How the After-Hours Emergency Hotline Works

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Office of Drinking Water staff are available around the clock to troubleshoot drinking water emergencies and help protect the health of your customers. Call it Murphy's Law or whatever - emergencies don't just happen during business hours.

Imagine...

• A midnight landslide damages your distribution system.
• You are notified on Friday evening before a three-day weekend that your repeat samples were E.coli positive.
• A nearby stream floods, leaving your wellhead underwater on the day after Thanksgiving. 

This service is intended for water system operators, local health officials, laboratory operators and others who need immediate technical, engineering or public health advice from state drinking water experts during emergencies.

While citizen's concerns will be addressed if they call, this is not a public emergency hotline.  Individuals with concerns about their drinking water should call their water utility, their local health department or 911.

This hotline is intended for after-hours emergencies only, not for problems that arise during business hours, and not for routine business.  Here's how the system works:

• After-hours calls will be evaluated to determine the nature of the emergency.
• Callers clearly seeking routine business assistance will be asked to contact their regional office during business hours.
• The Office of Drinking Water staff person on call will return the call within 30 minutes.
• Callers using the emergency number during normal business hours will receive a recorded message directing them to the regional office serving their area.

DOH Pub#331-133
February 2010 (updated)