Water Quality Report

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2008 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report 

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The Genesee Water & Sanitation District is pleased to present to you this year’s water quality report.  Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. 

General Information about Drinking Water:  All drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.  The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk.  Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population.  Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV-AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk of infections.  These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.  For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, or to receive a copy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and microbiological contaminants call the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells.  As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.  Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

·      Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

·      Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.

·      Pesticides and herbicides, that may come from a variety of sources, such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.

·      Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and also may come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.

·      Radioactive contaminants, that can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment prescribes regulations limiting the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same protection for public health.

Our Water Source

                                            Source                                                   Water Type                                                      

                                                Bear Creek Intake                                                      Surface Water

 If we used purchased water, this report is required to include water quality data for the purchased water with this report.

 The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has provided us with a Source Water Assessment Report for our water supply, you may obtain a copy of the report by visiting http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/wq/sw/swaphom.html.

 Potential contamination in our source water area comes from individual sewage disposal systems, upstream wastewater treatment plant discharges, motor vehicle accidents and toxic spills, illegal dumping and human, livestock and wildlife activity.

 The Source Water Assessment Report provides a screening-level evaluation of potential contamination that could occur. It does not mean that the contamination has or will occur.  We can use this information to evaluate the need to improve our current water treatment capabilities and prepare for future contamination threats.  This can help us ensure that quality finished water is delivered to your homes.  In addition, the source water assessment results provide a starting point for developing a source water protection plan.

 Please contact John McWilliams at 303-278-9780 to learn more about what you can do to help protect your drinking water sources. If you have any questions about the Annual Drinking Water Quality Report or to learn more about our system or to attend scheduled public meetings, please contact the District office at 303-278-9780 or email us at  info@geneseewater.com.  We want you, our valued customers, to be informed about the services we provide and the quality water we deliver to you every day.

 Please share this information with all other people who drink this water especially those who may not have received this notice directly.

Terms and Abbreviations

To help you understand the terms and abbreviations used in this report, we have provided the following definitions:

·         Action Level (AL) - The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.

·          Action Level Goal (ALG) - The “Goal” is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health.

·      Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The “Maximum Allowed” is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.  MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.

·      Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - The “Goal” is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health.  MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.

·         Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) - The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water.  There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.

·         Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG):  The level of a drinking water disinfectant, below which there is no known or expected risk to health.  MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

·      Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) - Nephelometric turbidity unit is a measure of the clarity of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.

 ·         Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/L) - One part per million corresponds to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.

·      Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (µg/L) - One part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.

·      Parts per trillion (ppt) or Nanograms per liter (nanograms/L) - One part per trillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000,000.

·      Parts per quadrillion (ppq) or Picograms per liter (picograms/L) - One part per quadrillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000,000 years or one penny in $10,000,000,000,000.

·      Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - Picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.

·         Running Annual Average (RAA) - An average of monitoring results for the previous 12 calendar months.

·         Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level (SMCL) – Non-enforceable, recommended limits for substances that affect the taste, odor, color or other aesthetic qualities of drinking water, rather than pose a health risk.

·      Treatment Technique (TT) - A treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

 

 Water Quality Data

Genesee Water & Sanitation District routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws.  The following table(s) show all detections found in the period of January 1 to December 31, 2007 unless otherwise noted.  The State of Colorado requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants are not expected to vary significantly from year to year, or the system is not considered vulnerable to this type of contamination.  Therefore, some of our data, though representative, may be more than one year old. The “Range” column in the table(s) will show a single value for those contaminants that were sampled only once.  Violations, if any, are reported on the last page of this report. 

Note: Only detected contaminants appear in this report.  If no tables appear in this section, that means that Genesee Water & Sanitation District did not detect any contaminants in the last round of monitoring.