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WATER REPORT Quality annual Water Testing Performed in 2016 Presented By City of Blackfoot Water Department PWS ID#: 6060007 ---PAGE BREAK--- Source Water Assessment A Source Water Assessment Plan (SWAP) is now available at our office. This plan is an assessment of the delineated area around our listed sources through which contaminants, if present, could migrate and reach our source water. It also includes an inventory of potential sources of contamination within the delineated area, and a determination of the water supply’s susceptibility to contamination by the identified potential sources. According to the Source Water Assessment Plan, our water system had a susceptibility rating of “medium.” If you would like to review the Source Water Assessment Plan, please feel free to contact our office during regular office hours. The Source Water Assessment Plan is also available online at: http://deq.idaho.gov/water-quality/source- water/assessments/ Important Health Information S ome people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immunocompromised 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 may be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. The U.S. EPA/CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426- 4791 or http://water.epa.gov/ drink/hotline. We’ve Come a Long Way O nce again we are proud to present our annual water quality report covering the period between January 1 and December 31, 2016. In a matter of only a few decades, drinking water has become exponentially safer and more reliable than at any other point in human history. Our exceptional staff continues to work hard every day—at any hour—to deliver the highest quality drinking water without interruption. Although the challenges ahead are many, we feel that by relentlessly investing in customer outreach and education, new treatment technologies, system upgrades, and training, the payoff will be reliable, high-quality tap water delivered to you and your family. Benefits of Chlorination D isinfection, a chemical process used to control disease-causing microorganisms by killing or inactivating them, is unquestionably the most important step in drinking water treatment. By far, the most common method of disinfection in North America is chlorination. Before communities began routinely treating drinking water with chlorine (starting with Chicago and Jersey City in 1908), cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, and hepatitis A killed thousands of U.S. residents annually. Drinking water chlorination and filtration have helped to virtually eliminate these diseases in the United States. Significant strides in public health are directly linked to the adoption of drinking water chlorination. In fact, the filtration of drinking water plus the use of chlorine is probably the most significant public health advancement in human history. How chlorination works: Potent Germicide Reduction in the level of many disease-causing microorganisms in drinking water to almost immeasurable levels. Taste and Odor Reduction of many disagreeable tastes and odors like foul-smelling algae secretions, sulfides, and odors from decaying vegetation. Biological Growth Elimination of slime bacteria, molds, and algae that commonly grow in water supply reservoirs, on the walls of water mains, and in storage tanks. Chemical Removal of hydrogen sulfide (which has a rotten egg odor), ammonia, and other nitrogenous compounds that have unpleasant tastes and hinder disinfection. It also helps to remove iron and manganese from raw water. Where Does My Water Come From? T he City’s source is ground water from the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. It is pumped by nine vertical turbine wells located throughout the system. ---PAGE BREAK--- Questions? The Blackfoot Water Department works 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. In 2016, The City of Blackfoot pumped 1.3 billion gallons of water. If you have any questions or concerns about this report or your water utility, please feel free to contact Vernon Cannon, Water Superintendent, at 785-8608, Monday thru Thursday, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Fridays, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you wish to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings. City Council meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m. Find out more on the internet at www.cityofblackfoot.org. Or, visit our Facebook page for the City of Blackfoot. Lead in Home Plumbing I f present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. We are responsible for providing high-quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at www.epa.gov/lead. Substances That Could Be in Water T o ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the U.S. EPA prescribes regulations limiting the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. U.S. 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 these contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. 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, in some cases, radioactive material, and substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. Substances 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, or wildlife; Inorganic Contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or may 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 and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production and may also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems; Radioactive Contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or may be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities. For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, call the U.S. EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791. ---PAGE BREAK--- Fact or Fiction A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water. (Fact: Dehydration generally become noticeable after only 2% of one’s normal water volume has been lost.) A person should consume a half-gallon of water daily to live healthily. (Fact: A person should drink at least 64 ounces, or 8 cups, of water each day.) Methods for the treatment and filtration of drinking water were developed only recently. (Fiction: Ancient Egyptians treated water by siphoning water out of the top of huge jars after allowing the muddy water from the Nile River to settle. And, Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, directed people in Greece to boil and strain water before drinking it.) There is the same amount of water on Earth now as there was when the Earth was formed. (Fact: The water that comes from your faucet could contain molecules that dinosaurs drank!) A typical shower with a non-low-flow showerhead uses more water than a bath. (Fiction: A typical shower uses less water than a bath.) About half the water treated by public water systems is used for drinking and cooking. (Fiction: Actually, the amount used for cooking and drinking is less than 1% of the total water produced!) One gallon of gasoline poured into a lake can contaminate approximately 750,000 gallons of water. (Fact) Public Meetings W e 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. City Council meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month. Find out more on the internet at http://www. cityofblackfoot.org. What’s Your Water Footprint? Y ou may have some understanding about your carbon footprint, but how much do you know about your water footprint? The water footprint of an individual, community, or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services that are consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. For example, 11 gallons of water are needed to irrigate and wash the fruit in one half-gallon container of orange juice. Thirty-seven gallons of water are used to grow, produce, package, and ship the beans in that morning cup of coffee. Two hundred and sixty-four gallons of water are required to produce one quart of milk, and 4,200 gallons of water are required to produce two pounds of beef. According to the U.S. EPA, the average American uses over 180 gallons of water daily. In fact, in the developed world, one flush of a toilet uses as much water as the average person in the developing world allocates for an entire day’s cooking, washing, cleaning, and drinking. The annual American per capita water footprint is about 8,000 cubic feet; twice the global per capita average. With water use increasing six-fold in the past century, our demands for freshwater are rapidly outstripping what the planet can replenish. To check out your own water footprint, go to http://goo.gl/QMoIXT. What’s a Cross-connection? C ross-connections that contaminate drinking water distribution lines are a major concern. A cross-connection is formed at any point where a drinking water line connects to equipment (boilers), systems containing chemicals (air conditioning systems, fire sprinkler systems, irrigation systems), or water sources of questionable quality. Cross-connection contamination can occur when the pressure in the equipment or system is greater than the pressure inside the drinking water line (backpressure). Contamination can also occur when the pressure in the drinking water line drops due to fairly routine occurrences (main breaks, heavy water demand) causing contaminants to be sucked out from the equipment and into the drinking water line (backsiphonage). Outside water taps and garden hoses tend to be the most common sources of cross-connection contamination at home. The garden hose creates a hazard when submerged in a swimming pool or when attached to a chemical sprayer for weed killing. Garden hoses that are left lying on the ground may be contaminated by fertilizers, cesspools or garden chemicals. Improperly installed valves in your toilet could also be a source of cross-connection contamination. Community water supplies are continuously jeopardized by cross-connections unless appropriate valves, known as backflow prevention devices, are installed and maintained. We have surveyed industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities in the service area to make sure that potential cross-connections are identified and eliminated or protected by a backflow preventer. We also inspect and test backflow preventers to make sure that they provide maximum protection. For more information on backflow prevention, contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791. ---PAGE BREAK--- What type of container is best for storing water? Consumer Reports has consistently advised that glass or BPA-free plastics such as polyethylene are the safest choices. To be on the safe side, do not use any container with markings on the recycle symbol showing “7 PC” (code for BPA). You could also consider using stainless steel or aluminum with BPA-free liners. How much emergency water should I keep? Typically, 1 gallon per person per day is recommended. For a family of four, that would be 12 gallons for 3 days. Humans can survive without food for 1 month, but can survive only 1 week without water. How long can I store drinking water? The disinfectant in drinking water will eventually dissipate, even in a closed container. If that container housed bacteria before it was filled with tap water, the bacteria may continue to grow once the disinfectant has dissipated. Some experts believe that water could be stored up to six months before needing to be replaced. Refrigeration will help slow the bacterial growth. How long does it take a water supplier to produce one glass of drinking water? It could take up to 45 minutes to produce a single glass of drinking water. How many community water systems are there in the U.S.? About 53,000 public water systems across the United States process 34 billion gallons of water per day for home and commercial use. Eighty-five percent of the population is served by these systems. Which household activity wastes the most water? Most people would say the majority of water use comes from showering or washing dishes; however, toilet flushing is by far the largest single use of water in a home (accounting for 40% of total water use). Toilets use about 4 to 6 gallons per flush, so consider an ultra-low- flow (ULF) toilet, which requires only 1.5 gallons. ---PAGE BREAK--- Definitions Test Results O ur water is monitored for many different kinds of contaminants on a very strict sampling schedule. The information below represents only those substances that were detected; our goal is to keep all detects below their respective maximum allowed levels. The State recommends monitoring for certain substances less than once per year because the concentrations of these substances do not change frequently. In these cases, the most recent sample data are included, along with the year in which the sample was taken. REGULATED SUBSTANCES SUBSTANCE (UNIT OF MEASURE) YEAR SAMPLED MCL [MRDL] MCLG AMOUNT DETECTED RANGE LOW-HIGH VIOLATION TYPICAL SOURCE E. coli [at the ground water source] positive samples) 2016 NA 0 0 NA No Human and animal fecal waste in untreated ground water Nitrate (ppm) 2016 10 10 1.98 1.220–2.980 No Runoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits Combined Radium -226 & -228 2016 5 pCi/L 0 0.692 pCi/L 0–2.06 pCi/L No Erosion of natural deposits Combined Uranium 2016 30 µg/L 0 1.44 µg/L 0.94–2.29 µg/L No Erosion of natural deposits Tap water samples were collected for lead and copper analyses from sample sites throughout the community SUBSTANCE (UNIT OF MEASURE) YEAR SAMPLED AL MCLG AMOUNT DETECTED (90TH%TILE) SITES ABOVE AL/TOTAL SITES VIOLATION TYPICAL SOURCE Copper (ppm) 2015 1.3 1.3 0 0/30 No Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits Lead (ppb) 2015 15 0 2 0/30 No Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits AL (Action Level): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow. MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the as feasible using the best available treatment technology. MCLG (Maximum Contaminant Level Goal): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. allow for a margin of safety. NA: Not applicable ppb (parts per billion): One part substance per billion parts water (or micrograms per liter). pCi/L: Picocuries per liter ppm (parts per million): One part substance per million parts water (or milligrams per liter). µg/L: Micrograms per liter