Lead Consumer Notice After Tap Sampling

Every lead and copper tap sample has a second job after the lab result lands: a consumer notice to the people who live or work at that tap. 40 CFR 141.85 requires it whether the result is low, high, or non-detect. The notice goes to the occupants of the sampled site, not to the whole town.

This page is that household notice. It is not the 24-hour Tier 1 public notice that applies when the system exceeds the lead action level. Confirm the clock and the template with your primacy agency. This isn't legal advice.

Two different notices, two different clocks

• Consumer notice of individual tap results (40 CFR 141.85(d)). You sampled a kitchen or a classroom. You send those people their number, the health-effects language, and the steps they can take. You do this after every compliance tap sample, and after supplemental tap samples the same paragraph covers. You do it even when the 90th percentile is under the action level.
• Tier 1 public notice for a lead action level exceedance. That is a system-wide notice, on a 24-hour clock, after the 90th percentile exceeds the action level. It is a different rule, a different audience, and a different template. See SDWA public notice tiers and the lead action level.

Public education after an exceedance is a third stack. Don't skip the household letter because you are writing the town-wide piece.

The timing: 30 days is the number operators still use, and the federal text is tighter

For years the federal consumer-notice clock was 30 days after the system learned the result. Many state templates and operator short courses still say 30 days. That is why people call it the 30-day notice.

The current federal text in 40 CFR 141.85 is shorter: provide the notice as soon as practicable, and no later than three business days after the system learns the tap result. Mail has to be postmarked inside that window. If you deliver by phone or voice message, you still owe a written notice hand-delivered or postmarked within 30 days of learning the result. Lead and copper results for the same tap may share one notice.

Some states are already on the three-business-day clock. Some still train to 30 days. Confirm the clock your primacy agency is enforcing this period. Do not assume the older clock if the state has moved.

Learning the result means the day the lab report is in your hands or in your inbox, not the day the 90th percentile is calculated. Start the calendar that day.

Who gets it, and what it has to say

The notice goes to the persons served at the tap that was sampled. In a house, that is the occupants. In a school, a daycare, or a small business, that is the people who use that building. For a non-transient non-community system, the state may allow posting in a conspicuous place (a break-room board is the usual example) if it has approved that method.

40 CFR 141.85(d) requires, in substance:

• The lead result for that tap (and the copper result if you are combining them).
• The health-effects language the rule points to, not a sentence you wrote on the truck.
• Steps the consumer can take to reduce exposure (flushing, using cold water for cooking, filters certified for lead if they choose one).
• Contact information for more information from the system.
• The maximum contaminant level goal and the action level, with the rule's explanation of what those numbers mean. An action level is not an MCL. See MCL vs treatment technique vs action level.

Use the state's template if it has one. Rewriting the health-effects paragraph is how systems get a reporting violation on top of a clean 90th percentile. Copper has its own health-effects language. If you combine the notices, keep both paragraphs.

How to deliver it so it counts

The rule allows electronic delivery (email or text), phone or voice message, hand delivery, mail, or another method the state approves. Phone and voice require the written follow-up described above. A text that says "your lead was fine" is not a notice.

• Put the PWSID, the sample site ID, the collection date, and the result with units on the first page.
• Mail to the occupant, not only to the owner, unless the state says the owner-occupant is the same person and that is who you sampled.
• If the building has tenants, the occupants at that tap are the audience. A letter to the landlord alone does not reach them.
• Keep a dated copy of each notice, the address list, and proof of delivery (mail log, hand-delivery log, sent email). You will need it at the next sanitary survey and if the state asks who was notified.
• If a result is above 15 ppb at that one tap, some states now want a faster consumer notice for that household even when the system 90th percentile is under the action level. Ask. That faster household notice is still not the 24-hour system-wide Tier 1.

Keep the notices with the tap-sample file. Lead and copper records are a long keep. See water system record retention.

What this notice is not

• It is not the 24-hour Tier 1 public notice for an action level exceedance.
• It is not the public-education packet that follows an exceedance.
• It is not the service-line material notice you owe people on lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement, or unknown lines. That clock lives with the inventory. See LCRI lead service line inventory and what small systems owe by November 1, 2027.
• It is not the Consumer Confidence Report. The CCR can point people to tap results. It does not replace the household notice for the tap you sampled this period.

The week the lab report arrives

• Date-stamp the report. That is the learn date.
• Ask the state, if you have not already, which clock they want this period: three business days, 30 days, or both (phone then written).
• Fill the state template for each sampled tap. Each occupant needs their tap's number.
• Send it. Log it. File the proof with the PWSID and the site ID.
• If the 90th percentile is also over the action level, start the Tier 1 track the same day. The household notices still go out. They do not satisfy Tier 1.

FAQ

Do I send a consumer notice when the result is non-detect?

Yes. 40 CFR 141.85(d) applies to the individual tap results from lead and copper tap monitoring, not only to high results. The occupant still gets the number, the health-effects language, and the steps.

Is the consumer notice the same as the 24-hour public notice?

No. The consumer notice is a site-specific letter (or approved posting) after tap sampling. The 24-hour Tier 1 notice is what you owe after a lead action level exceedance. Confirm both clocks with the state. Do not use one document for both unless the state said so in writing.

Can I email the notice?

Electronic delivery is allowed if it actually reaches the persons served at that tap. A general utility email list is not the sampled household. If you only have a phone number, you can call, then you still owe the written follow-up inside 30 days. Confirm the method with the state before the sampling round.

What if I cannot find the occupant?

Document every attempt and ask the primacy agency how they want a vacant or seasonal unit handled. A missing notice with no log is a reporting problem.

Check my system at /find-my-system.

Orevant provides compliance information tools. This page isn't legal advice. Confirm the consumer-notice clock, the template, and the delivery method with your primacy agency.