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VILLAGE OF BROCTON ANNUAL WATER QUALITY REPORT (2005)
34 West Main Street
Brocton, New York 14716
Phone (716) 792 4169 - Fax (716) 792 4170
P.W.S ID 0600353
THIS REPORT CONTAINS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
INTRODUCTION
Greetings - My name is Greg Borst and I am the Head Operator of the Village of Brocton Fresh Water Treatment Plant, and caretaker of the Brocton Watershed. I welcome this opportunity to share with you the Annual Water Quality Report, which covers the 2005 calendar year.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Health Department, Chautauqua County Health Department, and Village of Brocton feel that water customers have the right to know what is in their drinking water and where that drinking water source originates.
Educated consumers are more likely to help protect drinking water sources and to understand the true value as well as associated costs of safe drinking water. Water Quality Reports intentionally encourage water consumers to consider the challenges of delivering potable drinking water with adequate pressure in.
Last year, as in the past, your tap water met all federal and state drinking water health standards. Our water department vigilantly safeguards its water supplies and we are proud to report that our system is in compliance with all drinking water standards.
EXPLANATION OF ANNUAL WATER QUALITY
In 1996, Congress amended the quantities to meet demands. Safe Drinking Water Act which added a provision requiring that every community water system that has at least 15 service connections serving year round residents must prepare and distribute an annual water quality report to their customers. These systems typically include cities, villages, and trailer parks that own and operate a water system.
This brochure is a snap shot of last years water quality. It also contains information about your water sources, treatment, distribution system and storage facilities. We’re committed to providing you with information because informed customers are our best allies.
ABOUT YOUR WATER
We supply water to about 5000 people, Brocton Central School, the Lakeview Correctional Facility and a number of businesses. Our water not only meets the village’s needs but also the needs of five water districts in the Town of Portland The system is owned, operated and maintained by the Village and as Head Operator, I have a Class IIA Water Operators License issued by the NYS Health Department. Gary Miller, Superintendent of Public Works and James Horlacher, 2nd Shift Operator, are also licensed water operators. We also now have a new full-time Operator, we wish to welcome E. Mark Snyder. The source of our drinking water is from the Slippery Rock Creek reservoir system. It is comprised of three reservoirs, whose main source of water is from run off to Slippery Rock Creek. We also have an emergency pipeline connection to Bear Lake, but have never had to use it. The land area that “sheds” water to Slippery Rock Creek and the reservoirs is 2,000 acres. One inch of rain on this watershed amounts to about 55 million gallons of water, a little less than half of which would flow to the reservoirs, the other half evaporates, is transpired by plants or soaks into the ground. The combined current capacity of the reservoirs is 85 million gallons.
Water from the reservoirs is treated at the Brocton Fresh Water Treatment Plant located about 1.5 miles south of the village. Raw water is filtered at the treatment plant to remove any contaminants and sediment, then disinfected with chlorine for added safety. Once treated, finished water is stored in two 475,000 gallon below ground concrete storage tanks located next to the plant. Since the plant is higher in elevation than the town, treated water flows to it by gravity where customers enjoy up to 90 pounds per square inch of water pressure at their taps. On average the plant produces about 400,000 gallons of water each day and are easily capable of producing 800,000 gallons.
We distribute water to customers through more than eight miles of water mains ranging in size from 4 to 12 inches in diameter. We maintain and repair all of the water mains ourselves, along with about 650 customer service connections, all water valves and fire hydrants in the system. We also have a leak detection program and water main/service connection replacement schedule in order to keep our system in good shape.
The basic charge for water inside the village is $1.71/1,000 gallons, the rate for users outside the village is 3.5 times higher. A gallon of bottled water from the grocery store costs about $1.00, and you have to go pick it up. A gallon of water from your faucet costs between one tenth of a cent and half a cent, and its delivered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A real bargain when you stop to think about it.
WATER TESTING
The Village of Brocton Water Department takes every step to safeguard the quality of our water through rigorous testing according to guidelines set forth by the NYS Health Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The various testing we do on our water is based on a schedule mandated by the NYS Health Department. Some constituents such as turbidity are measured several times each day, bacteria samples are taken from the distribution system at least once a month, inorganic chemicals such as salts and metals are sampled once a year, less common contaminants including pesticides, herbicides, lead and copper are sampled every three years, and petroleum by-products are sampled every six years.
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 (1-800-426-4791). Some people may be more vulnerable to disease causing microorganisms or pathogens in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as 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 advise from their health care provider about their drinking water. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium, Giardia and other microbial pathogens are available form the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (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 and through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals and, can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activities. Contaminants that may be present in source water include: microbial contaminants; inorganic contaminants; pesticides and herbicides; organic chemical contaminants; and radioactive contaminants. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the State and the EPA prescribe regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The State Health Department’s and the FDA’s regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.
In 2004, we sampled for turbidity, bacteria, inorganic chemicals, and Trihalomethanes or THMs (an organic compound formed by a reaction of chlorine with naturally occurring humic acids). The accompanying table lists all the testing we did last year along with the results of those tests. As you can see by the table, these tests show the levels of contaminants in Portland’s drinking water are well below limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and NYS Health Department. To contact your County Health Department in Mayville, call (716) 753-4481, or fax (716) 753 4344 with any questions regarding our system or source water assessment.
If you have any questions about this report or our water system, please contact the Village of Brocton offices at 792-4160, or you may call me at the Water Treatment Plant at 792-9933 or on the plant cell phone at 680-2181. If you want to learn more, you can also attend any of our regularly scheduled public Village Board meetings held on the First Monday of every month at 7:00 p.m, or call me to arrange a tour of our Water Treatment Plant. Our mailing address is 34 West Main Street, P.O. Box B Brocton, NY 14716 and our public water supply identification number is 0600353.
AWQR SWAP SUMMARY
The NYS DOH has evaluated this PWS’s susceptibility to contamination under the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP), and their findings are summarized in the paragraph(s) below. It is important to stress that these assessments were created using available information and only estimate the potential for source water contamination has or will occur for this PWS. This PWS provides treatment and regular monitoring to ensure the water delivered to consumers meets all applicable standards.
This assessment found an elevated susceptibility to contamination for both the Burr and Slippery Rock Reservoirs. The amount of pasture in the assessment area results in a high potential for protozoa contamination. There is also a high density of sanitary wastewater discharges in the Slippery Rock watershed, which results in elevated susceptibility for nearly all contaminate categories. However, the total amount of wastewater discharged to surface water in either reservoir area is not high enough to considerably raise the potential for contamination. There are no noteworthy contamination threats associated with other discrete contaminant sources. Finally, it should be noted that hydrologic characteristics (e.g. basin shape & flushing rates) generally make reservoirs highly sensitive to exisiting and ne3w sources for phosphorus and microbial contamination.
FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR WATER
The Mayor and Village Board commend Greg Borst, and his staff, on their hard work and dedication to bring our customers the highest quality water possible.
Mayor Judith Gilbert, Trustees Gary Planty, Deborah Lloyd-Priest, Al Gens & Sonia Luszcak
From the Mayor:
The Village’s Water Plant is operated by Greg Borst, Jim Horlacher and Mark Snyder. Chautauqua County and the State of New York Health Departments work with our personnel to assure that a safe and quality product is delivered to our customers.
The work to get water from dam to your faucet is a highly scrutinized process, handled with precision by our water plant operators. The Village Board, with engineers Nussbaumer and Clark, has initiated work to provide immediate improvements, and has developed a long term plan to upgrade our water facility. These improvements will continue to assure a quality product and to make available to more customers some of our abundant water supplies.
Thank you,
Mayor Judith Dearing Gilbert
DEFINITIONS
Micrograms per liter (ug/l) corresponds to one part of liquid in one billion parts of liquid (parts per billion – ppb).
*HAA5 Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter - One part per million corresponds to one part in one million parts.
Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter - One part per billion corresponds to one part in one billion parts.
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCL’s are set as close to the MCLG as possible.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) – The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no know or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
Action Level (A.L.)- The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
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. Our highest single turbidity measurement for the year occurred on 8/21/00, 0.24 NTU. State regulations require that turbidity must always be below 5 NTU. The regulations require that 95% of the turbidity samples collected have measurements below 0.5 NTU. Although August 2000, was the month when we had the fewest measurements meeting the treatment technique for turbidity, the levels recorded were within the acceptable range allowed and did not constitute a treatment technique violation.
N.T.U. - Nephelometric Turbidity Unit - Turbidity, a measure of fine suspended matter in water, is measured using an instrument called a Nephelometer, hence the term N.T.U. for it’s standard units.
T.THMs - Total Trihalomethanes - an organic compound formed by a reaction of chlorine with naturally occurring humic acids found in surface water.
90th Percentile Value – The values reported for lead and copper represent the 90th percentile. A percentile is a value on a scale of 100 that indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it. The 90th percentile is equal to or greater than 90% of the lead and copper values detected at your water system.
Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) – Picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) – are 5 specific by-products of drinking water chlorination. This contaminant is currently not regulated. The MCL presented becomes effective for surface water systems serving 10,000 or more people on January 1, 2002; for surface water systems serving less than 10,000 people, including Portland, this MCL becomes effective on January 1, 2004.
Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water (Filtration is a treatment technique)
n/a – not applicable
< - less than
> - greater than
N.D. – None or no contaminants found
In accordance with State Regulations, the Village of Brocton routinely monitors your drinking water for numerous contaminants. We test your drinking water for coliform bacteria, turbidity, inorganic contaminants, lead & copper, nitrate, volatile organic contaminants, trimalometmans, synthetic organic contaminants. The table presented below depicts which contaminants were detected in your drinking water in 2005.
VILLAGE OF BROCTON FINISHED WATER TEST RESULTS (2005)
Contaminant Violation Date of Level Units of MCLG MCL or A.L. Likely Source of Measurement Contamination Contamination
Disinfection By-Products and Turbidity
Total THMs** No 1/11/05 95.0 ppb n/a 100 A volatile organic contaminant 5/4/05 that is a by-product of drinking 8/23/05 water chlorination
11/4/05
Turbidity No .42ntu n.t.u. n/a TT=<.3 ntu
No 12/31/05 95% n.t.u. n/a 95% <.10ntu No soil erosion and particulates such as algae in the water
HAA** No 1/11/05 51.0 ug/L n/a 60 A by-product of drinking water 4/5/05 chlorination
8/23/05 11/4/05
Inorganic Contaminants
Barium No 4/6/05 0.005 ppm 2 2 Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits
Chromium No 4/6/05 0.002 ppm 100 100 Discharge from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits
Copper No 6/24/03 90th Percentile ppm 1.3 activated=1.3 Corrosion of household plumbing 0.413 systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservation products
Fluoride No 4/6/05 0.01 ppm 4 4 Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories
Lead No 6/24/03 90th Percentile ppb 0 activated=1.5 Corrosion of household plumbing 0.0003 systems & erosion of natural deposits
Nitrate No 4/6/05 0.40 ppm 10 10 Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of natural deposits
Sulfate No 4/6/05 8.3 ppm n/a 250 Natural deposits or salts; byproducts of cola mining; industrial wastes & sewage; Streams draining coal or metal sulfide mines
**Unfortunately, surveillance testing done by the Chautauqua County Health Department indicated that the site we had been using for TTHM and HAA analysis may not have been representative of the system. Their results indicate tha the TTHM levels at the far points in our water system are exceeding maximum contaminant levels. Some people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess of the MCL over many years may experience problems with the liver, kidneys, or control nervous systems, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
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