Annual Water Quality Report

for

Calendar Year 2006

Is My Water Safe?  

Water quality is the most important part of our job.   Our employees conduct hundreds of tests on water samples each year.   We are proud to be able to say that last year your tap water met all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) drinking water health standards.   Our groundwater supplies are generally clean, so we don’t have to worry as much as many other communities about how to treat our water.   We are continually observant of past, present and future land uses in and around our area and we implement all reasonable measures to vigilantly safeguard your water quality.

This report is a snapshot of last year’s water quality.   It includes details about where your water comes from, what it contains and how it compares to the standards set by the regulatory agencies.   We are providing this information because informed customers are our best allies.   Please take a few minutes to look at the information. We think you will find a lot of reasons to feel good about the quality of your water, and about using it with confidence.

Where Does My Water Come From?

CHCID drinking water comes from two wells; well #5 is located on Power Road south of Riggs Rd. and well #6 is located on Riggs Rd. east of Valencia.   The wells are drilled in excess of 1000 feet.   The water table is about 300 feet below the surface and we are currently pumping from 560-600 feet.

The complete water system consists of the two source wells, 350,000 and 100,000 gallon water storage tanks, a pump station, a hydropneumatic pressure tank, a chlorination system, and the distribution system of pipes that brings the water to your home.   Chlorination is accomplished by using tablets that are dissolved to make a strong chlorine solution. Then a measured amount of the solution is added to the well water as the storage tanks are filled. The chlorine level in the water sent out to your home is maintained at 0.5-1.0 ppm.   The pressure in the system is maintained at a constant 60 psi.   The distribution system pipes are arranged in loops whenever possible.   A looped system ensures that the maximum volume of water is available in case of fire or emergency.  

Improvements During 2006

During 2006 our new chlorination system was certified for use by Maricopa County. This is a tablet based system that was installed during 2005. The new system ensures that water is chlorinated for a longer time before it gets to your home and reduces our use of hazardous chlorine gas cylinders.

Both storage tanks were emptied and inspected. The new coatings in the tanks required only minor touch up and the tanks were remarkably clean.

An Emergency Operations Plan was completed and approved by the County and State. If a major component of our system should fail our employees are being continually trained to keep the water in the system safe and restore service as quickly as possible.

Substances That Might be in Drinking Water

All drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain small amounts of some contaminants.   The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk.   To ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the United States Environmental Protection Agency prescribes regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems.   More information about contaminants in tap water and potential health effects can be obtained by called the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4719.

Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, usually come from septic systems, sewage treatment plants, agricultural livestock, and wildlife.

Inorganic contaminants, like salts and metals, can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.

Pesticides and herbicides can come from a variety of sources such as agricultural, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.

Organic chemical contaminants; including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.

Radioactive contaminants are usually naturally occurring or can be the results of oil and gas production and mining activities.

Nitrate in drinking water at levels above 10 ppm is a health risk for infants of less than six months of age.   High nitrate levels in drinking water can cause blue baby syndrome.   Nitrate levels may rise quickly for short periods of time because of rainfall or agricultural activity.   If you are caring for an infant you should ask for advice from your health care provider.

CHCID drinking water meets EPA’s standards for arsenic.   The EPA’s standard balances the current understanding of arsenic’s possible health effects against the costs of removing arsenic from drinking water.   EPA continues to research the health effects of low levels of arsenic, which is a mineral known to cause cancer in humans at high concentrations and is linked to other health effects such as skin damage and circulatory problems.

Infants and young children are typically more vulnerable to lead in drinking water than the general population.   It is possible that lead levels at your home may be higher than at other homes in the community, depending on how old your home is and the types of materials used in the plumbing of your home.   If you are concerned about elevated lead levels in your home’s water please contact CHCID and we will evaluate your home to see if testing should be done.   Flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using tap water is effective at removing lead contaminants from the water.  

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.   These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.   For more information about contaminants and potential health effects call the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4719.

Every year the EPA and ADEQ requires water providers to notify customers about the quality of the water we provide.   We look forward to this opportunity of informing you about our progress in improving the water we supply to you and how our water exceeds health and safety standards.

What Do We Test?

CHCID works to ensure water quality by performing numerous tests throughout the year.   The most common tests fall under the following categories:

Total Coliform Tests:   Sampling provides test levels of bacteria in the water to make sure it is not contaminated.   These tests are performed at specific places throughout the system each month.  

Chlorination:   Chlorine is added to our water supply as a disinfectant.   We test to make sure that there is both a safe amount of chlorine for customers and an adequate amount to remove bacteria that may enter the system.

Inorganic Chemicals:   Inorganic by definition means “not living” or “not containing the element of carbon.”   For water sampling however, it has become sort of a miscellaneous category.   Included in it are elements, such as arsenic and mercury; chemical compounds, such as nitrate and nitrite; and various other measurements used to determine drinking water quality, such as Total Dissolved Solids and hardness.

Most of these constituents are measured in parts per million or parts per billion; an indication of how exact we have to be when talking about water quality.   If you would like more information about CHCID’s water quality, or operations in general, please call us.

CHCID

P.O. Box 9038

Chandler Heights, AZ   85227

Office 480-988-2731

Fax 480-988-4015

Gerald Beeler, Operator

Nancy Lopez, Office Manager

www.chcid.org

Water Quality Data Table

The table below lists all the controlled drinking water contaminants that were detected during the calendar year of this report.   We routinely monitor for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws.   The State of Arizona requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants are not expected to vary significantly from year to year, or the system is not considered vulnerable to this type of contamination.   Some of our data is representative, but may be more than one year old.

In addition to the substances shown in the table above, the following substances were also tested for and found at such a low level that there are no useful numbers to report. Cadmium, mercury, selenium, antimony, beryllium, cyanide, nickel, thallium, 1,1-dichlorethelene, 1,1,1-trichlorethane, 1,1,2-trichlorethane, 1,2-dichlorethane, 1,2-dichlorpropane, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, cis-1,2-dichlorethane, ethylbenzene, (mono) chlorobenzene, 0-dichlorobenzene, para-dichlorobenzene, styrene, tetrachloroethylene, toluene, trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, xylenes, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, dichloromethane.

MCL: Maximum Contaminant Level: The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.

ppm: Parts per million or milligrams per liter (mg/l)

ppb: Parts per billion or micrograms per liter (ug/l)

VIOLATIONS:   Copper and lead testing is required every 3 years. It was due in 2006 and not performed. Make up tests will done in the summer of 2007.