Suburban East Salem Water District’s
Annual Drinking Water Quality Report For 2011
We are pleased to present this year's Annual Water Quality Report (Consumer Confidence Report) as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This report is designed to provide details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. This report is a snapshot of last year's water quality. We want to keep you informed about the excellent water and services we have delivered to you over the past year. Our goal is and always has been, to provide a safe and dependable supply of drinking water to approximately 13,500 people in the Four Corners area of Salem.

This report shows our water quality and what it means. It has been developed to conform with federal and state regulations that require each water utility to provide water quality information to their customers each year. We are mailing this report to all postal customers in the area. If you do not know if you receive our drinking water, please refer to the map to determine if you may be a customer of Suburban East Salem Water District. If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact the manager, Michael J. Kurtz at 503-364-1620 or seswd@wvi.com.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The table below lists all of the drinking water contaminants that we detected during the calendar year of this report. Although many more contaminants were tested, only those substances listed below were found in your water. All sources of drinking water contain some naturally occurring contaminants. At low levels, these substances are generally not harmful in our drinking water. Removing all contaminants would be extremely expensive, and in most cases, would not provide increased protection of public health. A few naturally occurring minerals may actually improve the taste of drinking water and have nutritional value at low levels. Unless otherwise noted, the data presented in this table is from testing done in the calendar year of the report. The EPA or the State requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not vary significantly from year to year, or the system is not considered vulnerable to this type of contamination. As such, some of our data, though representative, may be more than one year old. In this table you will find terms and abbreviations that might not be familiar to you. To help you better understand these terms, we have provided the definitions below the table.
2011 WATER QUALITY TESTING RESULTS
CONTAMINANT YEAR UNIT MCL MCLG DETECTED RANGE MAJOR SOURCES VIOLATION?
INORGANIC TESTED
      LEVEL [*1]      
Copper 2008 ppm AL=1.3 1.3 0.38 0-.52 Corrosion of household NO
              plumbing systems  
Lead 2008 ppb AL=15 0 2.3
0-23 Corrosion of household plumbing systems NO
                 
                 
Fluoride* 2010 ppm 4 4 .96 .69-1.16
Erosion of natural deposits; NO
*Tested by the City of Sal em         Water additive which  
              promotes strong teeth.  
Nitrate-Nitrite* 2010 ppm 10 10 0.11 .087-.14 Natural deposits and NO
*Tested by the City of Sal em         agricultural runoff.  
                 
                 
                 
MICROBIAL                
Turbidity* 2010 NTU TT n/a 0.09 0.07-0.92 Soil runoff NO
*Tested by the City of Sal em   * Samples me et standards    
Total Coliform 2010 no units 0 1 1 0-1 Naturally present in environment NO
DISINFECTION BYPRODUCTS

               
Total Trihalomethanes 2010 ppb 80 80 26 17-32 By-product of drinking water chlorination NO
Halocetic Acid HAA5 2010 ppb 60 60 26 1-39 Byproduct of drinking water chlorination NO
Chlorine Residual 2010 ppm 4 4 1 .8-1.2 Remaining chlorine from disenfection process NO
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
*1 Many more water quality tests were run, only the listed substances above were found in our water. The amounts found were all below the maximum contaminant level. As you can see by the table, our system had no violations.

KEY TO TABLE:

MCL = Maximum Contaminant Level
MCLG = Maximum Contaminant Level Goal
AL = Action Level
TT = Treatment Technique
ppm = parts per million
ppb = parts per billion
NTU = Nephelometic Turbidity Units
n/a = not applicable

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

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

Maximum Contaminant Level: The "Maximum Allowed" (MCL); is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal: The "Goal" (MCLG); is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health.

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 contaminants.

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDLG): The highest level of disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.



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 water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791). MCL's are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents we have provided the following example. A person would have to drink 2 liters of water every day at the maximum MCL level for a lifetime to have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect.

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. Suburban East Salem Water District 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 seconds to 2 minutes 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 www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Suburban East Salem Water District tested for lead and copper in 30 homes in 2008. According to EPA regulations, 90 percent of those homes needed to have lead and copper levels below the EPA Action Level. In fact, 100% of the homes tested by the District were below the EPA Action Level for copper & lead. The District has scheduled testing again for lead and copper in the period between June and July 2011.

Turbidity is a measurement of water clarity. High turbidity means there could be suspended soil and organic matter in the water. This can increase the risk of contamination by interfering with the drinking water treatment process. The results of the City's turbidity monitoring in treated water indicate that current levels are well within EPA's safe drinking water standards. One hundred percent of the City's samples were below required levels.

Coliforms are bacteria which are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially harmful, bacteria may be present. In 2010 a total of 183 bacteria samples were collected from the distribution system and one tested positive for Total Coliform, e-coliform or fecal coliform. The Department of Human Services, Drinking Water Section requires that repeat samples be taken immediately from the original site that tested positive as well as taps adjacent to that site. Repeat tests were all negative.

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/Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Water Drinking Hotline (800-426-4791) or at www.epa.gov/safewater.

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.

We at Suburban East Salem Water District 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. Regular public board meetings are held by your elected commissioners every 2nd Monday of the month at 9:00 am at the office at 3805 LaBranch Street SE. You are welcome and encouraged to attend and participate in important discussions affecting your drinking water.

Other important resources are:

Oregon Health Division
Drinking Water Program
(503) 731-4010
http://oregon.gov/DHS/ph/dwp/index.shtml

Environmental Protection Agency
Safe Drinking Water Hotline
1-800-426-4791
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/

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