Traverse City Water Supply
We’re pleased to present to you this year's Annual Quality Water Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality water and services we deliver to you every day. 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. Our water source is surface water from the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay.
The State will be performing an assessment of our source water by 2003. We will inform you on how to get a copy of the assessment report when it becomes available.
I'm pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets all federal and state requirements.
If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Carl Holder, 231-922-4920. We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility.
The Traverse City Water Supply routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2000, unless otherwise noted. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents. It's important to remember that the presence of these constituents does not necessarily pose a health risk.
The State allows 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. All of the data is representative of the water quality, but some is more than one year old.
In this table you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions:
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.
Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.
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.
Maximum Contaminant Level – ( MCL ) The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLG as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
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.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal - (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.
Action Level – (AL) The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
Many constituents were tested for, but not detected
in our water supply. The following constituents were detected at low, but
safe levels, well below the MCL or (Maximum Contaminant Level)
|
|
||||||||||||
| Contaminant |
Y/N |
Detected |
Measurement |
MCL
Highest level Allowed |
(EPA Goal) |
Likely Source of Contamination | ||||||
| Microbiological Contaminants | ||||||||||||
| 3. Turbidity *
Range detected (see Note below) |
N | 0.03
(.01–.07) |
NTU |
5
|
0
|
Soil runoff | ||||||
| Radioactive Contaminants | ||||||||||||
| 4. Beta/Photon emitters
**
( see Note below ) |
N | 2.2 | pCi/l |
50
|
0
|
Decay of natural and man-made deposits | ||||||
| 5. Alpha emitters
**
( see Note below ) |
N | 0.2 | pCi/1 |
15
|
0
|
Erosion of natural deposits | ||||||
| Inorganic Contaminants | ||||||||||||
| 8. Arsenic | N | 1.00 | ppb |
50
|
|
Erosion of natural deposits; runoff from orchards; runoff from glass and electronics production wastes | ||||||
| 14. Copper (customer taps) | N | ND | ppm |
AL=1.3
|
1.3
|
Corrosion of household plumbing systems | ||||||
| 16. Fluoride | N | 1.26 | ppm |
4
|
4
|
Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth | ||||||
| 17. Lead (customer
taps)
Range detected *** ( see Note below ) |
N | ND
( 0 – 8 ) |
ppb |
AL=15
|
0
|
Corrosion of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits | ||||||
| Volatile Organic Contaminants | ||||||||||||
|
[Total trihalomethanes] Range detected |
N |
(11 – 35) |
ppb |
100
|
0
|
By-product of drinking water chlorination | ||||||
* Turbidity – 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.
** Radiological – radiological testing is required every 4 years; test results reported are from the 1997 calendar year. We will test again in 2001.
*** Lead & Copper – (ND Stands for Not Detected) lead & copper testing is on a three (3) year schedule, test results reported are from the 1999 calendar year. We will test again in (2002).
As you can see by the tables, our system had no violations. We’re proud that your drinking water meets or exceeds all Federal and State requirements. We have learned through our monitoring and testing that some constituents have been detected. The EPA has determined that your water IS SAFE at these levels.
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.
|
|
||||||||||||
| Unregulated Contaminant |
Detected |
Measurement |
Likely Source of Contamination | |||||||||
|
|
|
ppm | Erosion of natural deposits | |||||||||
|
|
|
ppm | Erosion of natural deposits | |||||||||
|
Average Range Detected |
( 0 – 0.5 ) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
|
Average Range Detected |
( 2.1 – 4.6 ) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
|
Average Range Detected |
( 4.9 – 18.2 ) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
|
Average Range Detected |
( 4.5 –11.4 ) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
| Bromochloroacetic
Acid
Average Range Detected |
( 1 – 3 ) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
| Dibromoacetin Acid
Average Range Detected |
( 0 – 1) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
|
Average Range Detected |
( 2 – 6 ) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
|
Average Range Detected |
( 3 – 12 ) |
ppb | By-Product of drinking water chlorination | |||||||||
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 EPA’s 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:
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 stormwater 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 stormwater 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 come from gas stations, urban stormwater 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. FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.
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 microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
Please call our office if you have questions. 922-4920
We at the Traverse City Water Plant work around the clock to provide
top quality water to every tap. We ask that
all our customers help us protect our water sources, which are the heart
of our community, our way of life and our children’s future.