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INTRODUCTION This Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for calendar year
2008 is designed to inform you about your drinking water quality. Our goal is
to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water, and we want
you to understand the efforts we make to protect your water supply. The quality
of your drinking water must meet state and federal requirements administered by
the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). If you have questions about this
report, please call 276-523-2968 and ask for Gary Hampton or Mark S.
Hollyfield. The Big Stone Gap Town Council meets at
7:30 PM on the second Tuesday of each month at 505 East 5th St.
South. GENERAL
INFORMATION Drinking water, including bottled
drinking 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. More
information can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency's
Safe Drinking Water Hotline (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). 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, 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:
(1) Microbial contaminants such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from
sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and
wildlife. (2) 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. (3)
Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as
agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses. (4) Organic
chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals,
which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can
also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems. (5)
Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of
oil and gas production and mining activities. In order to insure that tap water
is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain
contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug
Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water
which must provide the same protection for public health. SOURCE and TREATMENT OF YOUR DRINKING WATER
The
source of your drinking water is surface water from Big Cherry Reservoir
located in Wise County. The Virginia Department of Health and the Town of Big
Stone Gap conducted a source water assessment of our system during 2002. The Big Cherry Reservoir was determined to be
of high susceptibility to contamination using the criteria developed by the
state in its approved Source Water Assessment Program. The assessment report consists of maps
showing the source water assessment area, an inventory of known land use
activities of concern, and documentation of any known contamination with the
last 5 years. The report is available by
contacting Mark S. Hollyfield at the phone number given elsewhere in this
drinking water quality report. Treatment of the raw water consists
of coagulation, flocculation,
sedimentation, filtration, stabilization, fluoridation, and chlorination. These processes work together to remove the physical,
chemical, and biological contaminants to make the water safe for drinking. The
Town of Big Stone Gap welcomes tours at the water plant. Please call the water
plant at 276-523-2968 to arrange a tour. DEFINITIONS
The Town of Big Stone Gap routinely
monitors constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State
regulations. Many thousands of tests are
performed each year to insure the quality of your drinking water. The table on
the next page shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1st
to December 31st, 2008. In the table and elsewhere in this report you
will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. The following definitions are provided to
help you better understand these terms: Maximum
Contaminant Level, or MCL
- 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, 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. Non-detects
(ND) - lab analysis indicates that the contaminant is not present 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. Action
Level - the
concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other
requirements which a water system must follow. Treatment
Technique (TT) - a
required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking
water. Nephelometric
Turbidity Unit (NTU)
- nephelometric turbidity unit is a measure of the clarity, or cloudiness, of
water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average
person. Turbidity is monitored because
it is a good indicator of the effectiveness of our filtration system. Maximum
Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG) – the level of 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. Maximum
Residual Disinfectant Level (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. Regulated Contaminants WATER QUALITY RESULTS
Lead
and Copper Contaminants
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. The Town of Big Stone Gap Water Treatment
Plant 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 15 to 30 seconds or until it becomes cold or reaches a steady temperature
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 (800-426-4791) or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead. VIOLATION
INFORMATION The
Town of Big Stone Gap had no violations of maximum contaminant levels(MCL) or
treatment techniques(TT). MCL’s are set at very stringent levels by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In
developing the standards EPA assumes that the average adult drinks 2 liters of
water each day throughout a 70-year life span.
EPA generally sets MCLs at levels that will result in no adverse health
effects for some contaminants or a one-in-ten-thousand to one-in-a-million
chance of having the described health effect for other contaminants. The water quality results in this report are from
testing done in 2008. Some constituents
are analyzed multiple times each day at the water plant. For example, the water
plant staff analyzed the filter effluent turbidity almost 16,000 times in 2008.
Others, which do not vary or are not routinely detected are sampled annually.
The state allows us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year
because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Water from the Big Stone Gap water treatment
and distribution system is regularly analyzed for about one hundred different
water quality parameters to insure your safety. We check for organics,
inorganics, metals, radiological, pesticides, herbicides, and other
constituents. In this report, data is from samples collected in 2008 and we
have included only constituents which were detectable by laboratory analysis.
Some of our data, though accurate, is more than one year old.
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