Incident records
Report pages sometimes show a count of incident records. The name can sound scary; the honest reading is simpler.
Reportable event
operator must report
Public record
date + resolution fields
Not home count
one point ≠ many homes
What it is
When something reportable happened on a public water system — for example a flagged test or an operational issue — it can leave a dated entry in the public file. On this site we call those entries incident records (the source data also uses longer technical names such as adverse water quality incidents).
How we use the count
We count those entries for recent years. They can help push a status to “worth a closer look.” Open the detail on the report page to see the numbers behind it.
Two honest cautions
- Not a tap count. One record may be one sample point — not “one emergency per house.”
- Not nothing either. These are real public records. If a system you care about has them, you can ask the operator what happened and how it was fixed.
For anything happening today, call your city or public health unit.
Open data describes the past, not this morning.