City of Mathis
February 2, 2023
Assurance/Clarification Regarding Lead & Copper Monitoring
The lead and copper rule sets parameters on community public water systems to test for lead and copper on a set schedule over time. Due to meeting all the requirements of monitoring and reporting in the past, the City of Mathis has been on a reduced monitoring schedule requiring 20 samples be obtained every three years for testing of lead and copper contents in our drinking water. Data pulled from the TCEQ website going back to 2007 shows the City’s water had zero samples exceeding the action level. This is good news.
The most recent monitoring and reporting schedule was due last year between the months of June and September, 2023. The City failed to meet this schedule and therefore received a Notice of Violation from TCEQ. One of the requirements from that violation notice are to inform the public of this oversight. The letter issued on January 30, 2023 satisfies that requirement. Another requirement of the violation is to test more frequently and increase the number of sample locations from 20 to 40. The new monitoring and reporting schedule assigned to the City is January 1st to June 30th of 2023 and again from July 1 to December 31, 2023. Staff are preparing for the current sampling requirements and will be obtaining samples over the next few months.
Please be assured that, to date, no evidence has been found or proven that our drinking water exceeds the action level set by TCEQ regarding lead and copper. The water is safe to drink and use. Once the samples are returned from the lab, the City is required to post the results on the TCEQ website. We will notify the community when that data has been posted and give the results of the tests as well.