- Instructions for reporting potential acute situations: Positive coliform, positive E. coli, high nitrate, high nitrite, surface water residual or turbidity, chlorine dioxide or chlorite.
- We recommend having your laboratory submit results to us, but ultimately it's the water system's responsibility to ensure correct reporting. Once reported, the results are available in the drinking water portal under "My Sample Results". If the lab is not reporting, please generate a data entry template specific for your system (available below).
- Tips on accurately submitting sample results.
- Timely reporting guidance document.
- WQCD Guidance and Resources for Laboratories (see below for additional information or contact the data and portal team).
Public Water Systems
- Please provide the following required information to the lab on the chain of custody if they are reporting the data on your behalf:
- PWS ID.
- Facility ID - exactly as listed on your monitoring schedule.
- Sample Point ID - exactly as listed on your monitoring schedule.
- Collection Date.
- For total coliform bacteria samples:
- Free Chlorine in mg/L.
- Total Chlorine in mg/L (only needed for systems with chloramines).
- If the lab is submitting please do not submit duplicate sample results.
- Sample results are viewable in the Portal by clicking “My…” in the menu bar and selecting “Sample Results”.
- You can also be automatically notified when results are submitted by the lab in CSV by adding the electronic notification permission for the water system.
- If reporting results from a certified laboratory please follow the CSV Forms and Instructions below to create a system specific CSV form.
Certified laboratories submitting results
- Please make sure to receive the required information from the system on the chain of custody form. This information is listed to the left.
- Pursuant to Colorado’s Laboratory Certification Program, your certification requires submission of drinking water data as a CSV file.
- If updates need to be made please resubmit a revised CSV file.
- If you have questions on creating a CSV or need a CSV template please contact the data group.
- The same Lab Sample ID should not be used for analytes collected at different locations (i.e. Facility IDs and Sample Point IDs). For example, the same Lab Sample ID should not be used for Total Coliform and Nitrate since Total Coliforms are collected in the Distribution System and Nitrate is collected at the Entry Point.
- Lab Sample IDs act as a unique identifier for the sample for the bottle and should not be reused unless submitting a revision. Multiple analytes should generally be under the same lab sample ID when analyzed from the sample bottle, same Facility ID, and Sample Point ID. Below is a general list of analytes that share the same Lab Sample ID:
- Coliform and E. coli
- TTHMs (all the individuals and the total)
- HAA5s (all the individuals and the total)
- Lead and Copper
- IOC Group
- SOC Group
- VOC Group
- Radium (individuals and the total)
- Gross alpha and Combine Uranium
- If sub-contracting some analytes to another laboratory please coordinate on who will be submitting results. Regardless of who is submitting, the SDWIS Lab ID within the CSV must always be the laboratory who performed the analysis.
CSV Form and Instructions
- Online system specific form.
- Instructional video.
- CSV column definitions and guide.
- For Excel-based forms contact us.
Definitions and communication
Sample result correction/deletion/invalidation
- If updates need to be made please resubmit a revised CSV file with only the samples being updated or use the correction/deletion/invalidation form (includes updating residuals). Updated CSVs with the same Lab ID, Lab Sample ID, and Analyte are considered revisions. The most recent submission is used.
- If a deletion/invalidation is needed please use the correction/deletion/invalidation form (submit under the Certifications category when using the Portal). The request must include the unique lab sample ID, collection date, analyzing lab, analyte, and the reason for the requested sample to be deleted/invalidated.
Submitting sample results
- Please do not submit SAMPLE RESULTS as a PDF or Excel file. We are moving away from having drinking water sample results submitted as a PDF or Excel file (except for MORs, daily entry point chlorite/chlorine dioxide, water quality parameters, and additional lead and copper samples not part of your sampling pool) in order to improve data quality (i.e., reduce manual data entry errors), reduce duplicate data submissions (this slows down our data processing), have faster transfer to our EPA data system, and have faster updates to the online monitoring schedules. Samples are required to be analyzed by a certified laboratory.
- Please do not submit PDF/Excel files for sample results into the portal, unless specifically requested by the Department. Please note that you are still able to submit PDF files for routine correspondence (e.g., public notice, monitoring plans, certificate of delivery, etc.). Thanks in advance for helping us improve data quality and efficiency, which in turn help us all best protect public health!
Lead and copper water quality parameters and additional samples
Groundwater Under the Direct Influence (GWUDI) of Surface Water Evaluation