-case basis only.
(4) The need for ongoing maintenance contracts shall
be determined by the permitting authority based on the review required
by §285.5(b) of this title. If the permitting authority determines
that a maintenance contract is required, the contract must meet the
requirements in §285.7 of this title.
(5) Electrical wiring for non-standard treatment systems
shall be installed according to §285.34(c) of this title.
(e) Effluent quality. The following effluent criteria
shall be met by the treatment systems for those disposal systems listed
in §285.33 of this title that require secondary treatment.
Attached Graphic
(f) Other Design Considerations.
(1) Restaurant/food establishment sewage. When designing
for restaurants, food service establishments, or similar activities,
the minimum design strength value shall be 1,200 mg/l Biochemical
Oxygen Demand (BOD) after a properly sized grease trap/interceptor.
It is the responsibility of the designer to properly design a system
which reduces the wastewater strength to 140 mg/l BOD prior to disposal
unless secondary treatment levels are required.
(2) Other high-strength sewage. For situations where
sewage as defined in this chapter is expected to be a higher strength
than residential sewage, it is the responsibility of the professional
designer to justify sewage design strength estimations and properly
design a system that reduces the wastewater strength to 140 mg/l BOD
prior to disposal unless secondary treatment levels are required.
Residential sewage is sewage that has a strength of less than 300
mg/l BOD.
(3) Flow equalization. The designer should consider
whether flow-equalization will be needed for the treatment system
to function properly.
|
| Source Note: The provisions of this §285.32 adopted to be effective February 5, 1997, 22 TexReg 1114; amended to be effective January 8, 1999, 24 TexReg 139; amended to be effective June 13, 2001, 26 TexReg 4115; amended to be effective September 11, 2008, 33 TexReg 7536; amended to be effective December 27, 2012, 37 TexReg 9947; amended to be effective July 6, 2023, 48 TexReg 3508 |
