EPA released an updated version of its Sampling Guidance for Unknown Contaminants in Drinking Water. The guidance provides procedures for conducting routine and baseline monitoring in response to a triggered event and sampling in support of remediation or decontamination efforts. It brings together recommendations for collecting, storing, preserving and transporting samples of potentially contaminated water. It also provides recommendations to support the detection and identification of many types of contaminants in drinking water. This guidance can be used to support routine sample collection, in response to a contamination incident or during remediation or decontamination efforts.
The recommendations provided in this guidance are not mandatory and may be modified and leveraged as needed to meet the needs of individual utilities, responders and laboratories. The recommendations provided in this document are intended to aid coordination between the utility, emergency response and laboratory communities during the response to a contamination incident.