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Department of Public Health
Engineering Report Approval Process
for
Recycled Water Customers in the
Inland Empire Utilities Agency Service Area

The current State of California Water Recycling Criteria requires the submission of an Engineering Report to the California Department of Public Health (DPH) before recycled water projects are implemented.  As such, before any entity is converted to Recycled Water, an Engineering Report must be approved by the DPH.  In order to facilitate the implementation of the aggressive Three Year Business Plan adopted by Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) and its Member Agencies, DPH has set up an expedited approval process for the Engineering Reports.  The following expedited approval process is made available to all Agencies within IEUA’s service area.  It should be noted that the expedited 14-day approval process only applies to those agencies that have an approved Master Engineering Report on file, and only file supplemental reports specific to the individual connections.  The supplemental reports apply to landscape irrigation retrofits/conversions.  The expedited approval process does not apply to schools, dual plumbed systems, and industrial connections.

A web-based system (Web-VPN) has been set up, with 8 folders, one for each of the Member Agencies in IEUA’s service area, and one as a reference folder. Following is a summary of the approval process:

  1. Each Agency can upload their engineering report into their specific folder
  2. nce a file is uploaded to the server, the time for the approval process will commence.  An electronic notification will be sent out daily to DPH and all Agencies providing a status of each of the folders and any new files contained therein.
  3. Once DPH reviews the document, and if there are no further issues, it can be moved by DPH to the Approved Folder.  Alternatively, if 14-days pass and there are no comments from DPH, the file will be automatically moved to the Approved Folder.  At this time, DPH will deem the Engineering Report to be approved.
  4. If DPH has any issues with the specific Engineering Report, the report will be moved to “Needs Further Action” folder, with a document that states the needed additional information/modifications.
  5. Items will remain on the server for a period of one year from the time of upload.

The upload process:

  1. From a web browser, open: https://webvpn.ieua.org/rw
  2. Each agency will have a unique login and password provided to them.  Two simultaneous connections can be made to log onto the server for each Agency. Each Agency will have read-only access to all the folders on the server.  Modifications can be made only to their authorized agency folder. 
  3. Each Agency folder will have two subfolders, with write-access only by DPH:
    1. Approved folder:  Files will be automatically moved here within 14-days of upload if no action is made by DPH. Once DPH reviews an engineering report, and if acceptable, DPH can also manually move the file to the approved folder.  Also, DPH will place the approval letter in the Approved folder that will be distributed normally to RWQCB and the retail agency.
    2. Needs further action folder: If DPH deems that a report requires further action before it can be approved, the file will be moved here, with comments on what needs to be completed.
  4. When uploading files to the server, the following guidelines should be followed:
    1. The supplemental report should be complete with all the required schematics saved as one file.
    2. The resolution of the files for the schematics should be sufficient to print the drawings legibly when printed using 8 ½ x 11 (Letter Size) media or 11 x 17 media.
    3. File names should be unique, saved utilizing Recycle Water System Number and Meter site Location.
  5. After 2 hours of inactivity, the VPN session will be terminated.
  6. When logging out, the logout link needs to be highlighted.  If you close the browser without logging out, it will be counted as an active session. 
  7. As an added security measure, the password for each entity will be updated once every six months.

The Reference folder on the server will be a location wherein DPH will place reference documents, such as check list for irrigation schematics, sample engineering report, contact list, approved Project ID for the customers, etc.

For any questions/concerns regarding the WebVPN, please contact either David Malm at (909)993.1661 or Sylvie Lee at (909)993.1646.