City of Monticello

2009 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

We're pleased to present to you this year's Annual Water Quality Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality water and services we deliver to you every day. Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. We want you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources. We are committed to ensuring the quality of your water. Our water source is ground water from three wells. The wells draw from the Floridan Aquifer. Because of the excellent quality of our water, the only treatment required is chlorine for disinfection purposes.

In 2009 the Department of Environmental Protection performed a Source Water Assessment on our system. The assessment was conducted to provide information about any potential sources of contamination in the vicinity of our wells. There are 16 potential sources of contamination identified for this system with moderate susceptibility levels. The assessment results are available on the FDEP Source Water Assessment and Protection Program website at www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp or they can be obtained from Steve Wingate at 850-294-8329.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Steve Wingate at 850-294-8329. We encourage our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings. They are held on the first Tuesday of every month at the City Hall at 7 pm.

The City of Monticello routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws, rules, and regulations. Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based on the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2009. Data obtained before January 1, 2009, and presented in this report are from the most recent testing done in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations.

In the table below, you may find unfamiliar terms and abbreviations. To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions:

Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL: 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 or MCLG: 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.

Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system must follow.

Initial Distribution System Evaluation (IDSE): An important part of the Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts Rule (DBPR). The IDSE is a one-time study conducted by water systems to identify distribution system locations with high concentrations of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). Water systems will use results from the IDSE, in conjunction with their Stage 1 DBPR compliance monitoring data, to select compliance monitoring locations for the Stage 2 DBPR.

Maximum residual disinfectant level or MRDL: The highest level of a 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 or MRDLG: The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

“ND” means not detected and indicates that the substance was not found by laboratory analysis.

Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (µg/l): one part by weight of analyte to 1 billion parts by weight of the water sample.

Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/l): one part by weight of analyte to 1 million parts by weight of the water sample.

Picocurie per liter (pCi/L): measure of the radioactivity in water.

2009 CONTAMINANTS TABLE

Contaminant and Unit of Measurement	Dates of sampling (mo./yr.)	MCL Violation Y/N	Level Detected	Range of Results	MCLG	MCL	Likely Source of Contamination
Radiological Contaminants
Alpha emitters (pCi/L)	Jun 08	N	1.2	ND-1.2	0	15	Erosion of natural deposits
Radium 226 + 228 or combined radium (pCi/L)	Jun 08	N	1.4	0.9-1.4	0	5	Erosion of natural deposits
Inorganic Contaminants
Barium (ppm)	Jun 08	N	0.01	0.007-0.01	2	2	Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits
Cadmium (ppb)	Jun 08	N	0.1	ND-0.1	5	5	Corrosion of galvanized pipes; erosion of natural deposits; discharge from metal refineries; runoff from waste batteries and paints
Chromium (ppb)	Jun 08	N	0.4	ND-0.4	100	100	Discharge from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits
Fluoride (ppm)	Jun 08	N	0.092	0.089-0.092	4	4.0	Erosion of natural deposits; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories. Water additive which promotes strong teeth when at optimum levels between 0.7 and 1.3 ppm
Lead (point of entry) (ppb)	Jun 08	N	0.7	0.3-0.7	N/A	15	Residue from man-made pollution such as auto emissions and paint; lead pipe, casing, and solder
Nickel (ppb)	Jun 08	N	1.1	0.9-1.1	N/A	100	Pollution from mining and refining operations. Natural occurrence in soil
Nitrate (as Nitrogen) (ppm)	Mar 09	N	0.41	ND-0.41	10	10	Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of natural deposits
Sodium (ppm)	Jun 08	N	3.7	3.1-3.7	N/A	160	Salt water intrusion, leaching from soil
Volatile Organic Contaminants
Xylenes (ppm)	Jun 08	N	0.0023	ND-0.0023	10	10	Discharge from petroleum factories; discharge from chemical factories

Disinfectant or Contaminant and Unit of Measurement

Dates of sampling (mo./yr.)

MCL or MRDL Violation Y/N

Level Detected

Range of Results

MCLG or MRDLG

MCL or MRDL

Likely Source of Contamination

Stage 1 Disinfectants and Disinfection By-Products

Chlorine (ppm)

Jan- Dec 09

N

0.55

0.46-0.6

MRDLG = 4

MRDL = 4.0

Water additive used to control microbes

Haloacetic Acids (five) (HAA5) (ppb)

Sep 08

N

0.71

0.39-1.31

N/A

MCL = 60

By-product of drinking water disinfection

TTHM [Total trihalomethanes] (ppb)

Sep 08

N

9.75

4.57-18.4

N/A

MCL = 80

By-product of drinking water disinfection

Contaminant and Unit of Measurement

Dates of sampling (mo./yr.)

AL ExceededY/N

90th Percentile Result

No. of sampling sites exceeding the AL

MCLG

AL (Action Level)

Likely Source of Contamination

Lead and Copper (Tap Water)

Copper (tap water) (ppm)

Jun-Sep 07

N

0.25

0 of 20

1.3

1.3

Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives

Lead (tap water) (ppb)

Jun-Sep 07

N

5.6

0 of 20

0

15

Corrosion of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits

The City of Monticello constantly monitors for various contaminants in the water supply to meet all regulatory requirements. Our system incurred a monitoring and reporting violation by failing to take annual samples for various volatile organic contaminants in 2009. The samples missed were dichloromethane at wells 1, 2, and 4, xylene, toluene and ethylbenzene at well 4 and xylene at well 2. Because the samples were not taken the health effects are unknown for that period of time but will be taken in 2010. The most recent annual monitoring was conducted in 2008 and the data showed no detection for these contaminants except for xylene. We have reviewed and updated our sampling procedure to insure this does not happen again.

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. City of Monticello 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 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.

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 include:

(A) Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

(B) Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which 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.

(D) Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.

(E) Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations, which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

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.

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 (800-426-4791).

“We at City of Monticello work around the clock to provide top quality water to every tap,” said Steve Wingate. 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.