City of Brownwood Notify Customers of Violation in Water Sampling Protocol

City of Brownwood has mailed a notice to their water customers regarding recent lead and copper testing.

The water samples taken were in compliance with the lead copper requirements for quality.

Samples were determined to be safe and within acceptable Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) drinking standards. However, in six samples out of 30, the City did not follow the sampling protocol correctly. 

According to TCEQ procedures, the samples must be taken from addresses on a pre-approved site list.  In the past, if there was a problem with obtaining a sample from a site (the owner was not home, the water account was inactive, etc.) then the city substituted the sample by collecting water from the address next door. 

The press release says the sample site is a specific address that cannot be changed or substituted. There are 30 samples required.

The City of Brownwood only had 30 sampling sites on the approved list.  When water samples were taken in July of 2016, six of the sites were not available, because the homeowners were not home.  The city did what was customary in the past and took a sample from the next door address.

Because six samples were taken from addresses not on the approved list, the City was deemed in violation of compliance by the TCEQ.  The City is required by state law (Title 30, Chapter 290.122 of the Texas Administrative Code) to notify all water customers of the violation of the testing procedures. 

Since learning of the process requirements, the City has submitted 14 new sample sites for TCEQ approval.  An additional 16 sites will be submitted in the future to give the City a total of 60 approved sample sites.  The press release says this will ensure that there are enough approved sites available, so if any sites cannot be sampled, there are others to pull from.  Additionally, staff has been educated of the new requirements and know that samples can only be collected from the approved sampling sites.

The next round of sampling will be from June 1 to September 30, 2017.