Water quality: Federally owned facilities

Federally owned facilities

• Baseline drinking water quality tests: We are establishing baseline drinking water quality tests for approximately 1,250 federally owned facilities under our jurisdiction, custody and control, including those facilities where operations and maintenance responsibilities have been delegated to the occupant agency beginning in FY24. Testing schedules will be communicated to agencies at the local level by GSA’s local Facility Manager. 

  We will establish baseline drinking water quality tests for:

  • Legionella
  • Total coliform
  • E. coli
  • Lead
  • Copper

What to expect during testing at federally owned facilities

Testing results timeline: Initial results are expected within 30 days. However, due to the high volume of testing, laboratories are experiencing delays, which may affect the timeline. Final reports will be available once the contractor receives all the results and can compile the deliverables.

Response actions: When results indicate that applicable EPA, state or local thresholds have been exceeded for lead, copper, total coliform bacteria, or E.coli, or when growth is not well controlled for Legionella, we or the delegated federal agency will: 

• Notify tenants and post relevant signage
• Communicate with the water supplier, if needed
• Begin corrective actions, such as system flushing and adjusting operational parameters 
• Retest the water system once corrective actions are complete
• Notify tenants of follow-up testing results
• Continue with additional corrective actions and testing if deemed necessary