G-03-04-24-13F1 - 4/24/2003ORDINANCE NO. l7 " O� C�f -, "7 ') 3F1
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 6, SECTION 6.300 CODE OF
ORDINANCES (1995 EDITION), CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS, TO
INCLUDE THE REGULATION OF PUBLIC WATER WELLS AND
COMPLY WITH CURRENT STATE LAWS; AND PROVIDING FOR A
SAVINGS CLAUSE AND REPEALING CONFLICTING ORDINANCES.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROUND
ROCK, TEXAS:
I.
That Chapter 6, Section 6.300, Code of Ordinances (1995
Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read as
follows:
SECTION 6.300 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE WATER WELLS
6.301 DEFINITIONS
(1) "Private Water Well" means any artificial excavation constructed for the purpose of
exploring for and producing groundwater for any use by a private individual or entity and
the system for provision of the groundwater does not meet the federal and state definitions
of a public water system.
(2) "Public Water Well" means any artificial excavation constructed for the purpose of
exploring for and producing groundwater for human consumption by a private individual
or entity which is part of a system for the provision of groundwater and said system meets
the state definition of a public water system.
(3) "Water Well" means a public water well or private water well and means and refers to
both.
(4) "Well" means a water well.
6.302 PROHIBITIONS
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to drill or attempt to drill any
Water Well within the corporate limits of this city except in compliance with the provisions
of this section.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to connect in any manner a Private Water Well system
to the city's water supply or distribution system.
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6.303 PERMITS
(1) No Water Well may be drilled without first obtaining a permit therefor from the city
engineer.
(2) The application for a Water Well permit shall include the location of the well; name,
address, and telephone number of the owner; and name, address, and telephone number
of the well driller.
(3) The fee for a Water Well permit shall be two hundred dollars ($200.00).
6.304 LOCATION OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE WELL SITES
(1) Water Wells shall be so located to protect the water supply of the well by means of
sanitary control and shall be so located that there will be no danger of pollution from
flooding or from insanitary surroundings, such as cesspools, privies, sewage, livestock and
animal pens, solid waste disposal sites, or abandoned and improperly sealed wells.
(2) The construction and operation of underground petroleum and chemical storage tanks and
liquid transmission pipelines, stock pens, feedlots, dump grounds, privies, cesspools,
septic tank or sewage treatment drainfields, improperly constructed water wells of any
depth, and all other construction or operation that could create an insanitary condition is
prohibited within a one hundred and fifty (150) foot radius of a Water Well. For the
purpose of this section 6.304(2), improperly constructed Water Wells are those Wells
which do not meet the surface and subsurface construction standards for a Public Water
Well.
(3) The construction of tile or concrete sanitary sewers, sewer appurtenances, septic tanks,
storm sewers, and cemeteries is prohibited within a fifty (50) -foot radius of a Water Well.
(4) No Well site shall be located or selected which is within five hundred (500) feet of a
sewage treatment plant or within three hundred (300) feet of a sewage wet wall, sewage
pumping station, or a drainage ditch which contains industrial waste discharges or the
wastes from sewage treatment systems.
(5) No Water Wells shall be located within five hundred (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.
(6) Livestock in pastures shall not be allowed within fifty (50) feet of a Water Well.
(7) All known abandoned or inoperative Wells (unused Wells that have not been plugged)
within one quarter mile of a proposed Well site shall be reported to the City of Round
Rock and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality along with existing or potential
pollution hazards. This information must be submitted prior to construction.
6.305 PREMISES, MATERIALS, TOOLS, AND DRILLING EOUIPMENT
The premises, materials, tools and drilling equipment shall be maintained so as to minimize
contamination of the underground water during the drilling operation.
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(1) Water used in any drilling operation shall be of safe sanitary quality.
(2) The slush pit shall be constructed and maintained so as to minimize contamination of the
drilling mud.
(3) No temporary toilet facilities shall be maintained within 150 feet of a Well being
constructed unless they are of a sealed, leakproof type.
6.306 RIGHT OF ENTRY
The city engineer or his authorized representative may enter any premise at all reasonable times
to make an inspection or enforce any of the provisions of this Section 6.300.
6.307 CONDITIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, DISINFECTION, PROTECTION AND TESTING
OF A WELL
The construction, disinfection, protection, and testing of a Well to be used as a water supply source
must meet the following conditions.
(1) Drilling records and Well completion data shall be maintained accurately and copies made
available to the owner, as well as the city engineer or other city departments. Before
placing the well into service, the city engineer shall be furnished 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 subsections (7) and (12)
of this Section 6.307; and an original or legible copy of a United States Geological Survey
7.5 minute topographic quadrangle showing the accurate Well location to the city engineer.
All the documents listed in this Section 6.307 must be approved by the city engineer before
final approval is granted.
(2) The casing material used in the construction of Wells shall be new carbon steel,
high-strength low -alloy steel, stainless steel or plastic and the material shall conform to the
American Waterworks Association Standards. The casing shall extend a minimum of
eighteen (18) inches above the elevation of the finished floor of the pump room or natural
ground surface and a minimum of one (1) 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 8%
lead are prohibited.
(3) The space between the casing and drill hole shall be sealed by using sufficient cement
under pressure to provide for completely filling and sealing of 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 American Waterworks
Association Standard for Water Wells (A100-97), Appendix C: Section C.3 (Positive
Displacement Exterior Method); Section C.4 (Interior Method Without Plug); Section C.5
(Positive Placement, Interior Method, Drillable Plug); Section C.6 (Placement Through
Float Attached to Bottom of Casing). Cementation methods other than those listed in this
section 6.307(3) may be used on a site-specific basis with the prior written approval of the
city engineer. A cement bonding log, as well as any other documentation deemed
3
necessary, may be required by the city engineer to assure complete sealing of the annular
space.
(4) In all cases, a concrete sealing block extending at least three (3) feet from the well casing
in all directions, with a minimum thickness of six (6) inches, and sloped to drain away at
not less than one-fourth (1/4) or three (3) inches per foot shall be provided around the well
head.
(5) Well heads and pump bases shall be sealed by gaskets or sealing compounds and properly
vented to prevent the possibility of contaminating the Well water. A well casing vent shall
be provided with an opening that is covered with 16 -mesh or finer corrosion resistant
screen, and facing downward, elevated and located so as to minimize the drawing of
contaminants into the Well. Wellheads and well vents shall be at least two feet above the
highest known watermark or 100 -year flood elevation, if available, or adequately protected
from possible flood damage by levees.
(6) 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.
(7) Upon Well completion, or after an existing Well has been reworked, the Well shall be
disinfected in accordance with current American Waterworks Association Standards for
well disinfection except that the disinfectant shall remain in the well for at least six hours.
(a) Before placing the Well in service, the water containing the disinfectant shall be
flushed from the Well, and the 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 approved by the Texas Department of Health.
(b) 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 if necessary, on the basis of quantitative microbiological
analyses.
(8) A suitable sampling cock shall be provided on the discharge pipe of each well pump prior
to any treatment.
(9) If a well blow -off line is provided, its discharge shall terminate in a downward direction
and at a point which will not be submerged by flood waters.
(10) The well site shall be fine graded so that the site is free from depressions, reverse grades,
or areas too rough for proper ground maintenance so as to ensure that surface water will
drain away from the Well. In all cases, arrangements shall be made to convey well pump
drainage, packing gland leakage, and floor drainage away from the wellhead. Suitable
drain pipes located at the outer edge of the concrete floor shall be provided to collect this
water and prevent its ponding or collecting around the wellhead. This waste water shall
be disposed of in a manner that will not cause any mosquito breeding or stagnation.
Drains shall not be directly connected to storm or sanitary sewers.
4
(11) 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/1 chlorine solution as it is added
to the Well cavity.
(12) 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 a certified 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 city engineer shall be on the basis of results from the certified 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 mineral which make the water undesirable or
unsuited for domestic use. Additional chemical and microbiological tests may be required
after the city engineer conducts a vulnerability assessment of the Well.
(13) Below ground -level pump rooms and pump pits will not be allowed in connection with
water supply installations.
(14) Flow measuring devices shall be provided for each Well to measure production yields and
provide for the accumulation of water production data. These devices shall be located to
facilitate daily readings.
(15) All completed Well units shall be protected by intruder -resistant fences, the gates of which
are provided with locks or shall be enclosed in locked, ventilated well houses to exclude
possible contamination or damage to the facilities by trespassers. The gates or wellhouses
shall be locked during periods of darkness and when the plant is unattended.
(16) An all-weather access road shall be provided to each Well site.
(17) If an air release device is provided on the discharge piping, it shall be installed in such a
manner as to preclude the possibility of submergence or possible entrance of contaminants.
In this respect, all openings to the atmosphere shall be covered with 16 -mesh or finer,
corrosion -resistant screening material or an acceptable equivalent.
(18) Upon completion of the water well, the following reports shall be required:
(a) The water well driller shall submit a copy of the drilling log, the size of the pump,
and the pump setting.
(b) The casing contractor shall submit a report detailing the size, depth, material used,
and wall thickness of the casing.
(c) The cementing contractor shall submit a report of the specification of the
cementing.
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6.308 ABANDONED OR INOPERATIVE WELLS
All abandoned Wells or inoperative Wells shall be plugged in accordance with the current rules
and regulations of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under the Texas
Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 76.
II.
A. All ordinances, parts of ordinances, or resolutions in
conflict herewith are expressly repealed.
B. The invalidity of any section or provision of this
ordinance shall not invalidate other sections or provisions
thereof.
C. The City Council hereby finds and declares that written
notice of the date, hour, place and subject of the meeting at which
this Ordinance was adopted was posted and that such meeting was
open to the public as required by law at all times during which
this Ordinance and the subject matter hereof were discussed,
considered and formally acted upon, all as required by the Open
Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, as amend10
READ and APPROVED on first reading this the 10 qday of
, 2003. 1'�J
READ, APPROVED and ADOPTED on second reading this the `�'
day of
, 2003.
NY ' i' EL , Ma or
City of Round Rock, Texas
ATTEST:
CJUUthL1e. .
CHRISTINE R. MARTINEZ, City Secreta
6
DATE: April 18, 2003
SUBJECT: City Council Meeting — April 24, 2003
ITEM: *13.F.1. Consider an ordinance amending Chapter 6, Section 6.300 of the
Round Rock Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), amending
regulations for the protection of public water wells. (Second
Reading)
Resource: Tom Clark, Director of Utilities
Steve Sheets, City Attorney
History: State law requires the City to protect its public water wells by owning easements
or enacting ordinances to control activities within a certain distance of the wells.
The purpose of the ordinance will be to prevent the building of any structure or
business activity that could contaminate the City's well supply. Current ordinance
applies to private wells and this amendment will add public water wells and other
changes to update the ordinance so that it is consistent with current state law.
Funding:
Cost: N/A
Source of funds: N/A
Outside Resources:
Impact:
Benefit:
Texas Commission of Environmental Quality
N/A
Provide better protection of the City's well supply.
Public Comment: N/A
Sponsor: N/A