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Home My WebLink AboutWater Quality Report 20162016 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report Georgetown Utility Systems Consumer Con dence Report OUR DRINKING WATER MEETS OR EXCEEDS ALL FEDERAL (EPA) DRINKING WATER REQUIREMENTS This report is a summary of the quality of the water we provide our customers. The analysis was made by using the data from the most recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required tests and is presented in the following pages. We hope this information helps you become more knowledgeable about what is in your drinking water. Should you have questions or need additional copies of this report, please call the Customer Care Center at (512) 930-3640. The report is also available on our website at www.gus.georgetown.org. WHERE DO WE GET OUR DRINKING WATER? Our water comes from both surface water and ground water sources. Surface water is primarily supplied by Lake Georgetown, and ground water is served by the Edwards Aquifer. Additionally, the City of Georgetown received water from the City of Round Rock during the month of August to test the system capabilities. Round Rock also utilizes surface water from Lake Georgetown, as well as ground water from the Edwards Aquifer. If you have any questions about this report or any other details about your water utility, please contact Customer Care at 512-930-3640. Georgetown Utility Systems 2016 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report 1 This information is provided to you by: Georgetown Utility Systems 300 Industrial Ave., Georgetown, Texas 78626, Tel. (512) 930-3640, Fax (512) 930-3534 SPECIAL POPULATION ADVISORY You may be more vulnerable than the general population to certain microbial contaminants, such as Cryptosporidium, in drinking water. Infants, some elderly or immunocompromised persons such as those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer; those who have undergone organ transplants; those who are undergoing treatment with steroids; and people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders can be particularly at risk from infections. You should seek advice about drinking water from your physician or health care provider. Additional guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITIES Learn more about your water utility on the City of Georgetown website www.gus.georgetown.org, Facebook page www.facebook.com/CityofGeorgetown, or by attending an Advisory Board or City Council meeting. See www.georgetown.org/councils-boards-agendas for more details. En Español Este informe incluye información importante sobre el agua potable. Si tiene preguntas ocomentarios sobre éste informe en español, favor de llamar al tel. (512) 930-3640 para hablar con una persona bilingüe en español. AQUAMESSENGER Call the Customer Care Center to see if AquaMessenger is available within your area. The program provides automatic email usage alerts when monthly usage exceeds a customer pre-set level. Sign up online at records.georgetown.org/Forms/Aqua- Alerts or call the Customer Care Center at (512) 930-3640. PROTECT YOUR DRINKING WATER device. These devices prevent the inadvertent introduction of hazardous materials into the drinking water system by preventing Utility Systems. Please visit the website at gus.georgetown.org for further information. The City of Georgetown has adopted a year round, three-day irrigation schedule as the standard watering schedule for automatic irrigation systems and hose-end sprinklers. City water customers follow the adopted irrigation schedule which is based on the last digit of your address number. Odd addresses may water Tuesday and/or Thursday and/or Saturday. Even addresses may water Wednesday and/or Friday and/or Sunday. Watering with a hand-held hose or bucket can be done on any additional usage. For a detailed description of water rates and tiers, please visit https://gus.georgetown.org/customercare/rates/. IRRIGATION SCHEDULE AND RATEINFORMATION 2 Georgetown Utility Systems 2016 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report 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. Georgetown Utility Systems is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing tap for 30 seconds to two minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your 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 at (800) 426-4791 or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead ALL DRINKING WATER MAY CONTAIN CONTAMINANTS The TCEQ completed an assessment of your source water and results indicate that some of your sources are susceptible to certain contaminants. The sampling requirements for your water system are based on this susceptibility and previous sample The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals, and in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. Contaminants that may be present in source water before treatment include: microbes, inorganic contaminants, pesticides, herbicides, radioactive contaminants, and organic chemical contaminants. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same protection for public health. Contaminants may be found in drinking water that may cause taste, color, or odor problems. These types of problems are not necessarily causes for health concerns. For more information on taste, odor, or color of drinking water, please contact the 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 water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants • Contaminants that may be present in source water before we treat it include: • Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife. • may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. • industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming. • residential use. • Radioactive contaminants, which are naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities. • Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial STATE WATER LOSS AUDIT In the water loss audit submitted to the Texas Water Development Board for the time period of January through December 2016, our system lost an estimated 12.20% of distributed water through main breaks, leaks, theft and other causes. If you have any questions about the water loss audit, please call Customer Care at 512-930-3640 Georgetown Utility Systems 2016 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report 3 MICROBIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS FOR 2016 Constituent MCL Highest % of positive samples Units Violation (Y or N)Typical Source of Contamination Total Coliform Presence in 5% or more of the Monthly Samples.2.4%Presence N Naturally present in the environment Fecal Coliform Routine repeat sample is coliform positive and one is fecal.0 positive out of 75 samples Presence N Human and animal fecal waste Constituent MCL Highest Measurement MCLG Units Violation Typical Source of Contamination Total Organic Carbon N/A 3.23 N/A PPM N Naturally present in the environment Turbidity (NTU)0.3 0.45 N/A PPM N INORGANIC CONTAMINANTS Constituent MCL MCLG Average Level Range of Detec-tion Sample Date Violation (Y or N)Typical Source of Contamination Barium (ppm)2 2 0.05 0.0404-0.0557 2016 N erosion of natural deposits Fluoride (ppm)4 4 0.37 0.19-0.74 2016 N Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories Nitrate (ppm)10 10 2.1 0.1-3.87 2016 N tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits Nickel (ppm).1 .1 0.0019 .0016 – .0027 2016 N Erosion of natural deposits Chromium (ppm).1 .1 Less than Detection Limit Less than Detection Limit 2016 N Discharge from steel and pulp mills; Erosion of natural deposits DEFINITIONS Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow. Action Level Goal (ALG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. ALGs allow for a margin of safety. Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest permissible level of a contaminant in drinking water. MCL’s are set as close to the MCLG’s as feasible using the best available treatment technology. Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected health risk. MCLG’s allow for a margin of safety. Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL): The highest level of disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants. Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG): The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water. ABBREVIATIONS MFL ppm - parts per million, or milligrams per liter (mg/l) NTU - Nephelometric Turbidity Units ppt - parts per trillion, or nanograms per liter N/A - not applicable ppq - parts per quadrillion, or picograms per liter ppb - parts per billion, or micrograms per liter (ug/l) pCi/L - picocuries per liter (a measure of radioactivity) ABOUT THE FOLLOWING PAGESThe pages that follow list all of the federally regulated or monitored contaminants which have been found in your drinking water. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires water systems to test up to 97 constituents. WATER QUALITY DATAThe table in this report lists all the drinking water contaminants we detected during tests conducted from the previous calendar year, unless otherwise noted. The state requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the representative of the water quality, is more than one year old. 4 Georgetown Utility Systems 2016 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report LEAD AND COPPER 2016 SAMPLING Contaminant Action Level (AL)90th Percentile Sites exceeding Action Level Violation Likely Source of Contaminant Copper 1.3 0.63 0 N Erosion of natural deposits; Leaching from wood preservatives; Corrosion of household plumbing systems Lead (ppm)0.015 0.0025 0 N Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits DISINFECTION AND DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS Constituent MCL MCLG Average of AllSampling Points Range of Detected Levels Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination Chloramines (ppm)4.0 4.0 2.83 .51 – 3.81 2016 Primary Disinfection for surface water Chlorine (ppm)4.0 4.0 2.86 .2 – 3.65 2016 Primary Disinfection for ground water HAA5 Haloacedic Acids (ppb)60 0 15.09 1.0 – 30.5 2016 By-product of drinking water chlorination THM Trihalomethanes (ppb)80 0 28.44 1.0 – 47.2 2016 By-product of drinking water chlorination UNREGULATED CONTAMINANT MONITORING RULE (UCMR3 RULE)* Substance (units)Year Sampled Average Range of Detection Typical Source Chlorate (ppb)2013 374 ND - 1400 Agricultural defoliant or desiccant; disinfection byproduct; and used in production of chlorine dioxide. Chromium (ppb)2016 ND ND Naturally occurring element; used in making steel and other alloys; used for chrome plating, dyes, and pigments, leather tanning, and wood preservation. Chromium (VI) (ppb)2015 ND ND Naturally occurring element; used in making steel and other alloys; used for chrome plating, dyes, and pigments, leather tanning, and wood preservation. Molybdenum (ppb)2013 0.19 ND – 2.2 Naturally-occurring element found in ores and present in plants, animals, and bacteria; commonly used form molybdenum trioxide used as a chemical reagent require Strontium (ppb)2013 393 120 – 980 Naturally-occurring element; historically, commercial use of strontium has been in the faceplate glass of cathode-ray tube televisions to block x-ray emissions. Vanadium (ppb)2013 2.2 1.4 – 3 Naturally-occurring elemental metal; used as vanadium pentoxide which is a chemical intermediate and a catalyst. SYNTHETIC ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS Constituent Average of All Sampling Points Range of Detected Levels Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination Atrazine (ppb)<0.1 <0.1 2016 UNREGULATED CONTAMINANTS Constituent Average of AllSampling Points Range of Detected Levels Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination Chloroform (ppb)13.45 0 – 23.5 2016 Unregulated contaminants monitoring helps EPA to determine where certain contaminants occur and whether it needs to regulate those contaminants Perchlorate is tested once every 5 years Bromoform (ppb)1.84 0 – 4.9 2016 Bromodichloromethane (ppb)9.17 0 – 18.0 2016 Dibromochloromethane (ppb) 2.89 1.0 - 8.8 2016 Perchlorate (ppb)0.00300 0.00197 – 0.00625 2012