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2006 Water Quality Report
Consumer Confidence Report
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Valley Center
Municipal Water District
2006 Water Quality
Report
Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua.
Tradúzcalo ó hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.
Valley
Center Municipal Water District is committed to supplying safe water that meets
or surpasses state and federal safety standards and achieves the highest
standards of customer satisfaction. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Department of
Health Services (DHS) prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain
contaminants in water provided by public water systems and require the publication and distribution of this report to
our customers and the community we serve.
We are pleased to report that the quality of water delivered by the Valley Center Municipal Water District meets or exceeds all state and federal standards. Your tap water is safe to drink.
This
report is a snapshot of the water quality of the Valley Center M.W.D.’s water deliveries in calendar year 2006.
Included are details about where the water comes from, what it contains, and
how it compares to the California State Department of Health Services
standards. If you are interested in more information about your water
supply or water supplier, please feel free to contact our administrative
offices at 760-749-1600, reach us on the world-wide web at “www.vcmwd.org” (which includes links to
Metropolitan and the San Diego County Water Authority) or attend one of our
Board meetings on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month,
at 2:00 p.m. Meetings are held at the District Offices,
For specific questions or information about water quality,
please contact our Field Operations Department and ask for Greg Hoyle or
Michael Bull.
Water Quality Information
Generally, the sources of drinking water (both tap 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 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 include:
C Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
C Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, that can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
C Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
C Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals that are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
C Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
Are there any precautions the public
should consider?
As previously stated, the water supplied by the Valley Center Municipal Water District meets State and Federal safety standards and is safe to drink. However, 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 water poses a health risk. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA and DHS prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the USEPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791) or by viewing the USEPA’s website at www.epa.gov/safewater.
DHS regulations also establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same protection for public health.
Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immunocompromised 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/Centers 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).
What is your water supplier doing to
keep the tap water safe?
Under the guidance of the DHS, the Valley Center Municipal Water District regularly conducts over 300 tests from 21 strategically positioned sample points to guarantee a safe level of disinfectant residual and the bacteriological safety of your water supply. We also monitor our supply for the levels of Trihalomethanes and Haloacetic Acids, which are disinfection byproducts and are suspected to be human carcinogens. Finally, the District administers an active and aggressive Backflow Prevention Program, which protects our water supply from the possibility of contamination coming from the customer’s side of the meter.
In addition to our water quality efforts, the Metropolitan Water District performs over 300,000 analyses each year to monitor over 115 contaminants and characteristics of its supplies, including tests for water clarity (Turbidity), organic chemicals (pesticides, PCB’s), volatile organic compounds, inorganic compounds, disinfection byproducts (DBP’s), disinfectant residuals and radionuclides. Metropolitan even monitors for contaminants that are not yet regulated (i.e., assigned a safety limit) to help EPA and DHS to determine where certain contaminants occur and whether the contaminants need to be regulated in the future.
Your Water Agency’s Source of Supply
For the Valley Center Municipal Water District, your retail water supplier, the sole source of water for our 25,000 customers is the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) through the aqueduct facilities owned and operated by the San Diego County Water Authority.
Metropolitan
imports water into Southern California from two sources: a 242-mile-long
aqueduct that brings Colorado River water from
In
December 2002, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California completed its
source water assessment of its
After
treatment at the Skinner Filtration Plant, the water goes into five aqueduct
pipelines and is delivered to the Valley Center Municipal Water District.
Once in the
2006 Water Quality Data - Valley Center
Municipal Water District
Our water quality information for 2006 is listed in the tables on this page. Contained in the table are the test results for clarity and microbiological safety. Also included are results for 14 volatile organic, organic, inorganic, and secondary standards (aesthetic). Finally, the table includes results for 10 contaminants, or “other parameters”, for which there are no current state or federal standards.
What do all the abbreviations mean?
A number of abbreviations are contained on the Water Quality table which are important to your understanding of the data, and those are:
Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL: The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. Primary MCLs are set as close to the PHGs (or MCLGs) as is economically and technologically feasible. Secondary MCLs are set to protect the odor, taste, and appearance of drinking water.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal or MCLG: The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs are set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Maximum Residual Disinfection Level or MRDL.
Maximum Residual Disinfection Level Goal or MRDLG.
Public Health Goal or PHG: The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. PHGs are set by the California Environmental Protection Agency.
Primary Drinking Water Standard or PDWS: MCLs for contaminants that affect health along with their monitoring and reporting requirements, and water treatment requirements.
Secondary Drinking Water Standards (SDWS): MCLs for contaminants that affect taste, odor, or appearance of the drinking water. Contaminants with SDWS do not affect the health at the MCL levels.
Regulatory Action Level (
Important!
2006 Water Quality Report
If appropriate, please post this report so that
others may review its contents. Additional copies may be obtained by
contacting the District at (760) 749-1600.
|
PARAMETER
(a) |
Units |
MCL (MRDL) |
PHG (MCLG) (MRDLG) |
|
Test Results Average |
Major Sources in
Drinking Water |
|
|
% |
NA |
NA |
–41 - 59 |
51 |
|
|
PRIMARY STANDARDS –
Mandatory Health Related Standards |
||||||
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CLARITY |
||||||
|
Combined Filter Effluent
Turbidity |
NTU % |
0.3 95(b) |
N/A |
Highest |
0.11 100% |
Soil runoff |
|
MICROBIOLOGICAL |
||||||
|
Heterotrophic Plate Count
(HPC) (i) |
CFU/mL |
TT |
N/A |
ND |
ND |
Naturally present in the
environment |
|
Total Coliform
Bacteria (c) |
% |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Naturally present in the
environment |
|
Fecal Coliform
and E. Coli (c) |
CFU/mL |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Human and animal fecal waste |
|
Cryptosporidium (n) |
Oocysts/
200L |
TT |
0 |
ND |
ND |
Human and animal fecal waste |
|
Giardia (n) |
Cysts/ 200L |
TT |
0 |
ND |
ND |
Human and animal fecal waste |
|
Total Culturable
Viruses (n) |
P or A/ 1000L |
TT |
0 |
A |
A |
Human and animal fecal waste |
|
VOLATILE ORGANIC
COMPOUNDS |
||||||
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Methyl-tert-butyl-Ether
(MTBE) (o) |
ppb |
13 |
13 |
ND |
ND |
Gasoline discharges from
watercraft engines |
|
DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS
(DBP’s), DISINFECTANT RESIDUALS AND DISINFECTION
BY-PRODUCTS PRECURSORS |
||||||
|
Total Trihalomethanes
(e) |
ppb |
80 |
N/A |
47.9 – 71.4 |
53.6 |
By-product of drinking water
chlorination |
|
Haloacetic Acid (d) |
ppb |
60 |
N/A |
11.3 – 34.2 |
29.5 |
By-product of drinking water
chlorination |
|
Total Chlorine Residual |
ppm |
4 |
4 |
1.4 - 2.8 |
2.4 |
Drinking water disinfectant added
for treatment |
|
DBP Precursor Control |
ppm |
TT |
N/A |
TT |
TT |
Various natural and man-made
sources |
|
UNREGULATED CHEMICALS
REQUIRING MONITORING |
||||||
|
Boron |
ppb |
N/A |
NL = 1000 |
100 - 160 |
140 |
Run-off/leaching from natural
deposits; industrial wastes |
|
Chromium VI (q) |
ppb |
NA |
NA |
0.04 – 0.12 |
0.08 |
Industrial waste discharge |
|
Perchlorate (j) |
ppb |
N/A |
6 |
ND |
ND |
Industrial waste discharge |
|
ORGANIC CHEMICALS
(PESTICIDES/PCBs) |
||||||
|
Acrylamide |
N/A |
TT |
0 |
TT |
TT |
Water treatment chemical
impurities |
|
INORGANIC CHEMICALS |
||||||
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Copper (f) Triannual (2004) (o) |
ppm |
|
0.17 |
90th Percentile |
0.370 |
Internal corrosion of
household plumbing, erosion of natural deposits |
|
Fluoride (naturally-occurring) |
ppm |
2 |
1 |
0.16 – 0.23 |
0.20 |
Erosion of natural deposits;
water additive for tooth health |
|
Lead (f) Triannual
(2004) |
ppb |
|
|
90th Percentile |
<0.005 |
Internal corrosion of household
plumbing; erosion of natural deposits |
|
Nitrate (as N) (k) |
ppm |
10 |
10 |
ND |
ND |
Runoff and leaching from
fertilizer use; sewage; natural erosion |
|
RADIOLOGICAL (m) |
||||||
|
Uranium |
pCi/L |
20 |
0.43 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
Erosion of natural deposits |
|
SECONDARY STANDARDS –
AESTHETIC STANDARDS |
||||||
|
Chloride |
ppm |
500 |
NA |
68 - 95 |
78 |
Runoff/leaching from natural
deposits; seawater influence |
|
Color |
Units |
15 |
NA |
1 - 2 |
2 |
Naturally occurring organic materials |
|
Corrosivity (g) (as Saturation Index) |
SI |
non-corro |
NA |
0.17 – 0.45 |
0.28 |
Elemental balance in water;
affected by temperature and other factors |
|
Odor Threshold (h) |
Units |
3 |
NA |
2 |
2 |
Naturally occurring organic
materials |
|
Specific Conductance |
uS/cm |
1600 |
NA |
650 - 880 |
748 |
Water; seawater influence |
|
Sulfate |
ppm |
500 |
NA |
118 - 184 |
154 |
Runoff/leaching from natural
deposits; industrial wastes |
|
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) |
ppm |
1000 |
NA |
351 - 518 |
438 |
Runoff/leaching from natural
deposits; seawater influence |
|
Turbidity (monthly) (b) |
NTU |
5 |
NA |
0.05 - 0.08 |
0.06 |
Soil runoff |
|
OTHER PARAMETERS |
||||||
|
Alkalinity |
ppm |
NA |
NA |
80 - 100 |
88 |
|
|
Calcium |
ppm |
NA |
NA |
40 - 55 |
47 |
|
|
Chlorate (r) |
ppb |
NA |
NL = 800 |
25 - 41 |
NA |
By |