Boil Water Notice for Acute Coliform MCL Violation by a PWS

A public water system (PWS) receives an acute maximum contaminant level (AMCL) violation for coliform when the presence of fecal or E. coli bacteria in the distribution system is confirmed. If an AMCL-coliform occurs at a PWS that you own or operate, then within 24 hours of the discovery of the violation you must follow these steps to notify all affected customers to boil their water before consumption:

1. Complete the boil water notice (BWN) using the mandatory language provided in the PDF file (template) below.
2. Fill in the requested information in the template and print the notice.
3. If necessary, prepare a BWN in Spanish, too.
4. Issue the BWN in as many of these ways as needed to reach all of your customers:
   • Broadcast the notice by radio, TV, or other appropriate media.
   • Post the notice in conspicuous locations throughout the area served.
   • Hand-deliver the notice to persons served by your PWS.
   • If you have obtained our written permission to use another method, use that method.
5. After notifying your customers, complete form TCEQ-20208, “Certificate of Delivery of Public Notice to Customers,” and submit the certificate and a copy of your notices to us by fax to 512/239-3666 or by mail to:
   Public Notice Coordinator
   Drinking Water Protection Team MC-155
   TCEQ
   PO Box 13087
   Austin TX 78711-3087
6. Before rescinding this BWN, you must:
   • Correctly diagnose all sources of contamination.
   • Implement necessary corrective actions.
   • Collect confirmatory coliform samples to demonstrate that the system has returned to normal operating conditions:
     • Use professional judgment to determine how many confirmatory samples should be collected.
     • On the lab submittal form, you must mark these samples “Special.”
     • If the lab you use does not provide its own submittal form, you may use form TCEQ-10525, “Bacteriological Submission Form.”
   • If the condition persists for 45 days or longer, issue follow-up BWNs in the same way you issued the original BWN.
   • Obtain our authorization to rescind the BWN by faxing the negative results for “Special” samples to us at 512/239-3666. After obtaining our authorization, you may rescind the BWN in the same way you issued the original notice.

If you have any questions about these instructions, send an e-mail with “BWN for AMCL Coliform” in the subject line to pdws@tceq.state.tx.us or call 512/239-4691 and ask to speak to a member of the Drinking Water Protection Team.