At last night’s City Council meeting, the City Manager informed Council and the public of the disappointing news that the City has been issued a pro forma Notice of Violation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), for Failure to Submit a Disinfectant Level Quarterly Operating Report. This was solely a paperwork violation, which the City corrected immediately upon receiving the Notice. Be assured there was never any threat to the safety of our water supply, a point that’s easily lost in the mandatory language (which I’ve cut-and-pasted below) of the written public notice TCEQ now requires be sent out to Bellaire water customers. I offer the following, to let you know that it’s coming and to help put it in perspective.
Borrowing from the mandatory notice language, here’s what actually happened: “Public water systems are required to properly disinfect water before distribution [✔], maintain acceptable disinfection residuals within the distribution system [✔], monitor the disinfectant residual at various locations throughout the distribution system [✔], and report the results of that monitoring to the TCEQ on a quarterly basis [✘].” All disinfection and monitoring was performed; the only violation was in not timely submitting the report for the third quarter of 2022. It was simply an oversight, and one for which staff take full responsibility.
Notwithstanding the nature of this violation and that it had no effect on water quality, the City does take it seriously. The City Manager is prudently using it as an opportunity to evaluate the policies and processes that are in place to support regulatory compliance. Recognizing things like this can sometimes fall through the cracks when departments are understaffed or in transition, she’s looking at supplementing our workforce with an on-call contractor who can come in and assist as needed. And she has already implemented a system of electronic reminders to help staff stay on top of deadlines. The Notice of Violation has highlighted an area for improvement, and the City Manager has reiterated her commitment to keep pressing for ways to strengthen the organization and how it functions.
As mentioned above, the issuance of the Notice by TCEQ triggers a requirement that the City provide written public notice containing the following mandatory language:
Borrowing from the mandatory notice language, here’s what actually happened: “Public water systems are required to properly disinfect water before distribution [✔], maintain acceptable disinfection residuals within the distribution system [✔], monitor the disinfectant residual at various locations throughout the distribution system [✔], and report the results of that monitoring to the TCEQ on a quarterly basis [✘].” All disinfection and monitoring was performed; the only violation was in not timely submitting the report for the third quarter of 2022. It was simply an oversight, and one for which staff take full responsibility.
Notwithstanding the nature of this violation and that it had no effect on water quality, the City does take it seriously. The City Manager is prudently using it as an opportunity to evaluate the policies and processes that are in place to support regulatory compliance. Recognizing things like this can sometimes fall through the cracks when departments are understaffed or in transition, she’s looking at supplementing our workforce with an on-call contractor who can come in and assist as needed. And she has already implemented a system of electronic reminders to help staff stay on top of deadlines. The Notice of Violation has highlighted an area for improvement, and the City Manager has reiterated her commitment to keep pressing for ways to strengthen the organization and how it functions.
As mentioned above, the issuance of the Notice by TCEQ triggers a requirement that the City provide written public notice containing the following mandatory language:
Mandatory Language for Monitoring/Reporting Violation
Failure to Submit a Disinfectant Level Quarterly Operating Report (DLQOR)
MONITORING, ROUTINE (DBP), MAJOR/CHLORINE
Failure to Submit a Disinfectant Level Quarterly Operating Report (DLQOR)
MONITORING, ROUTINE (DBP), MAJOR/CHLORINE
The [WATER SYSTEM NAME] water system PWS ID [PWS ID] has violated the monitoring/reporting requirements set by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in Title 30, Texas Administrative Code (30 TAC), Section 290, Subchapter F. Public water systems are required to properly disinfect water before distribution, maintain acceptable disinfection residuals within the distribution system, monitor the disinfectant residual at various locations throughout the distribution system, and report the results of that monitoring to the TCEQ on a quarterly basis.
Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not your drinking water is safe from microbial contamination.
This/These violation(s) occurred in the monitoring period(s) _______________ <monitoring period of violation>
We are taking the following actions to address this issue:
<corrective actions> Please share this information with all people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (i.e., people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
If you have questions regarding this matter, you may contact _______________ <water system official’s name> at _______________ <area code + phone number>.
Posted/Delivered on: _______________
<Date Posted>
<Date Posted>
The City will be distributing the public notice to water customers shortly. When you receive it, keep in mind that although the mandatory language may at first glance be somewhat alarming—because it’s overinclusive and doesn’t explain what actually happened—again, this was about paperwork, not water quality. Please feel free to reach out to Public Works with any questions or concerns.
