Winchester Utilities

2006 Water Quality Report

 

Is my drinking water safe?          

Yes, our treated water meets all of EPA’s health standards. We have conducted numerous tests for over 80 contaminants that could be in drinking water.  As you’ll see in the chart on the back, we detected only 11 of these contaminants.  We found all of these contaminants to be at safe levels.       

 

What is the source of my water?

Your water comes from the Elk River on Tim's Ford Lake located on State Highway 130, about 3 miles from Winchester. Our goal is to protect our water from contaminants and we are working with the State of Tennessee to determine the vulnerability of our water supply to contamination. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has prepared a Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) Report for the water supplies serving this water system. The SWAP Report assesses the susceptibilility of public water supplies to potential contamination. Water sources have been rated as reasonably susceptible (high), moderately susceptible (moderate), or slightly susceptible (low) based on geologic factors and human activities in the vicinity of the water source. The Winchester Water System sources are rated as reasonably susceptible to potential contamination.

 

An explanation of Tennessee’s Source Water Assessment Program, the Source Water Assessment summaries, susceptibility scorings, and the overall TDEC report to EPA can be viewed online at www.state.tn.us/environment/dws/dwassess.php or you may contact the Winchester Water System or TDEC toll free at (888) 891-8332 to obtain copies of specific assessments.

 

Why are there contaminants in my water?

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.  Community water systems are required to disclose the detection of contaminants; however, bottled water companies are not required to comply with this same regulation. 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 at (800) 426-4791.                              

 

Note in Spanish: Este informe contiene información muy importante.  Tradúscalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.

 

How can I get involved?

The Board of Public Utilities meets on the second Monday of each month at the Winchester Utilities main office building at 219 2nd Avenue N.W. in Winchester. Please feel free to participate in these meetings.

 

Is our water system meeting other rules that govern our operations?

The State and EPA require us to test and report on our water on a regular basis to ensure its safety. We have met all of these requirements.  We want you to know that we pay attention to all the rules.

 

Other Information:

Due to all water containing dissolved contaminants, occasionally your water may exhibit slight discoloration. We strive to maintain the standards to prevent this. We at the Winchester Water System 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.

 

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 under-gone 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 not only their drinking water, but food preparation, personal hygiene, and precautions in handling infants and pets 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 at (800) 426-4791.

 

For more information about your drinking water, please call V. Howard Walls at Winchester Utilities at (931) 967-1732. 



 

W  a  t  e  r     Q  u  a  l  i  t  y     D  a  t  a

 

What does this chart mean?

·                      Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL): 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. MCLG’s allow for a safe margin of safety.

·                      Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG): The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health.  MRDLG’s do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

·                      Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter: Explained as a relation to time and money as 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: Explained as a relation to time and money as one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.

·                      Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, when exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.

·                      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.

·                      Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

·                      Turbidity: Turbidity does not present any risk to your health. It is a measure of cloudiness of water, and is a good indicator that our filtration system is functioning properly.

·                      Non-Detects (ND): Laboratory analysis indicates that the contaminant is not present.

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, the data presented in this table is from sampling performed during the 2006 calendar year.

Contaminant

Violation

Yes/No

Level

Found

Range of Detections

Date of Sample

Unit

Measurement
MCLG
MCL

Likely Source of Contamination

Total Coliform Bacteria                                   

No

0

 

2006

 

0

presence of coliform bacteria in 5% of monthly samples

Naturally present in the environment

TOC1

(Total Organic Carbon)

No

TT

 

2006

 

n/a

TT

Naturally occurring in the environment

Turbidity2

No

.16 Avg.

.08-.56 Avg.

2006

NTU

n/a

TT

Soil runoff

Copper

No

90th%=

0.12

.0052-.26

2006

ppm

1.3

AL=1.3

Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives

Lead

No

90th%=

1.5

.0012-.05

2006

ppm

0

AL=15

Corrosion of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits

Chlorine

No

ND

 

2006

ppm

MRDLG

4

MRDL=4

Disinfectant to control microbes

Sodium

No

2.6

 

2006

ppm

N/A

N/A

Erosion of natural deposits; used in water treatment

THAA (Total Haloacetic Acids)

No

16   Avg.

14-40

2006

ppb

0

Annual Avg.

60

By-product of drinking water chlorination

TTHM (Total Trihalomethanes

No

26    Avg.

1-33

2006

ppb

0

80

By-product of drinking water chlorination

Chlorite

No

.419     Avg.

.257-.637

2006

ppm

.8

.8

By-product of chlorine dioxide use

Chlorine Dioxide

No

.370    Avg.

.130-.760

2006

ppb

.8

.8

Disinfectant to control microbes

During the most recent round of Lead and Copper testing, 0 out of 30 households sampled contained concentrations exceeding the action level for lead, 0 out of 30 households sampled contained concentrations exceeding the action level for copper.

Health Effects

1TOC the Winchester Water System met the treatment technique for TOC for 2006.

2One hundred percent (100%) of our samples were below the turbidity limit. The Winchester Water System met the treatment technique for turbidity during 2006.

                                                                      Your water is safe to drink.

The Winchester Water System is also working with all our customers to identify and install backflow prevention on all connections to our system that have potential hazards to our customers.

 

 

Important Information about Your Drinking Water Monitoring

Requirements not met for Winchester Utilities

 

Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this was not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did to correct this situation.

 

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. During the period of November 2005, December 2005 and February 2007, we did not complete all monitoring requirements for Individual Filter Turbidity and therefore cannot be sure of the quality of our drinking water during that time.

 

What should I do?

 

You do not need to boil your water or take other actions. We do not know of any contamination, and none of our testing during the months listed showed any disease-causing organisms in the drinking water.

 

What does this mean?

 

Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.

 

What happened? What is being done?

 

We are required to monitor and record turbidity from each filter every 15 minutes that the plant is in operation. During some days in November 2005, December 2005 and February 2007 one of our individual filter turbidity recorders was not fully operational and the required data was not recorded. We were taking readings on the water being pumped to the customers every two hours.

 

Steps We Are Taking

 

The Winchester Utilities Water System has purchased a computer to collect the required data from each filter along with having our personnel at the treatment plant keeping an hourly check to insure the recorders are operational.

 

For more information, please contact Howard Walls of the Winchester Utilities Water System at (931) 967-1732 or 219 Second Avenue North West, Winchester, Tennessee 37398.

 

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this 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.