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HB1139 • 2026

Water

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, relative to public water systems.

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Boyd, Pody
Last action
2025-04-29
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 233
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material did not provide specific details about potential financial impacts on water systems from the new regulations.

Regulation Changes for Water Softening Systems

This law changes how water softening systems affect whether a building is considered a public water system and requires monitoring and reporting of certain water quality parameters.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the definition of what counts as a public water system when only water softening devices are installed.
  • Requires facilities that become public water systems due to water softening devices to monitor water hardness, alkalinity, pH levels every quarter, and sodium annually.
  • Necessitates these facilities report their monitoring results to TDEC within 15 days after each reporting period ends.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Facilities that install water softening devices and meet the definition of a public water system under Tennessee law.
  • The Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) which receives monitoring reports.

Terms To Know

Consecutive System
A public water system that gets some or all of its finished water from another public water system, either directly or through other consecutive systems.
Point-of-Entry Treatment Device
A device installed at the entry point to a building for treating drinking water before it is distributed throughout the building.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law may affect federal funding if Tennessee's regulations are seen as not meeting federal standards.
  • It does not specify what happens if the requirement is not met by facilities.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB1139

Plain English: The amendment adds requirements for facilities that become public water systems due to the installation of hard water softening devices.

  • Defines a 'consecutive system' as a public water system receiving finished water from one or more wholesale systems.
  • Defines a 'point-of-entry treatment device' used in houses, buildings, or complexes for reducing contaminants.
  • Requires facilities that become public water systems due to hard water softening devices to monitor and report specific water quality parameters.
  • The amendment text does not specify the consequences if a facility fails to comply with monitoring and reporting requirements.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 233

  2. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

  3. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 233

  4. 2025-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Concurred, Ayes 31, Nays 0 (Amendment 1 - HA0220)

  10. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/10/2025

  11. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  12. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  13. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 94, Nays 0, PNV 1

  14. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0220)

  15. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  16. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/7/2025

  17. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  18. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/3/2025

  19. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  20. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  21. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 30, Nays 0

  22. 2025-03-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/31/2025

  23. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee for 4/1/2025

  24. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee

  25. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  26. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee for 3/26/2025

  27. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee to 3/26/2025

  28. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee calendar for 3/26/2025

  29. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee to 3/26/2025

  30. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee calendar for 3/19/2025

  31. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee for 3/19/2025

  32. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee

  33. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee

  34. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  35. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee

  36. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  37. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  38. 2025-01-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 7, 2025, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 258, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 258, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill. Under this amendment, i
f a point-of-entry treatment device
is installed in a facility solely to soften hard water and, because of the installation of such a device, the house, building, or complex of buildings meets the definition of a public water system under
the
Tennessee Safe Drinking Water Act of 1983
, then t
he facility constitutes a consecutive system, and
is required to
monitor the influent and finished water for hardness, alkalinity, and pH on a quarterly basis, and sodium on an annual basis, and report the results to
TDEC
within 15 days of the end of the r
eporting period.

For purposes of this amendment:

(1) "Consecutive system" means a public water system that receives some or all of the system's finished water from one or more wholesale systems. Delivery may be through a direct connection or through
the distribution system of one or more consecutive systems; and

(2) "Point-of-entry treatment device" means a treatment device applied to the drinking water entering a house, building, or complex of buildings under single ownership for the purpose of red
ucing contaminants in the drinking water distributed throughout the house, building, or complex of buildings.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 258
By Pody

HOUSE BILL 1139
By Boyd

HB1139
001705
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68,
relative to public water systems.

WHEREAS, the General Assembly seeks to exclude water softening systems from the
definition of public water system; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-221-703, is amended by deleting
subdivision (19)(A)(i) and substituting:
(i) Any collection, storage, or distribution facility, or a treatment facility, other
than a treatment facility that treats solely for the purpose of softening hard water, under
control of the operator of such system and used primarily in connection with such
system; and
SECTION 2. If any provision of this act or the application of any provision of this act to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or
applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
that end, the provisions of this act are severable.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.