NORTH KOOTENAI WATER DISTRICT
DRINKING WATER QUALITY REPORT
2010
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 wells that serve your area draw water from the Rathdrum Prairie
Aquifer.
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 Mike Galante, District
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 of 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 any detection of contaminants over the past five
years. We are pleased to notify you that
our water has not exceeded any allowable detection levels. 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've provided 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 Federal
Environmental Protection Agency (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 |
|
Arsenic |
0.010 ppm |
0.010 ppm |
0.007 ppm* |
NA |
06/10 |
No |
Erosion
of natural deposits. |
|
Barium |
2.0 ppm |
2.0 ppm |
0.02 ppm |
NA |
06/10 |
No |
Erosion
of natural deposits. |
|
Lead and Copper |
MCL |
MCLG |
Our Water |
|
Sample Date |
Violation? |
Typical Source of Contaminant |
|
Copper |
1.3 |
1.3 |
.10 |
.01-.11 |
09/10 |
No |
Corrosion of household
plumbing. |
|
Disinfectant
|
MCL |
MCLG |
Our Water |
|
Sample Date |
Violation? |
Typical Source of Contaminant |
|
Sodium Hypochlorite |
4.0 |
4.0 |
0.36 |
.09-.82 |
2010 |
No |
Distribution disinfectant. |
*While your drinking water
meets EPA’s standard for arsenic, it does contain low levels of arsenic. 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.
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. North Kootenai Water District 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 drinking 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.
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. The Federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Center for Disease Control (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 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 2011
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.
PLEASE DON’T DUMP ANYTHING
ON THE GROUND THAT YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO DRINK!