2009

ANNUAL DRINKING WATER QUALITY REPORT
HARVEST-MONROVIA WATER, SEWER AND
FIRE PROTECTION AUTHORITY

The Authority is pleased to report to each customer that the DRINKING WATER IS SAFE!! This report is delivered to you each year to provide you information about the quality of water the Authority provides to the customers. This information is for testing conducted from January 1 to December 31, 2008. It is our goal to provide clean safe drinking water to each of you through out the year. Our staff strives each day to accomplish this goal.

The Authority has a new 2 million gallon a day Water Treatment Plant that has been operational since January of 2008. This is a state of the art Pall Membrane Treatment System. Water for this plant will be from one new well and an increased pumping capacity on the existing well. The Plant has been operating at 2 mgd since August of 2008.

Last summer was a better summer than the summer 2007. This area of Alabama was in a moderate drought for most of 2008. Although we have had some good rains the last part of 2008 we completed the year behind normal on rainfall. The area has started the year 2009 with below normal rainfall. The Authority asks each customer to conserve water each day. Hopefully with the rain we have had this year the Authority will have adequate water available for the coming year. Please remember drought conditions still exist, conserve water. Biggest conservation comes from limited outside watering, so start now and continue throughout the summer. With help from each customer maybe we can avoid restrictions this year.

The Authority is studying the possibility of building a 250,000,000 gallon reservoir on Burwell Road. This reservoir would be used to store water year round and provide much help in the summer to complement the wells we have in use. The property has been purchased and preliminary engineering completed on the project. With the economic conditions as they are now the Authority has had to delay the start of this project.

Our water source is groundwater drawn from 6 wells throughout the system. The Tuscumbia-Fort Payne Aquifer system supplies water to our six wells. Water from three of our wells is treated at the 10 mgd Water Plant. Water from the two other sites is treated at the new Membrane Plant and one is treated at the well site. The Authority has established a Source Water Protection Plan that has been approved by ADEM. Information on potential contaminant sources have been defined and are available at the office. The major sources of potential contamination are existing wells, agricultural run-off and septic tanks.

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 radioactive material and it can pick up substances from the presence of animal or human activity.

To ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulates established limits for contaminants in bottled water.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. People who are immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, HIV/AIDS positive 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 Crytosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline 1-800-426-4791.

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. Harvest-Monrovia Water, Sewer and Fire Protection Authority 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 second to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about 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 Authority routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to EPA and ADEM regulations. The following Table of Detected Contaminants shows the constituents tested and the detected contaminant results of our monitoring period from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents. It is important to remember that the presence of these constituents does not necessarily pose ahealth risk.

The Authority was not required to monitor for Radon in 2008. This monitoring is not required by State or federal Agencies. Based on a study by ADEM with EPA approval a statewide waiver for the monitoring of Asbestos and Dioxin was issued. Thus, monitoring for these contaminants is not required.

The Authority is pleased to present this information to you. We constantly strive to protect your drinking water and provide quality tap water for each of you. Thank you for allowing us to serve you. Remember we have to work together to provide clean water to our children in the future.

Download the full report here.