| (a) Authority for requirements. Texas Health and Safety
Code (THSC), Chapter 341, Subchapter C prescribes the duties of the
commission relating to the regulation and control of public drinking
water systems in the state. The statute requires that the commission
ensure that public water systems: supply safe drinking water in adequate
quantities, are financially stable and technically sound, promote
use of regional and area-wide drinking water systems, and review completed
plans and specifications and business plans for all contemplated public
water systems not exempted by THSC, §341.035(d). The statute
also requires the commission be notified of any subsequent material
changes, improvements, additions, or alterations in existing systems
and, consider compliance history in approving new or modified public
water systems. Texas Water Code (TWC), §13.1395, prescribes the
duties of the commission relating to standards for emergency operations
of affected utilities. The statute requires that the commission ensure
that affected utilities provide water service as soon as safe and
practicable during an extended power outage following the occurrence
of a natural disaster.
(b) Reason for this subchapter and minimum criteria.
This subchapter has been adopted to ensure regionalization and area-wide
options are fully considered, the inclusion of all data essential
for comprehensive consideration of the contemplated project, or improvements,
additions, alterations, or changes thereto and to establish minimum
standardized public health design criteria in compliance with existing
state statutes and in accordance with good public health engineering
practices. In addition, minimum acceptable financial, managerial,
technical, and operating practices must be specified to ensure that
facilities are properly operated to produce and distribute safe, potable
water.
(c) Required actions and approvals prior to construction.
A person may not begin construction of a public drinking water supply
system unless the executive director determines the following requirements
have been satisfied and approves construction of the proposed system.
(1) A person proposing to install a public drinking
water system within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality;
or within 1/2-mile of the corporate boundaries of a district, or other
political subdivision providing the same service; or within 1/2-mile
of a certificated service area boundary of any other water service
provider shall provide to the executive director evidence that:
(A) written application for service was made to that
provider; and
(B) all application requirements of the service provider
were satisfied, including the payment of related fees.
(2) A person may submit a request for an exception
to the requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection if the application
fees will create a hardship on the person. The request must be accompanied
by evidence documenting the financial hardship.
(3) A person who is not required to complete the steps
in paragraph (1) of this subsection, or who completes the steps in
paragraph (1) of this subsection and is denied service or determines
that the existing provider's cost estimate is not feasible for the
development to be served, shall submit to the executive director:
(A) plans and specifications for the system; and
(B) a business plan for the system.
(4) Emergency Preparedness Plan for Public Water Systems
that are Affected Utilities.
(A) Each public water system that is also an affected
utility, as defined by §290.38 of this title (relating to Definitions),
is required to submit to the executive director, receive approval
for, and adopt an emergency preparedness plan in accordance with §290.45
of this title (relating to Minimum Water System Capacity Requirements)
using either the template in Appendix G of §290.47 of this title
(relating to Appendices) or another emergency preparedness plan that
meets the requirements of this section. Emergency preparedness plans
are required to be prepared under the direction of a licensed professional
engineer when an affected utility has been granted or is requesting
an alternative capacity requirement in accordance with §290.45(g)
of this title, or is requesting to meet the requirements of TWC, §13.1395,
as an alternative to any rule requiring elevated storage, or as determined
by the executive director on a case-by-case basis.
(B) Each affected utility that supplies, provides,
or conveys surface water to wholesale customers shall include in its
emergency preparedness plan under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph
provision for the actual installation and maintenance of automatically
starting auxiliary generators or distributive generation facilities
for each raw water intake pump station, water treatment plant, pump
station, and pressure facility necessary to provide water to its wholesale
customers.
(C) The executive director shall review an emergency
preparedness plan submitted under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
If the executive director determines that the plan is not acceptable,
the executive director shall recommend changes to the plan. The executive
director must make its recommendations on or before the 90th day after
the executive director receives the plan. In accordance with commission
rules, an emergency preparedness plan must include one of the options
listed in §290.45(h)(1)(A) - (H) of this title.
(D) Each affected utility shall install any required
equipment to implement the emergency preparedness plan approved by
the executive director immediately upon operation.
(E) The executive director may grant a waiver of the
requirements for emergency preparedness plans to an affected utility
if the executive director determines that compliance with this section
will cause a significant financial burden on customers of the affected
utility. The affected utility shall submit financial, managerial,
and technical information as requested by the executive director to
demonstrate the financial burden.
(d) Submission of plans.
(1) Plans, specifications, and related documents will
not be considered unless they have been prepared under the direction
of a licensed professional engineer. All engineering documents must
have engineering seals, signatures, and dates affixed in accordance
with the rules of the Texas Board of Professional Engineers.
(2) Detailed plans must be submitted for examination
at least 30 days prior to the time that approval, comments or recommendations
are desired. From this, it is not to be inferred that final action
will be forthcoming within the time mentioned.
(3) The limits of approval are as follows.
(A) The commission's public drinking water program
furnishes consultation services as a reviewing body only, and its
licensed professional engineers may neither act as design engineers
nor furnish detailed estimates.
(B) The commission's public drinking water program
does not examine plans and specifications in regard to the structural
features of design, such as strength of concrete or adequacy of reinforcing.
Only the features covered by this subchapter will be reviewed.
(C) The consulting engineer and/or owner must provide
surveillance adequate to assure that facilities will be constructed
according to approved plans and must notify the executive director
in writing upon completion of all work. Planning materials shall be
submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Water
Supply Division, MC 159, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087.
(e) Submission of planning material. In general, the
planning material submitted shall conform to the following requirements.
(1) Engineering reports are required for new water
systems and all surface water treatment plants. Engineering reports
are also required when design or capacity deficiencies are identified
in an existing system. The engineering report shall include, at least,
coverage of the following items:
(A) statement of the problem or problems;
(B) present and future areas to be served, with population
data;
(C) the source, with quantity and quality of water
available;
(D) present and estimated future maximum and minimum
water quantity demands;
(E) description of proposed site and surroundings for
the water works facilities;
(F) type of treatment, equipment, and capacity of facilities;
(G) basic design data, including pumping capacities,
water storage and flexibility of system operation under normal and
emergency conditions; and
(H) the adequacy of the facilities with regard to delivery
capacity and pressure throughout the system.
(2) All plans and drawings submitted may be printed
on any of the various papers which give distinct lines. All prints
must be clear, legible and assembled to facilitate review.
(A) The relative location of all facilities which are
pertinent to the specific project shall be shown.
(B) The location of all abandoned or inactive wells
within 1/4-mile of a proposed well site shall be shown or reported.
(C) If staged construction is anticipated, the overall
plan shall be presented, even though a portion of the construction
may be deferred.
(D) A general map or plan of the municipality, water
district, or area to be served shall accompany each proposal for a
new water supply system.
(3) Specifications for construction of facilities shall
accompany all plans. If a process or equipment which may be subject
to probationary acceptance because of limited application or use in
Texas is proposed, the executive director may give limited approval.
In such a case, the owner must be given a bonded guarantee from the
manufacturer covering acceptable performance. The specifications shall
include a statement that such a bonded guarantee will be provided
to the owner and shall also specify those conditions under which the
bond will be forfeited. Such a bond will be transferable. The bond
shall be retained by the owner and transferred when a change in ownership
occurs.
(4) A copy of each fully executed sanitary control
easement and any other documentation demonstrating compliance with §290.41(c)(1)(F)
of this title (relating to Water Sources) shall be provided to the
executive director prior to placing the well into service. Each original
easement document, if obtained, must be recorded in the deed records
at the county courthouse. For an example, see commission Form 20698.
(5) Construction features and siting of all facilities
for new water systems and for major improvements to existing water
systems must be in conformity with applicable commission rules.
(6) For public water systems using reverse osmosis
or nanofiltration membranes, the engineering report must include the
requirements specified in paragraph (1)(A) - (H) of this subsection,
and additionally must provide sufficient information to ensure effective
treatment. Specifically:
(A) Provide a clear identification of the proposed
raw water source.
(i) If the well has been constructed, a copy of the
State of Texas Well Report according to 16 TAC Chapter 76 (relating
to Water Well Drillers and Water Well Pump Installers), a cementing
certificate (as required by §290.41(c)(3)(A) of this title),
and a copy of the complete physical and chemical analysis of the raw
water from the well as required by §290.41(c)(3)(G) of this title;
or
(ii) If the well has not been constructed, the approximate
longitude and latitude for the new well and the projected water quality.
(B) Provide a description of the pretreatment process
that includes:
(i) target water quality of the proposed pretreatment
process;
(ii) constituent(s) to be removed or treated;
(iii) method(s) or technologies used; and
(iv) operating parameters, such as chemical dosages,
filter loading rates, and empty bed contact times.
(C) The design of a reverse osmosis or nanofiltration
membrane system shall be based on the standard modeling tools of the
manufacturer. The model must be run for both new membranes and end-of-life
membranes. All design parameters required by the membrane manufacturer's
modeling tool must be included in the modeled analysis. At a minimum,
the model shall provide:
(i) system flow rate;
(ii) system recovery;
(iii) number of stages;
(iv) number of passes;
(v) feed pressure;
(vi) system configuration with the number of vessels
per stage, the number of passes (if applicable), and the number of
elements per vessel;
(vii) flux (in gallons per square foot per day) for
the overall system;
(viii) selected fouling factor for new and end-of-life
membranes; and
(ix) ion concentrations in the feed water for all constituents
required by the manufacturer's model and the projected ion concentrations
for the permeate water and concentrate water.
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