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Environmental Health Division
Plan Review Submittal Guidance
The Minnesota Department of Health’s plan review authority comes from Minnesota Rule 4720.0010 which can be paraphrased by: “no system of public water supply shall be installed, materially altered, or extended until complete plans and specifications with any additional required information are submitted to and approved by the Department of Health.” To clarify this broad statement, the table below shows which items need review and when review is not required.
Field review has been allowed as an option in some cases. If the field review option is used, it is at the discretion of the system’s MDH district engineer who will then review the work on-site.
Most municipal drinking water projects are required to be submitted by a licensed professional engineer registered in Minnesota. Some specific projects are allowed to be submitted by other representatives, but they must be submitted by the licensed contractor performing the work, the owner, or a professional engineer. Non-municipal public water suppliers are encouraged to use the services of professional engineers, but are not required to do so.
| Symbol | Description |
|---|---|
| x | No plan review required. |
| x1 | Plans must be submitted by a professional engineer |
| x2 | Plans may be submitted by the licensed contractor performing the work, owner, or professional engineer |
| x3 | The work must be replacing like component with like component (size, shape, type) |
Community Water Supply Wells
| Types of Projects | Plan Review Required | Plan Review Required with District Engineer Field Approval Allowed | Plan Review Not Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct New Community Water Supply Well | x1 | ||
| Wellhead completion | x1 | ||
| Replace Pump with Exact Same Pump | x3 | ||
| VFD Installation | x2 | ||
| Modify Well Casing (extend, shorten, add/remove/replace pitless) | x2 | ||
| Install a New Well Casing in an existing well | x2 | ||
| Basic Well Rehabilitation (includes pulling pump, replacing screen, acid treatment, etc.) | x | ||
| Well Sealing | x |
Surface Water Intake Structures
| Types of Projects | Plan Review Required | Plan Review Required with District Engineer Field Approval Allowed | Plan Review Not Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modifying Surface Water Intake Structures | x1 | ||
| Replace surface water intake pump | x | ||
| Surface water intake circulation/aeration | x | ||
| Intake chemical treatment (algicide, etc.) | x1 |
Treatment Plants & Well Pumphouses
| Types of Projects | Plan Review Required | Plan Review Required with District Engineer Field Approval Allowed | Plan Review Not Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filter rehabilitation (structural modifications or interior coating) | x1 | ||
| Replacing filter media with exact same media | x3 | ||
| Replacing filter media with different media | x1 | ||
| New chemical addition (includes temporary chemicals) | x1 | ||
| Replacing or adding a chlorine cabinet | x2 | ||
| Emergency chemical addition (for bacti issues only) | x2 | ||
| Change to Similar Chemical Type (i.e. KMnO4 to NaMnO4) | x2 | ||
| Adding gas chlorine inside of building | x1 | ||
| Converting gas chlorine to sodium hypochlorite | x1 | ||
| Moving a chemical injection point to a new location | x2 | ||
| Eye wash addition | x2 | ||
| Emergency Electrical Generator Addition | x2 | ||
| Replacement of existing chemical feed equip (tank, pumps, tubing, etc.) | x3 | ||
| VFD Installation | x2 | ||
| Replace high service pump (with exact same pump) | x3 | ||
| Replace high service vertical turbine pump with submersible pump | x2 | ||
| Replace high service submersible pump with vertical turbine pump | x2 | ||
| Installation of Water Monitoring Equipment | x2 | ||
| Changing pipe configuration or size | x1 | ||
| Replacing Existing Piping with Same Size Pipe | x3 | ||
| New Treatment Plant | x1 | ||
| New Pumphouse/Wellhouse | x1 |
Drinking Water Storage
| Types of Projects | Plan Review Required | Plan Review Required with District Engineer Field Approval Allowed | Plan Review Not Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painting/Coating Wet Interior | x1 | ||
| Rehabilitation of Storage Facilities | x1 | ||
| New Storage Tower/Standpipe/Reservoir | x1 | ||
| Chemical feed at storage | x1 | ||
| Mixing system addition | x2 | ||
| Coating exterior only (without structural modifications) | x | ||
| Adding an Emergency Electrical Generator for Cell Phone Use | x2 |
Watermain
| Types of Projects | Plan Review Required | Plan Review Required with District Engineer Field Approval Allowed | Plan Review Not Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Watermain Installation (>100 ft) | x1 | ||
| Watermain Replacement (> 100 ft) | x1 | ||
| Raw Water Transmission Main Installation (> 100 ft) | x1 | ||
| Hydrant and/or Valve Replacement only | x | ||
| Automatic Flushing Devices | x2 |
Booster Stations
| Types of Projects | Plan Review Required | Plan Review Required with District Engineer Field Approval Allowed | Plan Review Not Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Changing pipe configuration of size | x1 | ||
| New booster station | x1 | ||
| Replace booster pump with exact same pump | x3 | ||
| Replace submersible booster pump with vertical turbine pump | x2 | ||
| Replace vertical turbine booster pump with submersible pump | x2 | ||
| Emergency generator addition (contact MDH prior to installation) | x2 |