HOSCHTON — The city of Hoschton has more specific rules for testing its water supply following a violation of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s rules for safe drinking water, according to city officials.

Hoschton issued a public notice today stating the city “failed to collect and/or report an adequate number of samples for microbiological (coliform) quality analysis” during the month of August.

Johnny Hill, the city’s water and wastewater operator, sends two samples of the city’s water supply to the state each month to test its purity and to look for chemicals and bacteria such as coliform, which is defined as “bacteria that are associated with human or animal wastes,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site.

When one of the samples tested positive for a contaminant and the EPD requested four more water samples, the city complied and EPD called to confirm the water was not contaminated. But a miscommunication in August led to the city sending one less sample than required, Hill said.

“If we have a positive (sample), they require four more samples. Now what they’re saying is the following month you have to send five. This was something I was not aware of. When the man called and said, ‘You’re fine,’ that tells me to go back to sending two samples,” Hill said.

“We missed the one where we were supposed to send five ... but they said everything’s fine. There’s been a lot of miscommunication between the EPD and the city. It was nothing intentional.”

He said the EPD didn’t specify what was in the water sample that made it test positive, but EPD did confirm the city’s water supply was not contaminated after testing the four samples sent in July.

“Our water is great water,” Hill said. “The samples are just so delicate that you have to handle the bottles so delicately because if you touch the inside of the bottle, it comes back with a bad sample.”

The city’s public notice also states that residents don’t need to seek new sources of water.

“This violation does not pose a threat to the quality of the water supplied. Residents should not be alarmed and do not need to seek alternative water supplies. The supplier is taking corrective actions to ensure that an adequate sampling program will be maintained,” the notice states.

Following this violation, the city has its water testing procedure “set in stone” and will continue to follow EPD regulations, Hill said.