(a) Water quality. The quality of water to be supplied
must meet the quality criteria prescribed by the commission's drinking
water standards contained in Subchapter F of this chapter (relating
to Drinking Water Standards Governing Drinking Water Quality and Reporting
Requirements for Public Water Systems).
(b) Water quantity. Sources of supply, both ground
and surface, shall have a safe yield capable of supplying the maximum
daily demands of the distribution system during extended periods of
peak usage and critical hydrologic conditions. The pipelines and pumping
capacities to treatment plants or distribution systems shall be adequate
for such water delivery. Minimum capacities required are specified
in §290.45 of this title (relating to Minimum Water System Capacity
Requirements).
  (1) A retail public utility as defined by Texas Water
Code, §13.002(19) and each entity from which the utility is obtaining
wholesale water service for the utility's retail system shall report
to the executive director when the utility or entity is reasonably
certain that the water supply will be available for less than 180
days. The reporting must be accomplished by utilizing the online "PWS
Drought Contingency Plan Reporting Form."
  (2) If reporting cannot be accomplished in accordance
with paragraph (1) of this subsection, then the retail public utility
or entity from which the utility is obtaining wholesale water service
may report to the executive director by United States Postal Service
mail, program e-mail, or facsimile.
(c) Groundwater sources and development.
  (1) Groundwater sources shall be located so that there
will be no danger of pollution from flooding or from unsanitary surroundings,
such as privies, sewage, sewage treatment plants, livestock and animal
pens, solid waste disposal sites or underground petroleum and chemical
storage tanks and liquid transmission pipelines, or abandoned and
improperly sealed wells.
    (A) No well site which is within 50 feet of a tile
or concrete sanitary sewer, sewerage appurtenance, septic tank, storm
sewer, or cemetery; or which is within 150 feet of a septic tank perforated
drainfield, areas irrigated by low dosage, low angle spray on-site
sewage facilities, absorption bed, evapotranspiration bed, improperly
constructed water well, or underground petroleum and chemical storage
tank or liquid transmission pipeline will be acceptable for use as
a public drinking water supply. Sanitary or storm sewers constructed
of ductile iron or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe meeting American
Water Works Association (AWWA) standards, having a minimum working
pressure of 150 pounds per square inch (psi) or greater, and equipped
with pressure type joints may be located at distances of less than
50 feet from a proposed well site, but in no case shall the distance
be less than ten feet.
    (B) No well site shall be located within 500 feet of
a sewage treatment plant or within 300 feet of a sewage wet well,
sewage pumping station, or a drainage ditch which contains industrial
waste discharges or the wastes from sewage treatment systems.
    (C) No water wells shall be located within 500 feet
of animal feed lots, solid waste disposal sites, lands on which sewage
plant or septic tank sludge is applied, or lands irrigated by sewage
plant effluent.
    (D) Livestock in pastures shall not be allowed within
50 feet of water supply wells.
    (E) All known abandoned or inoperative wells (unused
wells that have not been plugged) within 1/4-mile of a proposed well
site shall be reported to the commission along with existing or potential
pollution hazards. These reports are required for community and nontransient,
noncommunity groundwater sources. Examples of existing or potential
pollution hazards which may affect groundwater quality include, but
are not limited to: landfill and dump sites, animal feedlots, military
facilities, industrial facilities, wood-treatment facilities, liquid
petroleum and petrochemical production, storage, and transmission
facilities, Class 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 injection wells, and pesticide
storage and mixing facilities. This information must be submitted
prior to construction or as required by the executive director.
    (F) A sanitary control easement or sanitary control
easements covering land within 150 feet of the well, or executive
director approval for a substitute authorized by this subparagraph,
shall be obtained.
      (i) The sanitary control easement(s) secured shall
provide that none of the pollution hazards covered in subparagraphs
(A) - (E) of this paragraph, or any facilities that might create a
danger of pollution to the water to be produced from the well, will
be located thereon.
      (ii) For the purpose of a sanitary control easement,
an improperly constructed water well is one which fails to meet the
surface and subsurface construction standards for public water supply
wells. Residential type wells within a sanitary control easement must
be constructed to public water well standards.
      (iii) A copy of the recorded sanitary control easement(s)
shall be included with plans and specifications submitted to the executive
director for review.
      (iv) With the approval of the executive director, the
public water system may submit any of the following as a substitute
for obtaining, recording, and submitting a copy of the recorded sanitary
control easement(s) covering land within 150 feet of the well:
        (I) a copy of the recorded deed and map demonstrating
that the public water system owns all real property within 150 feet
of the well;
        (II) a copy of the recorded deed and map demonstrating
that the public water system owns a portion of real property within
150 feet of the well, and a copy of the sanitary control easement(s)
that the public water system has obtained, recorded, and submitted
to the executive director applicable to the remaining portion of real
property within 150 feet of the well not owned by the public water
system; or
        (III) for a political subdivision, a copy of an ordinance
or land use restriction adopted and enforced by the political subdivision
which provides an equivalent or higher level of sanitary protection
to the well as a sanitary control easement.
      (v) If the executive director approves a sanitary control
easement substitute identified in clause (iv)(I) or (II) of this subparagraph
for a public water system and the public water system conveys the
property it owns within 150 feet of the well to another person or
persons, the public water system must at that time obtain, record,
and submit to the executive director a copy of the recorded sanitary
control easement(s) applicable to the conveyed portion of the property
within 150 feet of the well, unless the executive director approves
a substitute identified in clause (iv) of this subparagraph.
  (2) The premises, materials, tools, and drilling equipment
shall be maintained so as to minimize contamination of the groundwater
during drilling operation.
    (A) Water used in any drilling operation shall be of
safe sanitary quality. Water used in the mixing of drilling fluids
or mud shall contain a chlorine residual of at least 0.5 milligrams
per liter (mg/L).
    (B) The slush pit shall be constructed and maintained
so as to minimize contamination of the drilling mud.
    (C) No temporary toilet facilities shall be maintained
within 150 feet of the well being constructed unless they are of a
sealed, leakproof type.
  (3) The construction, disinfection, protection, and
testing of a well to be used as a public water supply source must
meet the following conditions.
    (A) Before placing the well into service, a public
water system shall furnish a copy of the well completion data, which
includes the following items: the Driller's Log (geological log and
material setting report); a cementing certificate; the results of
a 36-hour pump test; the results of the microbiological and chemical
analyses required by subparagraphs (F) and (G) of this paragraph;
a legible copy of the recorded deed or deeds for all real property
within 150 feet of the well; a legible copy of the sanitary control
easement(s) or other documentation demonstrating compliance with paragraph
(1)(F) of this subsection; an original or legible copy of a United
States Geological Survey 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle showing
the accurate well location to the executive director; and a map demonstrating
the well location in relation to surrounding property boundaries.
All the documents listed in this paragraph must be approved by the
executive director before final approval is granted for the use of
the well.
    (B) The casing material used in the construction of
wells for public use shall be new carbon steel, high-strength low-alloy
steel, stainless steel or plastic. The material shall conform to AWWA
standards. The casing shall extend a minimum of 18 inches above the
elevation of the finished floor of the pump room or natural ground
surface and a minimum of one inch above the sealing block or pump
motor foundation block when provided. The casing shall extend at least
to the depth of the shallowest water formation to be developed and
deeper, if necessary, in order to eliminate all undesirable water-bearing
strata. Well construction materials containing more than 0.25% lead
are prohibited.
    (C) The space between the casing and drill hole shall
be sealed by using enough cement under pressure to completely fill
and seal the annular space between the casing and the drill hole.
The well casing shall be cemented in this manner from the top of the
shallowest formation to be developed to the earth's surface. The driller
shall utilize a pressure cementation method in accordance with the
most current AWWA Standard for Water Wells (A100), Appendix C: Section
C.2 (Positive Displacement Exterior Method); Section C.3 (Interior
Method Without Plug); Section C.4 (Positive Placement, Interior Method,
Drillable Plug); and Section C.5 (Placement Through Float Shoe Attached
to Bottom of Casing). The grouting mixture used to pressure cement
the annular space shall be neat cement as specified in the most current
AWWA Standard for Water Wells and to which a maximum of 6%, by dry
weight, bentonite and 2%, by dry weight, calcium chloride may be added.
The minimum annular space between the outside diameter of the casing
pipe and the borehole shall be no less than 1 1/2 inches in radial
thickness or three inches in net diametrical difference and the pressure
grouting shall be from the bottom upward utilizing one of the methods
listed in this subparagraph for all public water system groundwater
well construction. Cementation methods other than those listed in
this subparagraph may be used on a site-specific basis with the prior
written approval of the executive director. A cement bonding log,
as well as any other documentation deemed necessary, may be required
by the executive director to assure complete sealing of the annular
space.
    (D) When a gravel packed well is constructed, all gravel
shall be of selected and graded quality and shall be thoroughly disinfected
with a 50 mg/L chlorine solution as it is added to the well cavity.
    (E) Safeguards shall be taken to prevent possible contamination
of the water or damage by trespassers following the completion of
the well and prior to installation of permanent pumping equipment.
    (F) Upon well completion, or after an existing well
has been reworked, the well shall be disinfected in accordance with
current AWWA standards for well disinfection except that the disinfectant
shall remain in the well for at least six hours.
      (i) Before placing the well in service, the water containing
the disinfectant shall be flushed from the well and then samples of
water shall be collected and submitted for microbiological analysis
until three successive daily raw water samples are free of coliform
organisms. The analysis of these samples must be conducted by a laboratory
accredited by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
      (ii) Appropriate facilities for treatment of the water
shall be provided where a satisfactory microbiological record cannot
be established after repeated disinfection. The extent of water treatment
required will be determined on the basis of geological data, well
construction features, nearby sources of contamination and, perhaps,
on the basis of quantitative microbiological analyses.
    (G) A complete physical and chemical analysis of the
water produced from a new well shall be made after 36 hours of continuous
pumping at the design withdrawal rate. Shorter pump test periods can
be accepted for large capacity wells producing from areas of known
groundwater production and quality so as to prevent wasting of water.
Samples must be submitted to an accredited laboratory for chemical
analyses. Tentative approval may be given on the basis of tests performed
by in-plant or private laboratories, but final acceptance by the commission
shall be on the basis of results from the accredited laboratory. Appropriate
treatment shall be provided if the analyses reveal that the water
from the well fails to meet the water quality criteria as prescribed
by the drinking water standards. These criteria include turbidity,
color and threshold odor limitations, and excessive hydrogen sulfide,
carbon dioxide, or other constituents or minerals which make the water
undesirable or unsuited for domestic use. Additional chemical and
microbiological tests may be required after the executive director
conducts a vulnerability assessment of the well.
    (H) Below ground-level pump rooms and pump pits will
not be allowed in connection with water supply installations.
Cont'd...