N.M. Admin. Code § 20.7.3.901

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 17, September 10, 2024

Section 20.7.3.901 - MONITORING

A. As a condition to any permit, the owner of an on-site liquid waste system shall allow department personnel or maintenance service provider personnel right of entry to the property at reasonable times to allow for maintenance, system monitoring, effluent sampling or evaluating the general state of repair or function of the system.

B. Advanced treatment liquid waste systems require maintenance and monitoring. These systems shall be maintained and monitored, at a minimum, semi-annually or more as per manufacturer's recommendations.

(1) Monitoring will include all the following parameters:

(a) dissolved oxygen (DO);

(b) temperature;

(c) pH;

(d) sludge depth; and

(e) other parameters recommended by the manufacturer.

(2) Parameters should be measured at locations within the treatment unit that will demonstrate the effectiveness of treatment.

(3) Monitoring shall be completed utilizing field instruments including a DO meter, thermometer, pH meter, sludge sampler or other approved instruments.

(4) Parameters and maintenance requirements shall be included in the permit application design statement and be consistent with the manufacturer's recommendations for proper operation.

(5) Field instruments shall be calibrated as per manufacturer's recommendations and a log maintained on the operation and calibration of each instrument. Logs shall be made available to the department upon request.

C. Effluent sampling shall be required for on-site liquid waste systems that do not conform to manufacturer's guidelines for field parameters pursuant to Subsection B of 20.7.3.901 NMAC, for systems where the manufacturer has not established guidelines for field parameters or for systems that the department has determined are not operating properly. Sampling shall be conducted annually or as otherwise required by the department.

(1) On-site liquid waste systems that require primary treatment levels be achieved may be sampled and analyzed or monitored as specified in the permit.

(2) On-site liquid waste systems that require secondary treatment levels be achieved may be sampled and analyzed only for 5-day BOD (BOD5) or monitored as specified in the permit. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) may be substituted for BOD5 with a calibration curve acceptable to the department.

(3) On-site liquid waste systems that require tertiary treatment levels be achieved may be sampled and analyzed only for total nitrogen or monitored as specified in the permit.

(4) On-site liquid waste systems that require disinfection may be sampled and analyzed only for E. coli or monitored as specified in the permit. In addition:

(a) when chlorine is used for disinfection, the total chlorine residual, at all times, shall be equal to or greater than 1.0 mg/l after 30 minutes detention time at peak flows; and

(b) alternative disinfection methods, such as ultraviolet light, ozone or other methods, may be used.

D. All sampling, maintenance, monitoring and analysis shall be performed by certified personnel in accordance with the most current edition of standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater or other methods, including field instruments, approved by the department and recommended by the manufacturer.

E. Monitoring and sampling shall occur between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm.

F. Monitoring reports, sampling records and maintenance reports/logs shall be submitted to the local field office within 30 days of the maintenance, monitoring or required sampling event.

G. All monitoring or sampling results exceeding the permit limits shall be reported to the local field office within five working days.

H. If any two consecutive samples exceed the permitted treatment limit, the system design and operation shall be evaluated by a professional engineer or a maintenance service provider for conformance with permitting conditions and shall be adjusted to bring the effluent quality into compliance. The system shall be resampled no later than 30 days from the evaluation and results submitted to the department within five working days of analysis.

I. If the resample required in Subsection H above exceeds the permitted treatment limit, the treatment system shall be subject to review and re-evaluation with regard to operation and maintenance. A department approved contingency plan, including more training for the maintenance service provider or replacement with a more experienced operator, may be implemented.

J. The following shall be considered as violations of the monitoring requirements of the permit.

(1) Failure to collect, analyze and report maintenance, monitoring or sampling results.

(2) The submission, by the owner or maintenance entity of an advanced treatment system or agent or employee thereof, of misleading or inaccurate information to the department, through neglect.

(3) The submission of fraudulent data including the following:

(a) apparent measurement results for which no measurement or test results were actually made as determined by the absence of the supporting records that are usually made;

(b) measurements or test results obtained by deliberately and knowingly making measurements or collecting samples at places and times other than as specified in the permit or 20.7.3 NMAC; and

(c) test results obtained through use of unapproved and erroneous sampling, preservation, storage or analysis procedures.

N.M. Admin. Code § 20.7.3.901

20.7.3.901 NMAC - Rp, 20.7.3.901 NMAC, 9/1/13; A, 9/1/13