VILLAGE OF BYRON 2005 

 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report 

 

            We're pleased to present to you this year's Annual Quality Water Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality water and services we deliver to you every day. Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable 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 quality of your water.

Our water source is provided by 2 ground wells at a depth of 168’.
In April of 2004 the DEQ did a source water assessment for the Village of Byron. It is broken down into 4 categories, 1 geology, 2 well construction, 3 chemistry and 4 source isolation.

With a score of 0-100, 100 being the worst scores are as follows:

1-0
2-45
3-30
4-25

The DEQ has considered Byron’s wells as “moderately high”.
Moderately high accounts for 18.3% of the 2416 communities evaluated in 2004    

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

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Michael Granger @ 810-266-6160. 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 Monday of every month @ 7:30 pm @ 146 S. Saginaw St. in downtown Byron. 

The Village of Byron 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, 2005.  As water travels over the land or underground, it can pick up substances or contaminants such as microbes, inorganic and organic chemicals, and radioactive substances.  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 this table you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions:

Non-Detects (ND) - laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent 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.  

Parts per trillion (ppt) or Nanograms per liter (nanograms/l) - one part per trillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000,000. 

Parts per quadrillion (ppq) or Picograms per liter (picograms/l) - one part per quadrillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000,000 years or one penny in $10,000,000,000,000. 

Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water. 

Millirems per year (mrem/yr) - measure of radiation absorbed by the body. 

Million Fibers per Liter (MFL) - million fibers per liter is a measure of the presence of asbestos fibers that are longer than 10 micrometers.

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. 

Variances & Exemptions (V&E) - State or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions.  

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

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

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

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal - (mandatory language) 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.

 

TEST RESULTS
Contaminant	Violation Y/N	Level Detected	Unit Measurement	MCLG	MCL	Likely Source of Contamination
Microbiological Contaminants
1. Total Coliform Bacteria	N	O	100ml	0	presence of coliform bacteria in 5% of monthly samples	Naturally present in the environment
2. Fecal coliform and             E.coli	N	O	100ml	0	a routine sample and repeat sample are total coliform positive, and one is also fecal coliform or E. coli positive	Human and animal fecal waste
3. Turbidity				n/a	TT	Soil runoff
Radioactive Contaminants
4. Beta/photon emitters	N/A		mrem/yr	0	4	Decay of natural and man-made deposits
5. Alpha emitters	N/A		pCi/1	0	15	Erosion of natural deposits
6. Combined radium	N		4.2	0	5	Erosion of natural deposits
Inorganic Contaminants
7. Antimony	N/A		ppb	6	6	Discharge from petroleum refineries; fire retardants; ceramics; electronics; solder
8. Arsenic	N	0.24	ppb	n/a	50	Erosion of natural deposits; runoff from orchards; runoff from glass and electronics production wastes
9. Asbestos	N/A		MFL	7	7	Decay of asbestos cement water mains; erosion of natural deposits
10. Barium	N		ppm	2	2	Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits
11. Beryllium	N/A		ppb	4	4	Discharge from metal refineries and coal-burning factories; discharge from electrical, aerospace, and defense industries
12. Cadmium	N/A		ppb	5	5	Corrosion of galvanized pipes; erosion of natural deposits; discharge from metal refineries; runoff from waste batteries and paints
13. Chromium	N	0	ppb	100	100	Discharge from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits
14. Copper	N	150	ppm	1.3	AL=1.3	Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives
15. Cyanide	N/A		ppb	200	200	Discharge from steel/metal factories; discharge from plastic and fertilizer factories
16. Fluoride	N	0.89	ppm	4	4	Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories
17. Lead	N	0	ppb	0	AL=15	Corrosion of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits
18. Mercury (inorganic)	N/A		ppb	2	2	Erosion of natural deposits; discharge from refineries and factories; runoff from landfills; runoff from cropland
19. Nitrate (as Nitrogen)	N		ppm	10	10	Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of natural deposits
20. Nitrite (as Nitrogen)	N		ppm	1	1	Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of natural deposits

          EPA is reviewing the drinking water standard for arsenic because of special concerns that it may not be stringent enough. Arsenic is a naturally occurring mineral known to cause cancer in humans at high concentrations.

The Village of Byron is in the process of installing a new Arsenic and Iron removal facility and will be in full operation by the fall of 2006. 

We constantly monitor for various constituents in the water supply to meet all regulatory requirements. In November of 2004 the routine bacteria sampling was received at the lab over 30 hours old. An N/D [no detect] was found after testing. This does not pose a threat to the quality of our water supply. 

All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contamination by substances that are naturally occurring or man made. These substances can be microbes, inorganic or organic chemicals and radioactive substances. All 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. 

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. 

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

Thank you for allowing us to continue providing your family with clean, quality 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. These improvements are sometimes reflected as rate structure adjustments. Thank you for understanding. 

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immune-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). 

Please call our office if you have questions.

We at the Byron Dept. of Public Works work around the clock to provide top quality water to every tap. 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.

 Michael Granger, DPW supervisor.