How to Issue a Boil Water Notice to Customers of a Community PWS

These instructions apply to you if you own or operate a community public water system. When necessary to tell your customers to boil water before using it for drinking, food preparation, or washing, you must:

1. Notify customers as soon as possible. [Title 30 Texas Administrative Code (30 TAC) Paragraph 290.122(b)(2)]
2. Using the appropriate mandatory language, prepare a boil water notice in English and, if necessary, Spanish. [30 TAC Subsection 290.47(e)]
3. Issue the notice in each of these ways [30 TAC Subparagraphs 290.122(b)(2)(B)&(C)]:
   • Furnish a copy of the notice to the radio and television stations that serve the area served by your PWS.
   • If a daily newspaper of general circulation serves the area served by your PWS, publish the notice in that newspaper.
   • If no such newspaper exists, continuously post the notice in conspicuous places within the area served by your PWS until we tell you that you may take it down. [30 TAC Subparagraph 290.122(b)(3)(B)]
4. Within 10 days of when you issue this notice, send a copy of the actual notice and the signed Certificate of Delivery of Public Notice to Customers (form TCEQ-20208) to us by mail at:
   TCEQ
   Drinking Water Quality Team Public Notice Coordinator MC-155
   PO Box 13087
   Austin TX 78711-3087
   or by fax to 512/239-3666 [30 TAC Subsection 290.122(f)].
5. No more than 45 days after the violation was discovered, mail or hand-deliver a copy of the notice to all persons served by your PWS. (If you mail this follow-up notice, you may enclose them with the water bill.) [30 TAC Subparagraph 290.122(a)(3)(A)] After each follow-up notice, complete TCEQ-20208 as described in Step 4 and submit it to us with a copy of each notice issued.
6. For as long as the violation exists, reissue the notice at least once every three months by mail or by direct delivery. (This reissued notice may also be mailed with the water bill.) [30 TAC Subparagraph 290.122(a)(3)(B)] For each reissuance, complete TCEQ-20208 and submit it to us with a copy of the notice as described in Step 4.
7. When it is no longer necessary for your customers to boil water, issue another notice in the same way you issued the original notice. [30 TAC Paragraph 290.122(b)(4)] Then, as described in Step 4, complete TCEQ-20208 and submit it to us with a copy of this notice.

If you have any questions about these instructions, e-mail us at pdws@tceq.state.tx.us or call 512/239-4691 and ask to speak with a “coliform” or “Bac-T” expert in our Public Drinking Water Section.