Drinking Water Regulation

PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

An important element of public safety is keeping the customer informed about the quality of their drinking water. Two programs that accomplish this goal are the Public Notification Rule and the Consumer Confidence Report.

Public Notification Rule

Established in May of 2000
Specifies how water suppliers must inform their customers (language, actions, time frames, and methods) in the event of a MCL violation or emergency situation

This rule establishes three tiers (or levels) of violations for each contaminant and the situation that resulted in the violation.

A Tier I Violation has potential for human health to be immediately impacted such as MCL exceedances of:

Total coliform
Fecal Coliform or E. coli
Nitrate and/or nitrite
Chlorine dioxide
Turbidity
Treatment Technique Requirements (TTRs)
Waterborne disease outbreak
Other waterborne emergency as determined by the WDNR

Tier I violations require notification of the public within 24 hours.

A Tier II violation does not pose an immediate risk to human health, and involves a contaminant that exceeds EPA or state standards or hasn't been treated properly, such as:

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level violation
Monitoring or testing procedure violation
Failure to comply with the conditions of a variance or conditional waiver
MCL or TTR requirement other than when a Tier I violation has occurred

Tier II violations require notification of the public within 30 days.

A Tier III violation does not have a direct impact on human health and violates a drinking water standard such as:

Monitoring violation other than a Tier I or Tier II
Testing procedure violations other than a Tier II
Operation under a variance or conditional waiver
Special notice for availability of unregulated contaminant monitoring data
Special notice for exceeding fluoride levels

Tier III violations require notification of the public within 12 months.

In any of the above situations, the water supplier must notify the WDNR as soon as possible for a Tier determination. The WDNR will make that determination and work with you to provide the appropriate language and steps you must take to notify the public. See Chapter NR 809 Subchapter VII, W.A.C. for more information.