All water systems must deliver a consumer notice of lead tap
water monitoring results to persons served by the water system at sites that
are tested, as specified in 179 NAC 12-008.04. A water system that exceeds the
lead action level based on tap water samples collected in accordance with 179
NAC
12-009 must deliver the public
education materials contained in 179 NAC 12008.01 in accordance with the
requirements in 179 NAC 12-008.02. Water systems that exceed the lead action
level must sample the tap water of any customer who requests it in accordance
with 179 NAC 12-008.03
008.01 Content
of Written Public Education Materials
12-008.01A
Community Water
Systems and Non-transient Non-community Water Systems: Water
systems must include the following elements in printed materials (e.g.,
brochures and pamphlets) in the same order as listed below. In addition,
language in 179 NAC 12-008.01 items 1 through 2 and 6 must be included in the
materials, exactly as written, except for the text in brackets in these
paragraphs for which the water system must include system-specific information.
Any additional information presented by a water system must be consistent with
the information below and be in plain language that can be understood by the
general public. Water systems must submit all written public education
materials to the Director prior to delivery. The Director may require the
system to obtain approval of the content of written public materials prior to
delivery.
1.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
ABOUT LEAD IN YOUR DRINKING WATER. [INSERT NAME OF WATER SYSTEM]
found elevated levels of lead in drinking water in some homes/buildings. Lead
can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young
children. Please read this information closely to see what you can do to reduce
lead in your drinking water.
2.
Health Effects of Lead: Lead can cause serious health
problems if too much enters your body from drinking water or other sources. It
can cause damage to the brain and kidneys, and can interfere with the
production of red blood cells that carry oxygen to all parts of your body. The
greatest risk of lead exposure is to infants, young children, and pregnant
women. Scientists have linked the effects of lead on the brain with lowered IQ
in children. Adults with kidney problems and high blood pressure can be
affected by low levels of lead more than healthy adults. Lead is stored in the
bones, and it can be released later in life. During pregnancy, the child
receives lead from the mother's bones, which may affect brain
development.
3.
Sources
of Lead
a. Explain what lead
is.
b. Explain possible sources of
lead in drinking water and how lead enters drinking water. Include information
on home/building plumbing materials and service lines that may contain
lead.
c. Discuss other important
sources of lead exposure in addition to drinking water (e.g., paint).
4. Discuss the steps consumers can
take to reduce their exposure to lead in drinking water
a. Encourage running the water to flush out
the lead.
b. Explain concerns with
using hot water from the tap and specifically caution against the use of hot
water for preparing baby formula.
c. Explain that boiling water does not reduce
lead levels.
d. Discuss other
options consumers can take to reduce exposure to lead in drinking water, such
as alternative sources or treatment of water.
e. Suggest that parents have their child's
blood tested for lead.
5. Explain why there are elevated levels of
lead in the system's drinking water (if known) and what the water system is
doing to reduce the lead levels in homes/buildings in this area.
6. For more information, call us at [INSERT
YOUR NUMBER] [(IF APPLICABLE), or visit our web site at (INSERT YOUR WEB SITE
HERE)] For more information on reducing lead exposure around your home/building
and the health effects of lead, visit EPA's web site at
http://www. epa.pov/lead
or contact your
health care provider.
12-008.01B
Community Water
Systems: In addition to including the elements specified in 179
NAC 12-008.01A, community water systems must:
1. Tell consumers how to get their water
tested.
2. Discuss lead in plumbing
components and the difference between low lead and lead free.
008.02 Delivery of
Public Education Materials
12-008.02A For
public water systems that have a population with 5% or more non-English
speaking consumers, the public education materials must contain information in
the appropriate language(s) regarding the importance of the notice or contain a
telephone number or address where persons served may contact the water system
to obtain a translated copy of the public education materials or to request
assistance in the appropriate language.
12-008.02B A community water system that
exceeds the lead action level on the basis of tap water samples collected in
accordance with 179 NAC
12-009 and that is not already
conducting public education tasks under this section, must conduct the public
education tasks under this section within 60 days after the end of the
monitoring period in which the exceedance occurred:
1. Deliver printed materials meeting the
content requirements of 179 NAC 12008.01 to all bill paying
customers.
2.
Other
Contacts
a. Contact customers
who are most at risk by delivering education materials that meet the content
requirements of 179 NAC 12-008.01 to local public health agencies even if they
are not located within the water system's service area, along with an
informational notice that encourages distribution to all the organization's
potentially affected customers or community water system's users. The water
system must contact the local public health agencies directly by phone or in
person. The local public health agencies may provide a specific list of
additional community based organizations serving target populations, which may
include organizations outside the service area of the water system. If such
lists are provided, systems must deliver education materials that meet the
content requirements of 179 NAC 12-008.01 to all organizations on the provided
lists.
b. Contact customers who are
most at risk by delivering materials that meet the content requirements of 179
NAC 12-008.01 to the following organizations listed below that are located
within the water system's service area, along with an informational notice that
encourages distribution to all the organization's potentially affected
customers or community water system's users:
(1) Public and private schools or school
boards.
(2) Women, Infants and
Children (WIC) and Head Start programs.
(3) Public and private hospitals and medical
clinics.
(4)
Pediatricians.
(5) Family planning
clinics.
(6) Local welfare
agencies.
c. Make a good
faith effort to locate the following organizations within the service area and
deliver materials that meet the content requirements of 179 NAC 12-008.01 to
them, along with an informational notice that encourages distribution to all
potentially affected customers or users. The good faith effort to contact
at-risk customers may include requesting a specific contact list of these
organizations from the local public health agencies, even if the agencies are
not located within the water system's service area:
(1) Licensed childcare centers.
(2) Public and private preschools.
(3) Obstetricians-Gynecologists and
Midwives.
3.
No less often than quarterly, provide information on or in each water bill as
long as the system exceeds the action level for lead. The message on the water
bill must include the following statement exactly as written except for the
text in brackets for which the water system must include system-specific
information: [INSERT NAME OF WATER SYSTEM] found high levels of lead in
drinking water in some homes. Lead can cause serious health problems. For more
information please call [INSERT NAME OF WATER SYSTEM] [or visit (INSERT YOUR
WEB SITE HERE)]. The message or delivery mechanism can be modified in
consultation with the Director; specifically, the Director may allow a separate
mailing of public education materials to customers if the water system cannot
place the information on water bills.
4. Post material meeting the content
requirements of 179 NAC 12-008.01 on the water system's web site if the system
serves a population greater than 100,000.
5. Submit a press release to newspaper,
television and radio stations.
6.
In addition to 179 NAC
12-008.02B items
1-5, systems must implement at least three activities from one or more
categories listed below. The educational content and selection of these
activities must be determined in consultation with the Director.
a. Public service announcements.
b. Paid advertisements.
c. Public area informational
displays.
d. E-mails to
customers.
e. Public
Meetings.
f. Household
deliveries.
g. Targeted individual
customer contact.
h. Direct
material distribution to all multi-family homes and institutions.
i. Other methods approved by the
Director.
7. For systems
that are required to conduct monitoring annually or less frequently, the end of
the monitoring period is September 30 of the calendar year in which the
sampling occurs, or, if the Director has established an alternate monitoring
period, the last day of that period.
12-008.02C As long as a community water
system exceeds the action level, it must repeat the activities pursuant to 179
NAC
12-008.02B as
described in the following paragraphs.
1. A
community water system must repeat the tasks contained in 179 NAC
12-008.02B items
1, 2, and 6 every 12 months.
2. A
community water system must repeat tasks contained in 179 NAC
12-008.02B item 3
with each billing cycle.
3. A
community water system serving a population greater than 100,000 must post and
retain material on a publicly accessible web site pursuant to 179 NAC
12-008.02B item
4.
4. A community water system must
repeat the task in 179 NAC
12-008.02B item 5
twice every 12 months on a schedule agreed upon with the Director. The Director
can allow activities in 179 NAC
12-008.02B to
extend beyond the 60-day requirement if needed for implementation purposes on a
case-by-case basis; however, this extension must be approved in writing by the
Director in advance of the 60-day deadline.
12-008.02D Within 60 days after the end of
the monitoring period in which the exceedance occurred (unless it already is
repeating public education tasks pursuant to 179 NAC
12-008.02E), a
non-transient non-community water system must deliver the public education
materials specified by 179 NAC
12-008.01 as follows:
1. Post informational posters on lead in
drinking water in a public place or common area in each of the buildings served
by the system; and
2. Distribute
informational pamphlets and/or brochures on lead in drinking water to each
person served by the non-transient non-community water system. The Director may
allow the system to utilize electronic transmission in lieu of or combined with
printed materials as long as it achieves at least the same coverage.
3. For systems that are required to conduct
monitoring annually or less frequently, the end of the monitoring period is
September 30 of the calendar year in which the sampling occurs, or, if the
Director has established an alternate monitoring period, the last day of that
period.
12-008.02E A
non-transient non-community water system must repeat the tasks contained in 179
NAC
12-008.02D at
least once during each calendar year in which the system exceeds the lead
action level. The Director can allow activities in 179 NAC
12-008.02D to
extend beyond the 60-day requirement if needed for implementation purposes on a
case-by-case basis; however, this extension must be approved in writing by the
Director in advance of the 60-day deadline.
12-008.02F A water system may discontinue
delivery of public education materials if the system has met the lead action
level during the most recent six-month monitoring period conducted pursuant to
179 NAC
12-009. Such a system must recommence
public education in accordance with 179 NAC 12-008 if it subsequently exceeds
the lead action level during any monitoring period.
12-008.02G A community water system may apply
to the Director, in writing, to use only the text specified in 179 NAC
12-008.01A in
lieu of the text in 179 NAC
12-008.01A and
12-008.01B and to
perform the tasks listed in 179 NAC
12-008.02D and
12-008.02E in
lieu of the tasks in 179 NAC
12-008.02B and
12-008.02C if:
1. The system is a facility, such as a prison
or a hospital, where the population served is not capable of or is prevented
from making improvements to plumbing or installing point of use treatment
devices; and
2. The system provides
water as part of the cost of services provided and does not separately charge
for water consumption.
12-008.02H
Communities Serving
3,300 or Fewer People: A community water system serving 3,300 or
fewer people may limit certain aspects of their public education programs as
follows:
1. With respect to the requirements
of 179 NAC
12-008.02B item
6, a system serving 3,300 or fewer must implement at least one of the
activities listed in that paragraph.
2. With respect to the requirements of 179
NAC
12-008.02B item
2, a system serving 3,300 or fewer people may limit the distribution of the
public education materials required under that paragraph to facilities and
organizations served by the system that are most likely to be visited regularly
by pregnant women and children.
3.
With respect to the requirements of 179 NAC
12-008.02B item
5, the Director may waive this requirement for systems serving 3,300 or fewer
persons as long as the system distributes notices to every household served by
the system.
008.03 Supplemental Monitoring and
Notification of Results
A water system that fails to meet the lead action level on
the basis of tap samples collected in accordance with 179 NAC
12-009 must offer to sample the tap
water of any customer who requests it. The system is not required to pay for
collecting or analyzing the sample, nor is the system required to collect and
analyze the sample itself.
008.04 Notification of Results
12-008.04A
Reporting
Requirement: All water systems must provide a notice of the
individual tap results from lead tap water monitoring carried out under the
requirements of 179 NAC
12-009 to the persons served by the
water system at the specific sampling site from which the sample was taken
(e.g., the occupants of the residence where the tap was tested).
12-008.04B
Timing of
Notification: A water system must provide the consumer notice as
soon as practical, but no later than 30 days after the system learns of the tap
monitoring results.
12-008.04C
Content: The consumer notice must include the results
of lead tap water monitoring for the tap that was tested, an explanation of the
health effects of lead, a list of steps consumers can take to reduce exposure
to lead in drinking water and contact information for the water utility. The
notice must also provide the maximum contaminant level goal and the action
level for lead and the definitions for these two terms from 179 NAC
14-004.03.
12-008.04D
Delivery: The consumer notice must be provided to persons served
at the tap that was tested, either by mail or by another method approved by the
Director. For example, upon approval by the Director, a non-transient
non-community water system could post the results on a bulletin board in the
facility to allow users to review the information. The system must provide the
notice to customers at sample taps tested, including consumers who do not
receive water bills.