Quality
Water Report
Utilities
Board of the Town of Stevenson
January – December 2004
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 ground
water, and it is drawn from the Knox Aquifer.
Well
#1 is located on County Road 282 and Well #2 is located on County Road 85. We
have a source water protection plan available from our office that provides more
information such as potential sources of contamination.
I'm
pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets federal and state
requirements. If you have any
questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact
Tommy
Bryant, Jr, (256) 437-0277. We 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. They are held
on the last
Thursday of every month at 5:00 PM at the Stevenson Utilities office building,
42274 US Highway 72, Stevenson, Alabama. Board members are John Ridley,
Chairman; Tommy Steele, Commissioner; and Tommy Timberlake, Commissioner.
The Utilities Board of the Town of Stevenson routinely
monitors for contaminants 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, 2004.
All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be
reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.
It's important to remember that the presence of these contaminants does
not necessarily pose 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 1-800-426-4791.
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:
Non-Detects
(ND) -
laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.
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.
Parts
per trillion (ppt) or Nanograms per liter (nanograms/l)
- one part per trillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000 years, or a
single penny in $10,000,000,000.
Parts
per quadrillion (ppq) or Picograms per liter (picograms/l)
- one part per quadrillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000,000 years or
one penny in $10,000,000,000,000.
Picocuries
per liter (pCi/L)
- picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.
Millirems
per year (mrem/yr)
- measure of radiation absorbed by the body.
Million
Fibers per Liter (MFL)
- million fibers per liter is a measure of the presence of asbestos fibers that
are longer than 10 micrometers.
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.
Variances
& Exemptions (V&E)
- State or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under
certain conditions.
Action
Level - the
concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other
requirements which a water system must follow.
Treatment
Technique (TT)
- (mandatory language) A treatment technique is a required process intended to
reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Maximum
Contaminant Level
- (mandatory language) The “Maximum Allowed” (MCL) is the highest level of a
contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.
MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available
treatment technology.
Maximum
Contaminant Level Goal
- (mandatory language) The “Goal”(MCLG) is 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.
|
Detected
Primary Contaminants |
||||||||
|
Contaminant |
Violation Y/N |
Level
Detected |
Unit Measurement |
MCLG |
MCL |
Likely
Source of Contamination |
||
|
Microbiological
Contaminants |
||||||||
|
Turbidity |
N |
.35
.01 |
N/A |
n/a |
TT |
Soil
runoff |
||
|
Radioactive
Contaminants |
||||||||
|
Alpha
emitters |
N |
2.3 |
pCi/1 |
0 |
15 |
Erosion
of natural deposits |
||
|
Radium
228 |
N |
0.0+/- .07 |
pCi/1 |
0 |
5 |
Erosion
of natural deposits |
||
|
Inorganic
Contaminants |
||||||||
|
Antimony |
N |
.0060 |
ppb |
6 |
6 |
Discharge
from petroleum refineries; fire retardants; ceramics; electronics; solder |
||
|
Arsenic |
N |
.0020 |
ppb |
n/a |
50 |
Erosion
of natural deposits; runoff from orchards; runoff from glass and
electronics production wastes |
||
|
Barium |
N |
.0350 |
ppm |
2 |
2 |
Discharge
of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural
deposits |
||
|
Beryllium |
N |
.0020 |
ppb |
4 |
4 |
Discharge
from metal refineries and coal-burning factories; discharge from
electrical, aerospace, and defense industries |
||
|
Cadmium |
N |
.0030 |
ppb |
5 |
5 |
Corrosion
of galvanized pipes; erosion of natural deposits; discharge from metal
refineries; runoff from waste batteries and paints |
||
|
Chromium |
N |
.0100 |
ppb |
100 |
100 |
Discharge
from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits |
||
|
Copper |
N |
.0040 |
ppm |
1.3 |
AL=1.3 |
Corrosion
of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from
wood preservatives |
||
|
Cyanide |
N |
.010 |
ppb |
200 |
200 |
Discharge
from steel/metal factories; discharge from plastic and fertilizer
factories |
||
|
Fluoride |
N |
.100 |
ppm |
4 |
4 |
Erosion
of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge
from fertilizer and aluminum factories |
||
|
Lead |
N |
.0030 |
ppb |
0 |
AL=15 |
Corrosion
of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits |
||
|
Mercury
(inorganic) |
N |
.00020 |
ppb |
2 |
2 |
Erosion
of natural deposits; discharge from refineries and factories; runoff from
landfills; runoff from cropland |
||
|
Nitrate
(as Nitrogen) |
N |
1.00 |
ppm |
10 |
10 |
Runoff
from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of
natural deposits |
||
|
Nitrite
(as Nitrogen) |
N |
1.00 |
ppm |
1 |
1 |
Runoff
from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of
natural deposits |
||
|
Selenium |
N |
.0020 |
ppb |
50 |
50 |
Discharge
from petroleum and metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits;
discharge from mines |
||
|
Thallium |
N |
.0020 |
ppb |
0.5 |
2 |
Leaching
from ore-processing sites; discharge from electronics, glass, and drug
factories |
||
|
Synthetic
Organic Contaminants including Pesticides and Herbicides |
||||||||
|
Alachlor |
N |
1.0 |
ppb |
0 |
2 |
Runoff
from herbicide used on row crops |
||
|
Atrazine |
N |
1.0 |
ppb |
3 |
3 |
Runoff
from herbicide used on row crops |
||
|
Benzo(a)pyrene
(PAH) |
N |
0.
20 |
nanograms/l |
0 |
200 |
Leaching
from linings of water storage tanks and distribution lines |
||
|
Carbofuran |
N |
0.90 |
ppb |
40 |
40 |
Leaching
of soil fumigant used on rice and alfalfa |
||
|
Chlordane |
N |
0.100 |
ppb |
0 |
2 |
Residue
of banned termiticide |
||
|
Dalapon |
N |
10.0 |
ppb |
200 |
200 |
Runoff
from herbicide used on rights of way |
||
|
Di(2-ethylhexyl)
adipate |
N |
2.0 |
ppb |
400 |
400 |
Discharge
from chemical factories |
||
|
Di(2-ethylhexyl)
phthalate |
N |
2.0 |
ppb |
0 |
6 |
Discharge
from rubber and chemical factories |
||
|
Dibromochloropropane |
N |
.02 |
nanograms/1 |
0 |
200 |
Runoff/leaching
from soil fumigant used on soybeans, cotton, pineapples, and orchards |
||
|
Dinoseb |
N |
0.500 |
ppb |
7 |
7 |
Runoff
from herbicide used on soybeans and vegetables |
||
|
Diquat |
N |
.40 |
ppb |
20 |
20 |
Runoff
from herbicide use |
||
|
Dioxin
[2,3,7,8-TCDD] |
N |
1.0 |
picograms/l |
0 |
30 |
Emissions
from waste incineration and other combustion; discharge from chemical
factories |
||
|
Endothall |
N |
.10 |
ppb |
100 |
100 |
Runoff
from herbicide use |
||
|
Endrin |
N |
.02 |
ppb |
2 |
2 |
Residue
of banned insecticide |
||
|
Epichlorohydrin |
N/A |
N/A |
|
0 |
TT |
Discharge
from industrial chemical factories; an impurity of some water treatment
chemicals |
||
|
Ethylene
dibromide |
N |
.02 |
nanograms/1 |
0 |
50 |
Discharge
from petroleum refineries |
||
|
Glyphosate |
N |
6.0 |
ppb |
700 |
700 |
Runoff
from herbicide use |
||
|
Heptachlor |
N |
.01 |
nanograms/1 |
0 |
400 |
Residue
of banned termiticide |
||
|
Heptachlor
epoxide |
N |
.02 |
nanograms/1 |
0 |
200 |
Breakdown
of heptachlor |
||
|
Hexachlorobenzene |
N |
0.05 |
ppb |
0 |
1 |
Discharge
from metal refineries and agricultural chemical factories |
||
|
Hexachlorocyclo-
pentadiene |
N |
0.05 |
ppb |
50 |
50 |
Discharge
from chemical factories |
||
|
Lindane |
N |
|||||||