Sinclair Water Authority 2022 Annual Consumer Confidence Report
WSID GA2370087

Accessibility transcript
This plain-text companion follows the published report page by page. The PDF remains the filed visual report. For help interpreting a table or to request another format, call 706-485-8993.

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Sinclair Water Authority
2022 Annual Water Quality Report
WSID #GA2370087
www.sinclairwaterauthority.com

WATER QUALITY

YOUR WATER MEETS ALL FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONS FOR WATER QUALITY

The Sinclair Water Authority is pleased to present this year's Annual Water Quality Report.

This report details where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. Our goal is to always provide clean, safe, and reliable drinking water.

WHERE YOUR DRINKING WATER COMES FROM

Your water comes from Lake Sinclair, an approved public water source. Once withdrawn from the lake, your water makes its way to the Sinclair Water Authority and through our treatment process. Up to six million gallons of water per day undergoes coagulation, sedimentation, membrane ultrafiltration, and disinfection before being sent to our communities.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITIES

If you have any questions about this report or your water utility, please contact Clay Stuart 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. Meeting dates will be posted on our website at sinclairwaterauthority.com. Meetings are held at 5:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted, at the Sinclair Water Authority Plant, 126 Cay Drive, Milledgeville, Georgia. 31061.
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CONTAMINANTS THAT MAY BE PRESENT IN SOURCE WATER BEFORE WE TREAT AND PROTECT OUR WATER SUPPLY

The sources of drinking water, both tap and bottled, include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and can pick up substances from animals or human activity.

The following contaminants may be present before treatment:

Microbial Contaminants: Viruses and bacteria from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations involving livestock, and wildlife.

Pesticides and Herbicides: May come from agriculture, urban stormwater runoff and residential uses.
Inorganic Contaminants: Salts and metals that can occur naturally or result from urban storm runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming.

Organic Chemical Contaminants: Synthetic and volatile organic chemicals. Sources include industrial-process and petroleum by-products, gas stations, urban stormwater runoff and septic systems.

Radioactive Contaminants: Can occur naturally or result from oil and gas production and mining activities.

More information about contaminants and potential health effects is available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Non-Detects (N/D): Laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.
Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (tns/l) [sic]: 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): A measure of water clarity. 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 required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)—mandatory language: The “Maximum Allowed” is the highest level of a contaminant allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG)—mandatory language: The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected health risk. MCLGs allow a margin of safety.

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL)—mandatory language: The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. Evidence shows that adding a disinfectant is needed to control 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 health risk. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of disinfectant use.
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WATER QUALITY DATA — 2022 CHEMICAL ANALYSIS

Sinclair Water Authority routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The following table shows results for January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022.

As water travels over land or underground, it can pick up microbes, inorganic and organic chemicals, and radioactive substances. All drinking water, including bottled water, may contain small amounts of constituents. Their presence does not necessarily pose a health risk.

Table 1 columns: Contaminant | MCL | MCLG | SWA Plant Results | Date | Violation | Likely Source of Contamination

Fluoride (ppm) | 4 | 4 | 0.86 | 2022 | No | Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories.

Sodium (ug/l) | N/A | N/A | 8100 | 2022 | No | N/A
Chlorine (ppm) | 4 | 4 | 1.28–3.00 | 2022 | No | Water additive used to control microbes.

Total Coliform Bacteria | 0 positive monthly sample | 0 | 0 positive out of 12 samples | 2022 | No | Naturally present in the environment.

Turbidity (NTU) | TT = 95% of sample results 0.10 NTU or less | 0 | Less than 0.1 | 2022 | No | Soil runoff.

Total Organic Carbon (ppm) | TT | N/A | 1.05 | 2022 | No | Naturally present in the environment.

Table 2 columns: Contaminant | MRDL | MRDLG | SWA Plant Results | Date | Violation | Likely Source of Contamination

Chlorine Dioxide (ppb) | 800 | 800 | 470 | 2022 | No | Water additive used to control microbes.
Table 3 columns: Contaminant | MRDL | MRDLG | Average | SWA Plant Results | Date | Violation | Likely Source of Contamination

Chlorite (ppm) | 1.0 | 0.80 | 0.350 | 0.00–0.900 | 2022 | No | By-product of drinking water chlorination.

Table 4 columns: Contaminant | MRDL | MRDLG | Average | Range | Date | Violation | Likely Source of Contamination

Trihalomethanes (ppm) | 80 | N/A | 39.45 (Locational Running Annual Average) | 28.6–66.6 (Individual sample site test results—2022) | 2022 | No | By-product of drinking water chlorination.

Haloacetic Acids (ppm) | 60 | N/A | 43.62 (Locational Running Annual Average) | 26.0–60.60 (Individual sample site test results—2022) | 2022 | No | By-product of drinking water chlorination.
During this monitoring period, the Sinclair Water Authority had no violations. We achieve this by continuously monitoring according to state and federal regulations and completing additional water quality tests every three hours.

YOUR WATER IS SAFE TO DRINK!

CHEMICAL MONITORING WAIVER

On November 9, 2022, Georgia EPD issued Sinclair Water Authority a Chemical Monitoring Waiver Certificate for reduced monitoring of the following Synthetic Organic Chemicals:

Alachlor; aldicarb; Sulfone; Aldicarb Sulfoxide; Atrazine; Benzo (A) Pyrene; Carbofuran; Chlordane; Dalapon; Di (2-Ethylhexyl), Adipate; Dibromochloropropane (DBCP); Dinoseb; Diquat; Di (2-Ethylhexyl), Phthalate; Endothall; Endrin; Ethylene Dibromide (EDB);
Glyphosate; Heptachlor; Heptachlor Epoxide; Hexachlorobenzene; Hexachlorocyclopentadiene; Lindane; Methoxychlor; Oxymyl (Vydate); Pentachlorophenol; Picloram; Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs); Simazine; 2,4-D; Toxaphene; 2,4,5-TP (Silvex); and 2,3,7,8-TCDD (Dioxin).

The following Inorganic Chemicals were also included: Asbestos and Cyanide. Baseline monitoring demonstrates that the system's drinking water complies with the chemical monitoring standards of the Georgia Rules for Safe Drinking Water for asbestos, cyanide and all synthetic organic compounds (SOCs), including dioxin.

The chemical Waiver Period is from January 1, 2023 to midnight December 31, 2025.
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SPECIAL POPULATION ADVISORY

All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contamination by naturally occurring or manufactured substances. These can be microbes, inorganic or organic chemicals, and radioactive substances. All drinking water, including bottled water, may contain small amounts of contaminants. Their presence does not necessarily mean the water poses a health risk.

For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, call the Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

Maximum Contamination Levels (MCLs) are set at very stringent levels. They are set such that, out of every 10,000 or 1,000,000 people—depending on how the MCL was developed—drinking 2 liters of water every day for a lifetime, only 1 may experience the described health effect.
To ensure tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes limits on contaminants in water provided by public water systems> [sic] Food and Drug Administration regulations set limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same public-health protection.

If present, elevated lead levels can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing.

Sinclair Water Authority provides high quality drinking water but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. After water has sat for several hours, flush your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking to reduce potential lead exposure.
If concerned about lead, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead, testing methods, and exposure-reduction steps is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. This includes immuno-compromised people, such as those undergoing cancer chemotherapy, organ-transplant recipients, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune-system disorders, some elderly people, and infants.

These people can be particularly at risk from infections and should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidance on lessening the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.
24/7 SERVICE: We're here 24 hours a day, making certain your water is safe to drink.

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.

This annual report was prepared by ESG Operations, an Inframark Company and a utility operations and public works management company, proudly serving the Sinclair Water Authority. www.esginc.net