Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

for

                   The Municipal Authority of the Borough of Derry

                                   Public Water System I.D. 5650049                                    

 05/07

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 are pleased to again provide you with our Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. We strive to continue to keep you informed about the high quality water we delivered to you over the past year. Our goal is and always has been, to provide you with a safe 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. Our filter plant is being improved and new filters are now in service. We are committed to ensuring a reliable water supply.

Our water sources are 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 Ethel Springs Reservoir, 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.

A Source Water Assessment of the Ethel Springs Reservoir, which supplies water to the Derry Borough Water Filtration Plant, was completed in 2003 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 (Keyword: “DEP 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.

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).

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: manager@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, 2006. 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.

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)    

Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter 

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.

	Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from 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 storm water 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 storm water runoff, and residential uses.
	Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial process and petroleum production and mining activities.
	Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.