2008
Water Quality Report

Sinclair Water Authority
126 Cay Drive
Milledgeville, Ga. 31061

The Sinclair Water Authority is pleased to present to you this year's Annual Water Quality Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality of the water delivered to you daily from our facility. Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. Sinclair Water Authority is committed to ensuring the quality of your water, meeting or exceeding the expectations of our customers and state and federal regulators and to protecting the environment.

Your water comes from Lake Sinclair. We have a copy of the source water assessment plan that was done on the water from Lake Sinclair showing that the water is within acceptable limits and can be used as a source of public water supply for the Sinclair Water Authority.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Joseph Witcher at 706-485-8993. 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. The meetings are held the third Monday of each month at 5:00 PM at the Sinclair Water Authority water treatment plant.

The following is a list of contaminants that may be present in source water before it is treated.

Microbial Contaminants such as viruses and bacteria which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations and wildlife.
Pesticides and Herbicides which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff and residential uses.
Inorganic Contaminants such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming.
Organic Chemical Contaminants including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff and septic systems
Radioactive Contaminants which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

Sinclair Water Authority routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The following table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of September 10th to December 31st 2008. 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 the following 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(N/D) - laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.
Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (tns/1) - 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.
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.
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 (MCL) - (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 (MCLG) - (mandatory language) The 'Goar(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.
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) - (mandatory language) 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) - (mandatory language) 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.

CONTAMINANT
MCL
MCLG
SWA Plant
Results
Date
VIOLATION
LIKELY SOURCE OF
CONTAMINATION
Fluoride(ppm) 4 4 1 2008 No Erosion of Natural
deposits;Water additive which
promotes strong teeth;
Discharge from fertilizer
and aluminum factories
Sodium(ug/l) N/A N/A 16000 2008 No Erosion of Natural Deposits
Trihalomethanes(ppm) 0.08 N/A 0.0573 2008 No By-product of drinking
water chlorination
Haloacetic Acids(ppm) 0.06 N/A 0.0432 2008 No By-product of drinking
Chlorine(ppm) 4 4 0.90-2.11 2008 No Water additive used
to control microbes
Total Coliform Bacteria 1 positive
monthly sample		 0 0 2008 No Naturally present in the
environment
Turbidity(NTU) TT=95% of
sample results
0.30 NTU or less		 0 Less than
0.1		 2008 No Soil Runoff
Total Organic Carbon(ppm) TT N/A 1.6-1.9 2008 No Naturally present in the
environment
Nitrate(ppm) 10 10 0 2008 No Runoff from fertilizer
use

As you can see by the above chart, the Sinclair Water Authority had no violations. Not only do we monitor our water according to state and federal regulations, we also run our own water quality monitoring on a continual basis during plant operations and run tests at least every three hours to ensure that we are producing safe and reliable drinking water.

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. The MCL's are set such that out of every 10,000 or 1,000,000 people (depends upon how the MCL was developed) drinking 2 liters of water every day for a lifetime, only 1 of those people may experience the described health effect.
In order to ensure the tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems> The Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.
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. Sinclair Water 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 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 or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

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).

Please call our office if you have questions. The staff at Sinclair Water Authority 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.



Sinclair Water Is An Equal Opportunity Employer and Service Provider