The Sampling Guidance for Unknown Contaminants in Drinking Water provides comprehensive guidance that integrates recommendations for pathogen, toxin, chemical, and radiochemical sample collection, preservation, and transport procedures to support multiple analytical approaches for the detection and identification of potential contaminants in drinking water. The guidance is intended to support sampling for routine and baseline monitoring to determine background concentrations of naturally occurring pathogens, sampling in response to a triggered event, and sampling in support of remediation or decontamination efforts. The primary intended audience of this guidance document is drinking water utilities, but it may also be a useful reference for emergency response personnel. Given the complexity of a drinking water response, the response may quickly surpass the abilities of most utilities. Utilities are likely to call upon emergency responders. This guidance document can be used to supplement a drinking water utility's emergency response plan by providing detailed recommended sampling procedures for use by utility personnel in response to a potential contamination event.

Title from cover. Publisher information came from T.p. "EPA-817-R-08-003"--T.p. "Final - 110308"--T.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 43).