INTRODUCTION
This Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for calendar year 2008 is designed to inform you about your drinking water quality. Our goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water, and we want you to understand the efforts we make to protect your water supply. The quality of your drinking water must meet state and federal requirements administered by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).
If you have questions or want additional information about any aspect of your drinking water or want to know how to participate in decisions that may affect the quality of your drinking water, or this report, please contact:
Mr. Bill Boswell, Town Manager
Town of Chilhowie
PO Box 5012, Chilhowie, VA 24319
276-646-3232
The times and location of regularly scheduled board meetings are as follows:
The second Thursday of each month @ 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers @ Chilhowie Town Hall, 325 East Lee Highway, Chilhowie, VA 24319
POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION
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, which 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,
· indicator of the effectiveness of our filtration system.
· Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal or MRDLG – the level of drinking water disinfectant health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial mining , or farming.
· Pesticides and herbicides, which 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 can, also, come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.
· Radioactive contaminants, which 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, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.
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 water poses a health risk. More information can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
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 from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT
The source of your drinking water is groundwater under the direct influence of surface water from three springs treated at the Chilhowie/Washington County Service Authority
Membrane Filtration Plant. Treatment includes membrane filtration, chlorine disinfection and fluoridation.
· The Virginia Department of Health conducted a source water assessment of our system during 2002. The three sources were determined to be of highly susceptible to contamination using the criteria developed by the state inits approved Source Water Assessment Program. The assessment report consists of Maps showing the source water assessment area, an inventory of known land use activities of concern, and contaminants.
· Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level or MRDL – the highest level of a disinfectant allowed in below which there is no known or expected risk to drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of documentation of any known contamination within the last 5 years. The report is available by contacting Jay Keen at the phone number or address given elsewhere in this drinking water quality report.
Key Terms & Definitions
Contaminants in your drinking water are routinely monitored according to Federal and State regulations. The table below shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1st to December 31st,2007. In the table and elsewhere in this report you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. The following definitions are provided to help you better understand these terms:
· Maximum Contaminant Level, or MCL - 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, or MCLG - 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.
· Non-detects (ND) - lab analysis indicates that the contaminant is not present
· 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 - 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.
· Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.
· Action Level - the concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
· Treatment Technique (TT) - a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
· Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) - nephelometric turbidity unit is a measure of the clarity, or cloudiness, of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person. Turbidity is monitored because it is a good disinfectant and is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
WATER QUALITY RESULTS
|
Contaminant (units)
|
MCLG
|
MCL
|
Level Detected
|
Violation (Y/N)
|
Range
|
Date of Sample
|
Typical Source of Contamination
|
|
Nitrate (ppm)
|
10
|
10
|
0.3
|
N
|
-
|
10/1/08
|
Runoff from fertilizer use; Erosion of natural deposits; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage
|
|
Fluoride (ppm)
|
4
|
4
|
0.91
|
N
|
-
|
1/30/08
|
Water additive which promotes strong teeth
|
|
Alpha Emitters (pCi/l)
|
0
|
15
|
1.0
|
N
|
-
|
2008
|
Erosion of Natural Deposits
|
|
Combined Radium (pCi/l)
|
0
|
5
|
1.8
|
N
|
-
|
2008
|
Erosion of Natural Deposits
|
|
Chlorine (ppm)
|
MRDLG = 4
|
MRDL = 4
|
1.48
|
N
|
1.2-1.5
|
2008
|
Water additive used to control microbes
|
|
Haloacetic Acids (ppb)
|
NA
|
60
|
4
|
N
|
-
|
2008
|
By-product of drinking water disinfection
|
|
TTHMs [Total Trihalomethanes] (ppb)
|
NA
|
80
|
18
|
N
|
-
|
2008
|
By-product of drinking water disinfection
|
|
Turbidity (NTU)
|
NA
|
TT, 1 NTU Max
|
0.03
|
N
|
0.03
|
-2008
|
Soil runoff
|
|
|
|
TT, ≤0.3 NTU 95% of the time
|
100%
|
N
|
NA
|
|
|
II. Lead and Copper
|
Contaminant (units)
|
MCLG
|
Action Level
|
90th Percentile
|
Date of Sampling
|
# of Sampling Sites Exceeding Action Level
|
Typical Source of Contamination
|
|
Lead (ppb)
|
0
|
15 ppb
|
2.8
|
June 6, 2006
|
0
|
Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits
|
|
Copper (ppm)
|
1.3
|
AL-1.3
|
0.289
|
June 6, 2006
|
0
|
Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits; Leaching from wood preservatives
|
The water quality results in tables I & II are from testing done in 2008. However, the state allows us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Some of our data, though accurate, is more than one year old.
MCL’s are set at very stringent levels by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In developing the standards EPA assumes that the average adult drinks 2 liters of water each day throughout a 70-year life span. EPA generally sets MCLs at levels that will result in no adverse health effects for some contaminants or a one-in-ten-thousand to one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect for other contaminants.
VIOLATION INFORMATION - NONE
Your water system did not have any MCL, TT or reporting violations during the year
