Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

for

The Municipal Authority of the Borough of Derry

Public Water System I.D. 5650049

Este informe contiene informacion muy importante sobre su agua de beber. Traduzcalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien. (This report contains very important information about your drinking water. Translate it, or speak to someone who understands it.)

We’re very pleased to provide you with this year’s Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. We want to continue to keep you informed about the excellent water service we have delivered you over the past year. Our goal is and always has been, to provide you with a dependable and abundant 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 high quality of your water.

Our water sources are Ethel Springs Reservoir and the McGee Run Dams. These are surface water sources located on Chestnut Ridge where we collect water from rainfall and snowmelt.  Water flows by gravity from McGee Run Dams to Ethel Springs Reservoir, saving substantial energy costs.  Our back-up source of water is a well on Chestnut Ridge, which draws water from the Mauch Chunk/Burgoon Aquifer. Well water, when used, is piped to the McGee Run Dams then to Ethel Springs Reservoir.  When the water is drawn from our lake, treatment steps are initiated to purify the supply of finished water.  These steps are aeration, chlorination, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration.  In addition, we adjust the pH of the water leaving the plant.  Finally, additional chlorine is added to ensure a sufficient residual concentration is available in the distribution system to protect the potable water from potential biological contaminants as it is pumped to your home, school or business.  The levels of the activities used in our treatment process are monitored daily to insure that proper dosages are being added.  This is done according to strict regulatory procedures.

            We have a source water assessment report available at our office that provides more detailed information such as potential sources of contamination.  A summary of our water system’s susceptibility to potential sources of contamination is as follows:

A Source Water Assessment of the Ethel Springs Reservoir, which supplies water to the Derry Borough Water Filtration Plant, was completed by Spotts, Stevens and McCoy Inc. for the PA Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP).  The Assessment has found that the Ethel Springs Reservoir is potentially most susceptible to accidental spills along roads and storm runoff.  Overall, the Ethel Springs Reservoir has little risk of significant contamination.  Summary reports of the Assessment are available by writing to Richard Thomas, 620 N. Chestnut Street, Derry, PA. 15627 and will be available on the PA DEP website at www.dep.state.pa.us (directLINK "source water").  Complete reports were distributed to municipalities, water supplier, local planning agencies and PA DEP offices.  Copies of the complete report are available for review at the PA DEP Greensburg Regional Office, Records Management Unit at 724-925-5400.

I'm pleased to report that our drinking water meets federal and state requirements.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Richard K. Thomas, Manager at (724-694-2305) daily from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Your may also e-mail us at: questions@derrywater.com. We want 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 second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 P.M. at the Authority office complex located at 620 North Chestnut Street, Derry, PA  15627

The Municipal Authority of the Borough of Derry routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1^st to December 31^st, 2003. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents.  It's important to remember that the presence of these constituents does not necessarily pose a health risk.

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).

In the following table you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand these terms we have provided the following definitions:

Non-Detects (ND) - laboratory analysis indicates that the contaminant is not present at a detectable level. 

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.

Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) - nephelometric turbidity unit is a measure of the clarity of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.

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

Treatment Technique (TT) - A treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)- The “Maximum Allowed” (MCL) is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.  MCL’s are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - The “Goal”(MCLG) 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.

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) –The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water.  There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant in 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.  MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contamination.

Footnotes:

(a)   (a)   Only one sample required.

(b) The lowest monthly percentage of samples meeting the turbidity limits of .05 as specified in 141.73.

(c) All samples collected were below the action level

(d) 90^th percentile is below the action level. 20 samples were taken and 2 were above the action level

As you can see by the preceding table, our system had no violations.  We have learned through monitoring and testing that some constituents have been detected.

Infants and young children are typically more vulnerable to lead in drinking water than the general population. It is possible that lead levels at your home may be higher than at other homes in the community as a result of materials used in your home’s plumbing. If you are concerned about elevated lead levels in your home’s water, you may wish to have your water tested and flush your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using tap water. Additional information is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contaminants that are naturally occurring or man made.  Those contaminants can be microbes, organic or inorganic chemicals, or radioactive materials.  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.

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 materials, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

-Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come form sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

-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.

-Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.

-Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts or industrial process and petroleum production and mining activities.

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

Lead:  Lead in drinking water is rarely the sole cause of lead poisoning, but it can add to a person's total lead exposure. All potential sources of lead in the household should be identified and removed, replaced or reduced

In our continuing efforts to maintain a dependable water supply it may be necessary to make improvements in your water system. The costs of these improvements are sometimes reflected in the rate structure. Rate adjustments may be necessary in order to address these improvements.

Everyone at The Derry Municipal Authority has been working hard to provide top quality water to every tap. The Authority has received a certificate of commendation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for over a decade for meeting all Maximum Contaminant Levels, monitoring and treatment procedures required under the Safe Drinking Water Program. In addition, the Authority is a member of the Partnership for Safe Water.   We ask that all our customers help us protect and conserve our water sources and preserve our public access areas around Ethel Lake, which are the heart of our community, our way of life and our children’s future.

                                                                                                      Richard K. Thomas

                                                                                                                    Manager