2000 Water Quality Consumer Confidence Report

by Eastern Municipal Water District, Perris, California

 
The Water We Drink

The U.S. Congress has directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require public water systems to report annually on the quality of the drinking water they serve. Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) has been reporting this information to you for many years. The district supports the regulation and provides this consumer confidence report to all of its customers.

This report explains:

• EMWD’s drinking water sources and quality

• Regulations that protect our health

• Programs that protect the high quality of our supply sources

This brochure is a snapshot of the water quality we provided during 2000. We want you to have this information because informed customers make better decisions as regulations change. For more information about your water from EMWD, call Ken Marshall at (951) 928-3777 , ext. 6334, or Jeff Carter, ext. 6201.

Eastern Municipal Water District is committed to providing a reliable supply of high-quality drinking water. Drinking water supplied by EMWD meets high standards established by state and federal agencies. In 2000, some 56,000 tests were conducted in the EMWD lab. Highly trained microbiologists, chemists, and water analysts who work here stand behind EMWD’s claim to high-quality water.

Results of our monitoring are found in the table of this report.

Este reporte contiene información importante acerca de la calidad de su agua. Sí desea hablar con un representante en español acerca de este reporte, por favor llame al (951) 928-3777 , ext. 6278

The Source of Your Tap Water

IMPORTED SURFACE WATER

The Henry J. Mills Filtration Plant (Water solely from Northern California through the State Water Project): Serves Moreno Valley, Menifee, Perris, Sun City, Good Hope, Mead Valley, Lakeview, Nuevo, Juniper Flats, Homeland, Green Acres, Romoland, North Canyon Lake and Quail Valley.

Robert F. Skinner Filtration Plant (Generally 80% Colorado River and 20% Northern California): Serves Murrieta, Murrieta Hot Springs, and occasionally Menifee and southern Sun City. This source is available to supplement supply in the East Valley area.

Mills Filtration Plant and the Skinner Filtration Plant are owned and operated by The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

LOCAL GROUNDWATER

East Valley System: East Valley System: This system of 13 wells includes most of the San
Jacinto Valley, including much of Hemet and San Jacinto, Soboba Hot Springs, Valle Vista, and Diamond Valley.

Water from Northern California, previously stored in the San Jacinto Basin, was pumped from November 2000 to March 2001, blended with native groundwater and delivered to customers throughout Hemet, San
Jacinto, Menifee, Sun City and Winchester. The Winchester community typically receives a blend of water from the East Valley system. Menifee and Sun City typically receive their tap water from either the
Skinner or Mills plants, or a blend from both.

Golden Triangle Well (Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Jackson Ave): This water is blended with Skinner water and used in the Murrieta Hot Springs area.

Sunnymead Well (Corner of Heacock Street and Ironwood Avenue, blended with Mills water): served to a small area in Moreno Valley.

Perris 2 Well (Located south of Lake Perris on Evans Road, blended with Mills water): Served to Perris, Romoland, and Lakeview.

New Perry Well (Located within Perris city limits near Perris Boulevard and the Ramona Expressway, blended with Mills water): Service is limited to the immediate surrounding neighborhood.

New Follico Well (Located on Perris Boulevard, north of Orange Avenue, blended with Mills water): Water service goes to a limited area of Perris.

Important Health Information

Drinking water, including bottled water, may contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily mean that water poses a health risk.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the eneral population. Those particularly at risk from infections include people with immuno-compromised conditions, such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, people who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, as well as infants and the elderly.

These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. USEPA/Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

ARSENIC & CHROMIUM ARSENIC & CHROMIUM

Arsenic is a naturally occurring contaminant in groundwater. In high concentrations, it has been linked to skin discoloration and internal diseases. EMWD routinely tests for arsenic, finding it to be present in well water at levels of 2-8 micrograms per
liter (µg/L). USEPA is reviewing the existing Maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 50 µg/L, with the intent of lowering it to a point somewhere in a range of 3-20 µg/L.

Hexavalent chromium (Chrome6) is a naturally occurring form of chromium present in extremely small amounts in groundwater. Breathing chrome6 has been shown to be unhealthy. Many studies are currently underway to determine the effect of ingesting chrome6 in water and food. EMWD has tested for both total chromium and hexavalent chromium so as to be prepared to act when more is known.

MICROBIAL WATER QUALITY & PURIFICATION (DISINFECTION)

Coliform bacteria, as such, are not generally considered harmful. They are used,however, as indicators of potential problems because they are easily monitored and analyzed. It is not at all unusual for a system to have an occasional positive sample for total coliform bacteria. And it is difficult --if not impossible--to assure that a system will never get a positive sample.

The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for total coliform bacteria is based on a monthly percent (5%) of positive samples. The Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) is 0%. In 2000, the District’s monthly percent of positive total coliform test result ranged from 0.0% to 1.7%. In addition, one sample tested positive for E. coli in March 2000. On discovering the one positive sample, EMWD took immediate action: Crews located and isolated the source--a defective water sampling station. Follow-up sampling in the distribution system showed no contamination. The station was repaired, the line was flushed and the source of contamination was eliminated.

Cryptosporidium is a small organism found exclusively in surface water-not from wells. Metropolitan Water District monitors and treats all surface water and has found no Cryptosporidium in water delivered to EMWD.

Purification (disinfection) is typically accomplished using chlorine at wells prior to delivery to customers. A chlorine compound is used for surface water that is treated at Metropolitan Water District filtration plants. Alternative forms of purification are under investigation.

High turbidity, or the measure of the cloudiness of water, can hinder the effectiveness of disinfectants. All surface water sample levels were below the TT level of 0.5 NTU.

PUBLIC HEALTH GOALS

Public water systems serving more than 10,000 service connections must prepare a brief, written report in plain language by July 1, 2001 that gives information on the detection of any contaminants above the Public Health Goals (PHGs) published by the State Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). The report must also list the detection of any contaminant above the MCLGs set by USEPA for all other contaminants until such time as OEHHA has published PHGs for the other contaminants.

The intent of Public Health Goals is to provide estimates of levels of chemical contaminants in drinking water that would pose no significant risk to individuals, including the most sensitive sub-populations, consuming the water day in and day out, over an entire lifetime.

Generally, PHGs are set at lower levels than MCLs. USEPA and the CDHS establish MCLs at very conservative levels to provide protection to consumers against all but very low to negligible risk.

For more information on PHGs and to see this CCR, including the data table, see our web site: www.emwd.org.

Regular public meetings of the EMWD Board of Directors are generally held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays each month. A work session begins at 9:00 a.m. and the board meeting starts at 1:00 p.m.

If you wish to attend a meeting, please call the board secretary during normal work hours at (951) 928-3777 , ext. 4205, to be certain the meeting is being conducted on the normal date.

For more information:
Eastern Municipal Water District
2270 Trumble Road
PO Box 8300 Perris, CA 92572-8300
909-928-3777, ext. 6334 or 6201.
www.emwd.org

UNDERSTANDING THE DATA
Our water is tested in accordance with a water quality monitoring plan approved by the California Department of Health Services (CDHS). The results of tests performed in 2000 are presented in the accompanying table. Only those regulated contaminants that were detected in the water are listed in the table. Most importantly, EMWD’s water meets all standards established by CDHS and USEPA.