Bill Summary: HB 5186 - Safe Drinking Water

• Water companies must provide alternative drinking water sources (bulk water, bottled water, or fill stations) to consumers during water main breaks, loss of system pressure, or similar events lasting more than 8 consecutive hours that affect water quality or quantity.

• Small community water systems must prepare a system capacity implementation plan by January 1, 2026, assessing managerial, technical, and financial capacity, including facilities maps, emergency response plans, 5-year and 20-year capital improvement schedules, and water rate affordability analysis.

• Bottlers must collect water samples annually from approved sources and test for regulated contaminants, and annually (beginning January 1, 2021) have samples tested for unregulated contaminants by Department of Public Health-registered laboratories.

• Bottlers must report test results exceeding contaminant standards to the Department of Consumer Protection within 24 hours, and results for unregulated contaminants to both Public Health and Consumer Protection departments within 9 days.

• Environmental laboratories must notify the Department of Public Health within 24 hours of obtaining test results showing contaminant violations of federal Environmental Protection Agency standards; the Commissioner of Public Health must notify affected municipalities within 5 business days.