Public consultation on drinking water and wastewater cisterns

The Executive Secretariat of the National Commission for Technical Standardization and Quality (SEC-CNNC) has submitted two technical instruments regarding tanker trucks for public consultation: the first addendum to NTON 09001:2022, referring to water for human consumption, and NTON 09002, regarding the transport of wastewater. The deadline for submitting observations closes on November 25, 2026, according to the announcement published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 194 on Thursday, October 22, 2026, with the official reference Reg. 2026-01031.

The notice appears in the section of the Ministry of Development, Industry, and Trade (MIFIC) and is issued in compliance with section 6 of the Regulations for the elaboration of technical standards and work of the National Committees, which mandates that Nicaraguan Technical Standard (NTON) projects be brought to the knowledge of the general population before their final approval. The document is signed by Denis Saavedra V., Executive Secretary of the SEC-CNNC.

These represent two links in the same sanitary chain: the hauling of potable water to users and the collection and final disposal of sewage. The first standard already exists and is being updated via an addendum; the second is submitted as a complete project.

First addendum to NTON 09001:2022

The first instrument is Addendum No. 2026-06, the first addendum to NTON 09001:2022 Water for human consumption. Tanker truck. Sanitary and technical requirements. Its objective and scope of application establish that the standard is mandatory for:

• Natural or legal persons, public or private, who transport and distribute potable water via tanker trucks.
• Activities carried out in regular and irregular supply situations.
• Supply during cuts in the supply service, whether scheduled or derived from emergencies due to natural or anthropogenic phenomena.

The text includes a clarifying note stating that, for the purposes of this standard, water for human consumption shall be understood as potable water.

Requirements for the transport of wastewater

The second instrument is NTON 09002 Transport of Wastewater. Tanker trucks. Sanitary and technical requirements, whose objective is:

• To establish the sanitary and technical requirements that tanker trucks used for the collection, transport, and disposal of wastewater must meet.
• To set the technical, administrative, and legal provisions that natural or legal persons dedicated to these activities must comply with.
• To apply to natural or legal persons, public or private, who collect, transport, and dispose of wastewater by means of tanker trucks.

Deadline and scope of the consultation

Both instruments share the same closing date: November 25, 2026, which is 34 days after the publication of the announcement in the Official Gazette. The notice does not detail the mechanism or the address for receiving comments in the published text; therefore, interested parties must contact the SEC-CNNC, the entity issuing the call.

The consultation applies equally to the public and private sectors, in a field where formal operators, municipal companies, and independent transporters who supply areas without a network or with intermittent service coexist.

The impact of the decision is direct for readers who depend on tanker trucks: the addendum sets the sanitary conditions for the water that reaches their homes, while the new regulation extends that control to vehicles that remove wastewater, a historically less regulated link. With the closing of the consultation on November 25, 2026, both regulations will be ready for approval and subsequent publication as mandatory technical reference standards for the transport sector.

Source: La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 194, Thursday, October 22, 2026, Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce section, p. 10284 (official reference: Reg. 2026-01031).