2008
We are pleased to provide
you with this year's Annual Water Quality Report also known by the federal
acronym CCR (Consumer Confidence Report). We want to keep you informed about
the excellent water and services we have delivered to you over the past year.
Our goal is, and always has been, to provide to you a safe and dependable
supply of drinking water. The well that serves your area is located on
If you have any
questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact
Mike Galante, General Manager at (208) 772-3619. If you want to learn more,
please attend any of our regularly scheduled Board meetings that are held at
12:30 PM on the first and third Thursday each month at the District office:
North Kootenai
Water District monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to
Federal and State laws. The table below shows the results of our monitoring for
the period of January 1 to December 31, 2008. As water travels over the land or underground
it can pick up contaminants such as microbes, inorganic and organic chemicals,
and radioactive substances.
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.
In the following
table you will find some terms and abbreviations that you may not be familiar
with. To help you better understand these terms we provide the following
definitions:
Action Level - the concentration of a contaminant
that, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system
must follow.
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The “Maximum Allowed” 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 (MCLG) - The “Goal” 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.
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.
Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - picocuries
per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.
Variances & Exemptions (V&E) - State or EPA permission not to meet a
MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions.
|
Inorganic Contaminants
|
MCL |
MCLG |
Our Water |
|
Sample
Date |
Violation? |
Typical Source of
Contaminant |
|
Nitrate
|
10
ppm |
10
ppm |
ND |
NA |
12/22/08 |
No |
Runoff from fertilizer use, leaching from septic tanks, erosion of natural deposits
|
|
Bacteria |
MCL |
MCLG |
Our Water |
|
Sample
Date |
Violation? |
Typical Source of
Contaminant |
|
Total
Coliform |
Present
|
ND
|
ND
|
NA |
Monthly
|
No |
Naturally
Present in Environment |
Microbiological Contaminants
Total Coliform--Coliform are bacteria
that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that
other, potentially harmful, bacteria may be present.
Inorganic Contaminants
Nitrate—Infants
below the age of six months who drink water containing nitrate in excess of the
MCL could become seriously ill and, if untreated may die. Symptoms include
shortness of breath and blue-baby syndrome.
All sources of
water are subject to potential contamination by substances that are naturally
occurring or man made. These can be microbes, inorganic or organic chemicals
and radioactive substances. All 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 the 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 1-800-426-4791.
MCL’s 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.
Total Coliform: The Total Coliform
Rule requires water systems to meet a strict limit for coliform
bacteria. Coliform bacteria are usually harmless, but
their presence in water can be an indication of disease-causing bacteria. When coliform bacteria are found, special follow-up tests are
done to determine if harmful bacteria are present in the water supply. If this
limit is exceeded, the water supplier must notify the public by newspaper,
television or radio.
Nitrates: As a precaution we always notify physicians and health
care providers in this area if there is ever a higher than normal level of
nitrates in the water supply.
Lead: Lead in drinking water is rarely the sole cause of lead
poisoning, but, it can add to a person's total lead exposure. All potential
sources of lead in the household should be identified and removed, replaced or
reduced.
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/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 1-800-426-4791.
Our wells are
within the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer Wellhead Protection Area. This is a
geographical and geological area where strict regulations to protect ground
water (drinking water) are applied. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has granted the State of
Volatile Organics
(VOC’s) to 2013
Synthetic
Organics (SOC’s) to 2010
Inorganics (IOC’s) to 2010
Asbestos to 2011
Dioxin to 2008
Cyanide to 2011
North Kootenai
Water District works diligently to provide 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.
Call our office
at (208) 772-3619 if you have questions.
PLEASE DON’T
DUMP ANYTHING ON THE GROUND THAT YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO DRINK !