2023 Tennessee Code › Title 68 - HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (§§ 68-1-NEW — 68-221-1319) › ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (§§ 68-201-NEW — 68-221-1319) › Chapter 221 - WATER AND SEWERAGE (§§ 68-221-101 — 68-221-1319) › Part 7 - TENNESSEE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT OF 1983 (§§ 68-221-701 — 68-221-720) › Section 68-221-703 - Part definitions

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Administrator" means the administrator of the United States environmental protection agency (EPA), or the administrator's designated representative;
(2)
"Board" means the Tennessee board of water quality, oil and gas as established by §
69-3-104
;
(3)
"Certified laboratory" means any facility for performing bacteriological, chemical or other analysis on drinking water which has received interim or final certification by the department;
(4)
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of environment and conservation, the commissioner's duly authorized representative, and, in the event of the commissioner's absence or a vacancy in the office of commissioner, the deputy commissioner;
(5)
"Construction" means any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment (including contractual obligations to purchase such facilities or equipment) at the premises where such equipment will be used, including preparation work at such premises;
(6)
"Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in water;
(7)
"Cross connection" means any physical arrangement whereby a public water supply is connected, directly or indirectly, with any other water supply system, sewer, drain, conduit, pool, storage reservoir, plumbing fixture or other device which contains, or may contain, contaminated water, sewage or other waste or liquid of unknown or unsafe quality which may be capable of imparting contamination to the public water supply as a result of backflow. Bypass arrangements, jumper connections, removable sections, swivel or change-over devices through which, or because of which, backflow could occur are considered to be cross-connections;
(8)
"Department" means the department of environment and conservation;
(9)
"Director" means the director of the division of water supply;
(10)
"Division" means the division of water supply of the department;
(11)
"Drinking water regulations" means regulations promulgated pursuant to this part;
(12)
"Federal act" means the Safe Drinking Water Act, P.L. 93-523, as amended;
(13)
"Ground water" means water beneath the surface of the ground, whether or not flowing through known or definite channels;
(14)
"Lead free" means:
(A)
Not containing more than two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) lead when used with respect to solder and flux; and
(B)
(i)
Not more than a weighted average of twenty-five-hundredths of one percent (0.25%) lead when used with respect to the wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures;
(ii)
The weighted average lead content of a pipe, pipe fitting, plumbing fitting, or fixture shall be calculated by using the following formula: For each wetted component, the percentage of lead in the component shall be multiplied by the ratio of the wetted surface area of that component to the total wetted surface area of the entire product to arrive at the weighted percentage of lead of the component. The weighted percentage of lead of each wetted component shall be added together, and the sum of these weighted percentages shall constitute the weighted average lead content of the product;
(iii)
The lead content of the material used to produce wetted components shall be used to determine compliance with this subdivision (14)(B);
(iv)
For lead content of materials that is provided as a range, the maximum content of the range shall be used;
(15)
"Maximum contaminant level" means the maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water which is delivered to any user of a public water system;
(16)
"National primary drinking water regulations" means primary drinking water regulations, as amended, promulgated by the administrator pursuant to the federal act;
(17)
"Person" means any and all persons, including individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, public or private institutions, state and federal agencies, municipalities or political subdivisions, or officers thereof, departments, agencies, or instrumentalities, or public or private corporations or officers thereof, organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country;
(18)
"Primary drinking water regulations" are regulations promulgated by the board in accordance with this part which specify contaminants which may have any adverse effect on the health of persons, and which specify a maximum contaminant level for each such contaminant and monitoring, reporting and record-keeping requirements as determined by the board;
(19)
Public Water System.
(A)
In general.
"Public water system" means a system for the provision of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if such serves fifteen (15) or more connections or which regularly serves twenty-five (25) or more individuals daily at least sixty (60) days out of the year. A public water system includes:
(i)
Any collection, treatment, storage or distribution facility under control of the operator of such system and used primarily in connection with such system; and
(ii)
Any collection or pretreatment storage facility not under such control which is used primarily in connection with such system.
(B)
Connection.
(i)
In general.
For purposes of subdivision (19)(A), a connection to a system that delivers water by a conveyance other than a pipe shall not be considered a connection, if:
(a)
The water is used exclusively for purposes other than residential uses (consisting of drinking, bathing, and cooking, or other similar uses);
(b)
The commissioner determines that alternative water to achieve the equivalent level of public health protection provided by the applicable national primary drinking water regulation is provided for residential or similar uses for drinking and cooking; or
(c)
The commissioner determines that the water provided for residential or similar uses for drinking, cooking and bathing is centrally treated or treated at the point of entry by the provider, a pass through entity, or the user to achieve the equivalent level of protection provided by the applicable national primary drinking water regulations.
(ii)
Irrigation Districts.
An irrigation district in existence prior to May 18, 1994, that provides primarily agricultural service through a piped water system with only incidental residential or similar use shall not be considered to be a public water system if the system or the residential or similar users of the system comply with subdivision (19)(B)(i)(
b
) or (
c
);
(20)
"Secondary drinking water regulations" means regulations which apply to public water systems and which specify the maximum contaminant levels which, in the judgment of the board, are requisite to protect the public welfare. Such regulations may apply to any contaminant in drinking water which may:
(A)
Adversely affect the odor or appearance of such water and consequently may cause a substantial number of persons served by the public water system providing such water to discontinue its use; or
(B)
Otherwise adversely affect the public welfare;
(21)
"Streams" includes any river, creek, slough or natural water course in which water usually flows in a defined bed or channel. It is not essential that the flowing be uniform or uninterrupted. The fact that some parts of the bed or channel have been dredged or improved does not prevent the water course from being a stream;
(22)
"Supplier of water" means any person who owns, operates or controls a public water system;
(23)
"Surface water" includes waters upon the surface of the earth in bounds created naturally or artificially including, but not limited to, streams, other water courses, lakes and reservoirs; and
(24)
"Waters" means any and all water, public or private, on or beneath the surface of the ground, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon Tennessee, or any portion thereof, except those bodies of water confined to and retained within the limits of private property in single ownership which do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters.
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 548, s 1, eff. 5/26/2021.
Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 56, s 1, eff. 7/1/2015.
Acts 1983, ch. 324, § 4; 1988, ch. 583, § 2; T.C.A. § 68-13-703; Acts 1998, ch. 592, §§ 1 - 3.