Handy Sanitary District
Annual Water Quality Report
2006
Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
Handy Sanitary
District
PWS ID#
We are pleased to present to you this year's Annual Drinking Water
Quality Report. This report is a snapshot of last year’s water
quality. This report covers January through December 2006. Included
are details about from where your water comes, what it contains, and
how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. Our
constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of
drinking water. We want you to understand the efforts we make to
continually improve the water treatment process and protect our
water resources. We are committed to ensuring the quality of your
water and to providing you with this information, because informed
customers are our best allies.
What EPA Wants You to
Know
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 about contaminants and potential health effects 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).
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, 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 by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also comefrom gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems; and 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. FDA regulations establish limits
for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same
protection for public health.
When You Turn on Your Tap, Consider the Source
Handy Sanitary District (HSD) purchases the majority of its water
from the Town of
Denton
Denton
Yadkin
River
below the dam at
High
Rock
Lake .
The water plant is located at
3049 Bringle Ferry Road
Denton ,
North Carolina
Yadkin
River
Koontz Road
Denton
Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) Results
The
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR), Public Water Supply (PWS) Section, Source Water Assessment
Program (SWAP) conducted assessments for all drinking water sources
across
The relative
susceptibility rating of each source for Handy Sanitary District was
determined by combining the contaminant rating (number and location
of PCSs within the assessment area) and
the inherent vulnerability rating (i.e., characteristics or existing
conditions of the well or watershed and its delineated assessment
area.). The assessment findings are summarized in the table below:
Susceptibility of Sources to Potential Contaminant Sources (PCSs)
|
Source Name |
Susceptibility Rating |
|
|
Higher |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
complete SWAP Assessment report for Handy Sanitary District may be
viewed on the Web at:
http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us/pws/swap
To obtain a printed copy of this report, please mail a
written request to:
Source Water Assessment Program – Report Request, 1634
It is
important to understand that a susceptibility rating of “higher”
does notimply poor water quality, only the systems’ potential to
become contaminated by PCS’s in the assessment area
Violations that Your Water System Received for the Report Year
During 2006, we received no violations
What If I Have Any Questions Or Would Like to Become More Involved?
If you have any questions about this report or concerning your
water, please contact Terry Callicutt, the Operator in Responsible
Charge (ORC) at 336-859-2553.
We want our valued customers to be informed about their water
utility. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our
regularly scheduled meetings. They are held at the
Water Quality Data Table of Detected Contaminants
We routinely monitor for
over 150
contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State
laws. The table below lists all the drinking water contaminants that
we detected in the last round of
sampling for the particular contaminant group. The presence of
contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a
health risk. Unless
otherwise noted, the data presented in this table is from testing
done January 1 through December 31, 2006. The EPA or the State
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. Some of the data,
though representative of the water quality, is more than one year
old.
Unregulated contaminants are those for which EPA has not established
drinking water standards. The purpose of unregulated contaminant
monitoring is to assist EPA in determining the occurrence of
unregulated contaminants in drinking water and whether future
regulation is warranted.
Important Drinking Water Definitions:
Not-Applicable (N/A)
– Information not applicable/not required for that particular water
system or for that particular Rule.
Non-Detects (ND)
- laboratory analysis indicates that the contaminant is not present
at the level of detection set for the particular methodology used.
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.
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.
Million Fibers per Liter (MFL)
- million fibers per liter is a measure of the presence of asbestos
fibers that are longer than 10 micrometers.
Nephelometric
Turbidity Unit (NTU)
- nephelometricturbidity unit is a
measure of the clarity of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is
just noticeable to the average person.
Action Level
(
Treatment Technique (TT)
- A treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the
level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Maximum Residual Disinfection Level Goal
– The “Level” (MRDLG) 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.
Maximum Residual Disinfection Level
– The “Highest Level” (MRDL) of a disinfectant allowed in drinking
water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant
is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
Maximum Contaminant Level
- The “Maximum Allowed” (MCL) 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
- The “Goal”(MCLG) 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.
Extra Note: MCL’s are set at very
stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects
described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to
drink 2 liters of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to
have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health
effect.
Turbidity* - Systems with population <10,000
|
Contaminant (units)
|
MCL Violation
Y/N |
Your
Water |
MCLG |
MCL |
Likely Source of Contamination |
|
Turbidity (NTU)
|
N |
.078 |
N/A
|
TT = 5 NTU |
Soil runoff |
|
100% |
|
TT = percentage of samples < 0.5
NTU |
* Turbidity is a
measure of the cloudiness of the water. We monitor it because it is
a good indicator of the effectiveness of our filtration system.
Beginning January 2005, the turbidity rule will require, for all
systems, that 95% or more of the monthly samples must be less than
or equal to 0.3 NTU.
Inorganic Contaminants
|
Contaminant
(units)
|
Sample Date |
MCL Violation
Y/N |
Your
Water |
Range
Low
High |
MCLG |
MCL |
Likely Source
of Contamination |
|
Fluoride (ppm) |
|
N |
1.07 |
0.09
1.40 |
4 |
4 |
Erosion of
natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong
teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories |
Nitrate/Nitrite Contaminants
|
Contaminant (units)
|
MCL Violation
Y/N |
Your
Water |
Range
Low
High |
MCLG |
MCL |
Likely Source of Contamination |
|
Nitrate (as Nitrogen) (ppm) |
N |
1.00 |
N/A |
10 |
10 |
Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks,
sewage; erosion of natural deposits |
Unregulated Inorganic Contaminants
|
Contaminant
(units)
|
Sample Date |
Your
Water |
Range
Low
High |
Secondary MCL |
|
Sulfate (ppm) |
|
37.6 |
N/A |
250 |
Synthetic Organic Chemical (SOC) Contaminants Including Pesticides and Herbicides
|
Contaminant
(units)
|
Sample Date |
MCL Violation
Y/N |
Your
Water |
Range
Low
High |
MCLG |
MCL |
Likely Source
of Contamination |
|
Dalapon
(ppb) |
|
N |
ND |
N/A |
200 |
200 |
Runoff from
herbicide used on rights of way |
Unregulated VOC Contaminants
|
Contaminant
(units)
|
Sample Date |
Your
Water |
Range
Low
High |
|
Chloroform
(ppb) |
|
16.0 |
N/A |
|
Bromodichloromethane
(ppb) |
|
5.4 |
N/A |
|
Chlorodibromomethane
(ppb) |
|
1.0 |
N/A |
Asbestos Contaminant
|
Contaminant
(units)
|
Sample Date |
MCL Violation
Y/N |
Your
Water |
Range
Low
High |
MCLG |
MCL |
Likely Source
of Contamination |