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Environmental Health Division
Lead and Copper Public Education - Community
Community public water systems should refer to these documents when completing required public education for lead and/or copper.
Some of the the links below will open Word documents. When you click on the link, you may see a pop-up window where you'll need to click on it. Or, depending on your internet browser, the document may automatically download when you click the link.
Community Lead Action Level Exceedance (ALE)
Tier 1 24-hour notification
An exceedance of the action level for lead requires Tier 1 public notification within 24 hours. The documents below apply to community water system water systems only. The Minnesota Department of Health will notify the water system if there is an action level exceedance as a result of compliance monitoring. A lead action level exceedance (ALE) occurs when the 90th percentile concentration of lead is greater than 15 parts per billion (ppb) or 0.015 mg/L. Upon MDH notice of Lead Action Level exceedance the following documents will be provided to the water system to aid in meeting the 24 Tier 1 public notice requirements.
- Lead ALE Instructions (PDF)
- Lead ALE Public Notice Template (Word)
- Lead ALE Tier 1: 24 Hour-Delivery of Public Notice (PN) Certification Form (PDF)
Tier 1 notification is required to be issued as soon as practical but no later than 24 hours after the PWS learns of the violation or situation. If your public water system has received an email from MDH regarding a Tier 1 public notice requirement, please use the documents included in that email. For all other public notice events, please use the appropriate documents below. If you have questions about the situation your system is facing, please contact your MDH district engineer (PDF).
60-Day public education
- Lead Public Education Program Instruction Sheet - Packet A (PDF)
- Important Information about Lead in Your Drinking Water (Word)
- Water Bill Language Template (Word)
- Local Public Health Agency Contact Instructions and Informational Notice Template (Word)
- Press Release Template (Word)
- Website Template (Word)
- Public Service Announcement (PSA) Template (Word)
- General Public Education Notice (Word)
- Lead Public Education Program Delivery Certification - Packet A (Word)
Six-month follow-up
- Lead Public Education Program Instruction Sheet - Packet B (PDF)
- Press Release Template (Word)
- Water Bill Language Template (Word)
- Website Template (Word)
- Public Service Announcement (PSA) Template (Word)
- Lead Public Education Program Delivery Certification - Packet B (Word)
Copper public education templates
Please refer to the letter from MDH for instructions.