Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2007

Village & Town of Little Valley District 1

103 Rock City St., Little Valley, NY  14755

Public Water Supply ID#  NY0400343

Introduction

To comply with State and Federal regulations, the Village and Town of Little Valley, will be annually issuing a report describing the quality of your drinking water.  The purpose of this report is to raise your understanding of drinking water and awareness of the need to protect our drinking water sources.  Last year, your tap water met all State drinking water health standards.  We are proud to report that our system did not violate a maximum contaminant level or any other water quality standard.  This report provides an overview of last year’s water quality.  Included are details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to State standards. 

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your drinking water, please contact David Reynolds at (716) 938-9151. We want you to be informed about your drinking water. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled village board meetings.  The meetings are held the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 PM in the Municipal Building. 

WHERE DOES OUR WATER COME FROM?

In general, 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 activities. Contaminants that may be present in source water include: microbial contaminants; inorganic contaminants; pesticides and herbicides; organic chemical contaminants; and radioactive contaminants.  In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the State and the EPA prescribe regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems.  The State Health Department’s and the FDA’s regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.

Our water system serves 1500 people through 532 service connections. Our water source currently consists of two wells located on Tenth Street in the Village.  The wells are 90 feet deep and 190 feet.  Both wells draw from a local unnamed aquifer at approximately 90 feet below the surface and can produce 500 gallons per minute.  This water is treated by the addition of liquid chorine and sodium fluoride prior to distribution.

The NYS DOH has completed a source water assessment for our water system, based on available information.  Possible and actual threats to the drinking waters sources were evaluated.  The source water assessment includes a susceptibility ratings based on the risk posed by each potential source of contamination and how easily contaminants can move through the subsurface to the wells and springs.  The susceptibility rating is an estimate of the potential contamination of the source water. It does not mean that the water delivered to consumers is, or will become contaminated.  See section “ARE CONTAMINANTS IN OUR DRINKING WATER?” for a list of the contaminants that have been detected.  The source water assessments provide resource managers with additional information for protecting source waters into the future.

As was mentioned before, our water is derived from two wells.  The source water assessment has rated combined susceptibility to contamination for the wells as high from enteric viruses and medium high from enteric bacteria, halogenated solvents, herbicides/pesticides, metals, nitrates, other industrial organics, petroleum products, and protozoa.  The elevated ratings for the wells are due to the characteristics of the aquifer. No significant sources of contamination were identified for the wells.  Please note that our water is disinfected to ensure that the finished water delivered into your home meets New York State’s drinking water standards for microbial contamination.

A copy of this assessment, including a map of the assessment areas, can be obtained by contacting us, as noted above.

Are there contaminants in our drinking water?

As the State regulations require, we routinely test your drinking water for numerous contaminants. Within the past five years we have tested your drinking water for inorganic compounds, volatile organic compounds and nitrate. In addition, we test for coliform bacteria, semi-monthly, and chlorine, daily.  The table presented below depicts the contaminants that were detected in your drinking water during the period January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007, unless otherwise noted.  The State allows us to test for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Some of our data, though representative, are more than one year old.

It should be noted that all drinking water, including bottled water, may be reasonably 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 about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe Driving Water Hotline (800-426-4791), or the Cattaraugus County Health Department at (716-373-8050).

NOTES:

* - The level presented represents the 90^th percentile of the sites tested (10 sites in the Village and 5 sites in the Town). A percentile is a value on a scale of 100 that indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it.  The 90^th percentile is equal to or greater than 90% of the copper values detected at your water system.  The action level for copper was not exceeded at any of the sites tested.

** - The 90^th percentile level for lead was 2.6 ug/l (Village) and 1.8ug/l (Town).  None of the sites exceeded the action level of 15 ug/l.

Definitions:

Maximum Contaminant Level  (MCL): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.  MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (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.

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.

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 contamination.

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

Non-Detects (ND): Laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.

Milligrams per liter (mg/l): Corresponds to one part of liquid in one million parts of liquid (parts per million - ppm). 

Micrograms per liter (ug/l): Corresponds to one part of liquid in one billion parts of liquid (parts per billion - ppb).

NOTE:  MCL’s are set at very stringent levels.  To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink 2 liters of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect.

What does this information mean?

As you can see by the table, our system had no violations.  We have learned through our testing that some contaminants have been detected; however, these contaminants were detected below the level allowed by the State.

Do I Need to Take Special Precautions?

Although our drinking water met or exceeded state and federal regulations, some people may be more vulnerable to disease causing microorganisms or pathogens 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 from their health care provider about their drinking water.  EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium, Giardia and other microbial pathogens are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791). 

Is our water system meeting other rules that govern operations?

During 2007, our system was in compliance with applicable State drinking water operating, monitoring and reporting requirements.

Why Save Water and How to Avoid Wasting It?

Although our system has an adequate amount of water to meet present and future demands, there are a number of reasons why it is important to conserve water:

¨        Saving water saves energy and some of the costs associated with both of these necessities of life;

¨        Saving water reduces the cost of energy required to pump water and the need to construct costly new wells, pumping systems and water towers; and

¨        Saving water lessens the strain on the water system during a dry spell or drought and helps to avoid severe water use restrictions, so that essential fire fighting needs are met.

You can play a role in conserving water by becoming conscious of the amount of water your household is using, and by looking for ways to use less whenever you can.  It is not hard to conserve water.  Conservation tips include:

¨        Automatic dishwashers use 15 gallons for every cycle, regardless of how many dishes are loaded.  So get a run for your money and load it to capacity.

¨        Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.

¨        Check every faucet in your home for leaks.  Just a slow drip can waste 15 to 20 gallons a day.  Fix it up and you can save almost 6,000 gallons per year.

¨        Check your toilets for leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank. Watch for a few minutes to see if the color shows up in the bowl.  It is not uncommon to lose up to 100 gallons a day from one of these otherwise invisible toilet leaks.  Fix it and you save more than 30,000 gallons a year.

¨        Use your water meter to detect hidden leaks.  Simply turn off all taps and water using appliances.  Then check the meter after 15 minutes.  If it moved, you have a leak.

Closing

Thank you for allowing us to continue to provide your family with quality drinking water this year. In order to maintain a safe and dependable water supply we sometimes need to make improvements that will benefit all of our customers. The costs of these improvements may be reflected in the rate structure. Rate adjustments may be necessary in order to address these improvements.  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.  Please call our office if you have questions.