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DID YOU KNOW? The City of Kalispell is pleased to present this year’s Annual Water Quality Report (Consumer Confidence Report) as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This report is designed to provide details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. This report is a snapshot of last year’s water quality. We are committed to providing you with information because informed customers are our best resources to aid in maintaining and improving water quality. If you are a landlord, property manager, or know someone who is not billed directly, please share this report with your tenants and friends. 2020 CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT The City of Kalispell’s water is considered moderately hard at 205 milligrams per liter, or 12 grains per gallon hardness. In 2003, a source water assessment was performed as required by the Montana Source Water Protections Program and the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The results are public record and can be viewed upon request, from the Public Works Office. ANNUAL DRINKING WATER QUALITY REPORT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR LEAD If 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. Kalispell Public Works is 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 http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead. ---PAGE BREAK--- Annual Drinking Water Quality Report • • • 1 What are water contaminates? 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 (EPA) 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: • Microbial contaminants such as viruses and bacteria can come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations, wildlife, and domestic animals. • Inorganic contaminants such as salts and metals, can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming. • Pesticides and herbicides may come from a variety of sources, such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses. • Organic chemical contaminants including and volatile organic compounds, are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production. These contaminants may also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems. • Radioactive contaminants can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities. Do I need to take special precautions? 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/Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Water Drinking Hotline ([PHONE REDACTED] WHERE DOES MY WATER COME FROM? AND HOW IS IT TREATED? The water you drink comes from multiple ground-water source wells. The water is disinfected using chlorination at each source prior to entering the storage and distribution system. As in years past, your tap water from Kalispell’s public water supply met all federal and state drinking water health standards. For further information contact: ❖ Utility Management Superintendent, Joe Schrader, at 758-7989 ❖ Write or visit the Department of Public Works, City Hall, PO BOX 1997, 201 1st Avenue East, Kalispell, MT 59903 ❖ Attend a City Council Meeting on the first and third Monday of each month at 7:00 pm in City Hall Visit our website: www.kalispell.com HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED? • • • ---PAGE BREAK--- Annual Drinking Water Quality Report • • • 2 DID YOU KNOW THAT THE AVERAGE U.S. HOUSEHOLD USES APPROXIMATELY 420 GALLONS OF WATER PER DAY OR 163 GALLONS PER PERSON PER DAY? LUCKILY, THERE ARE MANY LOW-COST AND NO-COST WAYS TO CONSERVE WATER. SMALL CHANGES CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE— TRY ONE TODAY AND SOON IT WILL BECOME SECOND NATURE! ➢ Take short showers—a 5-minute shower uses 4 to 5 gallons of water compared to 50 gallons for a bath. ➢ Shut off water while brushing your teeth, washing your hair, and shaving and save up to 500 gallons a month! ➢ Use a water-efficient showerhead. They are inexpensive, easy to install, and can save you up to 750 gallons a month. ➢ Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month! ➢ Water plants only when necessary. ➢ Fix leaky toilets and faucets. Faucet washers are inexpensive and take only a few minutes to replace. To check your toilet for a leak, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait. If it seeps into the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak. Fixing it or replacing it with a new, more efficient model can save up to 1,000 gallons a month. ➢ Adjust sprinklers so only your lawn is watered. Apply water only as fast as the soil can absorb it and during the cooler parts of the day to reduce evaporation. ➢ Teach your kids about water conservation to ensure a future generation that uses water wisely. Make it a family effort to reduce next month’s water bill! VISIT WWW.EPA.GOV/WATERSENSE FOR MORE INFORMATION. Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): 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. Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): 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. Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water. Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow. Variances and Exemptions: State or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions. Maximum Residual Disinfection Level Goal The level of a drinking water disinfection below which there is no known or expected risk to health. do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants. Maximum Residual Disinfection Level Goal The level of a drinking water disinfection below which there is no known or expected risk to health. do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants. Maximum Disinfectant Level (MRDL): The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants. MNR: Monitored Not Regulated MPL: State Assigned Maximum Permissible Level ug/L: Number of micrograms of substance in one liter of water. ppm: parts per million, or milligrams per liter (mg/L) ppb: parts per billion, or micrograms per liter (ug/L) pCi/L: picocuries per liter (a measure of radioactivity) NA: not applicable ND: Not detected NR: Monitoring not required, but recommended WATER CONSERVATION TIPS ▪ WATER QUALITY DATA To ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the number of contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The table on the following page lists all the drinking water contaminants that we detected during the calendar year of this report. Although many more contaminants were tested, only those substances listed below were found in your water. All sources of drinking water contain some naturally occurring contaminants. At low levels, these substances are generally not harmful in our drinking water. Removing all contaminants would be extremely expensive, and in most cases, would not provide increased protection of public health. A few naturally occurring minerals may improve the taste of drinking water and have nutritional value at low levels. Unless otherwise noted, the data presented in this Water Quality Data Table is from testing done in the calendar year of the report. The EPA or the State requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not vary significantly from year to year, or the system is not considered vulnerable to this type of contamination. As such, some of our data, though representative, may be more than one year old. In this table you will find terms and abbreviations that might not be familiar to you. To help you better understand these terms, we have provided the definitions below. ---PAGE BREAK--- Annual Drinking Water Quality Report • • • 3 Water Quality Data Table Contaminants Metals MCLG AL Your Water Sample Date # Samples Exceeding Exceeds AL Typical Source Copper—action level at consumer taps (ppm) 1.3 1.3 0.11 2020 0 No Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits; Leaching from wood preservatives Lead—action level at consumer taps (ppb) 0 15 3 2020 1 No Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits Contaminants MCLG or MCL, TT, or MRDL Your Water Your Water Range Low High Sample Date Violation Typical Source Disinfectant (There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants) Chlorine (as Cl2) (ppm) 4 4 0.4 0.4 0.4 2020 No Water additive used to control microbes Inorganic Contaminants Barium (ppm) 2 2 0.14 0.09 0.14 2020 No Discharge of drilling wastes; Discharge from metal refineries; Erosion of natural deposits Fluoride (ppm) 4 4.0 0.19 0.05 0.19 2020 No Erosion of natural deposits; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories Nitrate [measured as Nitrogen] (ppm) 10 10 4 0.19 3.98 2020 No Runoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits Radioactive Contaminants Gross alpha excluding radon and uranium (pCi/L) 0 15 2 0 6 2020 No Erosion of natural deposits Radium (combined 226/228) (pCi/L) 0 5 2.1 0 2.1 2020 No Erosion of natural deposits Uranium (ug/L) 0 30 1.9 1.8 1.9 2020 No Erosion of natural deposits ---PAGE BREAK--- Annual Drinking Water Quality Report • • • 4 Important Information About Your Drinking Water Monitoring and Reporting Requirements for Kalispell Public Works On April 22, 2020 Kalispell’s water system violated a drinking water standard. Even though this was not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what the City did to address and correct the violation. What Happened? While placing online a new source of water (well), staff inadvertently missed administering a routine sample within the required monitoring period for the new well. After being made aware of the violation, staff quickly administered the samples and achieved compliance to the drinking water rule. The table below lists the required test frequency, when the sample should have been taken, and when the sample was administered. We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not our drinking water meets health standards. We did not complete the once per quarter monitoring and reporting for combined radium, gross alpha, and organic compounds. Required testing frequency When samples should have been taken When samples were taken One sample per quarter 4/1/2020-6/30/2020 07/21/2020 Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail. What should you do? There is nothing you need to do. This violation was not attributed to unsatisfactory water quality. The violation was due to a City administration error and corrected immediately upon recognition of the violation. Staff members have adjusted their monitoring procedures to ensure errors of this nature are prevented in the future. For more information, please contact Joe Schrader from the information below. Joe Schrader Utility Management Superintendent 758-7989