Sinclair Water Authority 2023 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. PAGE 1 ====== 2023 Annual Consumer Confidence Report WATER QUALITY WSID #GA2370087 sinclairwaterauthority.com YOUR WATER MEETS ALL FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONS FOR WATER QUALITY 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, state and federal regulators, and protecting the environment. WHERE DOES MY WATER COME FROM? Your water comes from Lake Sinclair. We have a copy of the source water assessment plan, showing that the water is within acceptable limits and can be used as a source of public water supply. The Sinclair Water Authority plant is a 6 million gallon-per-day ultrafiltration membrane plant; filtration is preceded by a coagulation/sedimentation process. HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED? If you have any questions about this report or concerns regarding 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 at www.sinclairwaterauthority.com. Meetings are held at 5:00 PM, unless otherwise noted, at the Sinclair Water Authority Plant, 126 Cay Drive, Milledgeville, Georgia, 31061. YOUR WATER IS SAFE TO DRINK! High quality water is more than the dream of the conservationists, more than a political slogan; high quality water, in the right quantity at the right place at the right time, is essential to health, recreation, and economic growth. PAGE 2 ====== SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT AND ITS AVAILABILITY 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, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances from animals or human activity. Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of contaminates [sic]. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. More information is available from EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791. Contaminants that may be present in source water include: Microbial contaminants: Viruses and bacteria from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations involving livestock, and wild life. Inorganic contaminants: Salts and metals that occur naturally or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining and farming. Pesticides and herbicides: May come from agriculture, urban storm runoff and residential uses. Organic chemical contaminants: Synthetic and volatile organic chemicals that are industrial-process and petroleum by-products; other sources include gas stations, urban storm water runoff and septic tanks. Radioactive contaminants: Can occur naturally or result from oil and gas production and mining activities. To ensure tap water is safe to drink, EPA regulations limit certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulations set limits for bottled-water contaminants that must provide the same public-health protection. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING LEAD Elevated lead levels can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Most drinking-water lead comes from materials and components in service lines or home plumbing. We 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 it 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. PAGE 3 ====== CONTAMINANTS: WHY ARE THERE CONTAMINANTS IN MY DRINKING WATER? All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contamination by naturally occurring or man-made substances. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily mean that water poses a health risk. These substances can be microbes, inorganic or organic chemicals, and radioactive substances. All drinking water, including bottled water, may contain small amounts of some contaminants. More information about contaminants and potential health effects is available from the Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. Maximum Contaminant 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. Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations involving livestock, and wildlife. Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, may occur naturally or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming. Pesticides and herbicides may come from agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses. Organic chemical contaminants include synthetic and volatile organic chemicals. They may be industrial-process and petroleum by-products or come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems. Radioactive contaminants may occur naturally or result from oil and gas production and mining activities. As stated on page 2, EPA regulations limit certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug Administration regulations set bottled-water contaminant limits that must provide the same public-health protection. DESCRIPTION OF WATER TREATMENT PROCESS Your water is treated by filtration and disinfection. Filtration removes particles suspended in source water. These typically include clays and silts, natural organic matter, iron and manganese, and microorganisms. Disinfection adds chlorine or other disinfectants to kill bacteria and other microorganisms—viruses, cysts, etc.—that may be in the water. Disinfection is considered one of the major public-health advances of the 20th century. PAGE 4 ====== WATER QUALITY DATA — 2023 CHEMICAL ANALYSES Table 1 columns: Contaminant | MCL | MCLG | Results | Date | Violation | Contamination Fluoride (ppm) | 4 | 4 | 0.8 | 2023 | No | Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories. Antimony (ppb) | 6 | 6 | 0.36 | 2023 | No | Discharge from petroleum refineries; fire retardents; ceramics; electronics; solder; test addition. Barium (ppm) | 2 | 2 | 0.0238 | 2023 | No | Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits. Chromium (ppb) | 100 | 100 | 0.41 | 2023 | No | Discharge from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits. Nitrate, measured as Nitrogen (ppm) | 10 | 10 | 0.528 | 2023 | No | Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks sewage; erosion of natural deposits. Sodium (ug/l) | N/A | N/A | 7800 | 2023 | No | N/A Chlorine (ppm) | 4 | 4 | 1.32–2.52 | 2023 | No | Water additive used to control microbes. Total Coliform Bacteria | 0 positive monthly sample | 0 | 0 positive out of 12 samples | 2023 | No | Naturally present in the environment. Turbidity (NTU) | TT = 95% of sample results 0.10 NTU or less | 0 | Less than 0.1 | 2023 | No | Soil runoff. Total Organic Carbon (ppm) | TT | N/A | 1.12 | 2023 | 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 | 520 | 2023 | No | Water additive used to control microbes. Table 3 columns: Contaminant | MCL | MCLG | Average | Range | Date | Violation | Likely Source of Contamination Chlorite (ppm) | 1 | 0.8 | 0.34 | 0.00–0.880 | 2023 | No | By-Product of Drinking Water Chlorination. Table 4 columns: Contaminant | MCL | MCLG | Average | Range | Date | Violation | Likely Source of Contamination Trihalomethanes (ppm) | 80 | N/A | 39.275 (Locational Running Annual Average) | 23.3–48.3 (Individual sample site test results—2023) | 2023 | No | By-Product of Drinking Water Chlorination. Haloacetic Acids (ppm) | 60 | N/A | 44.25 (Locational Running Annual Average) | 15.5–28.80 (Individual sample site test results—2023) | 2023 | No | By-Product of Drinking Water Chlorination. Table 5 columns: Contaminant | MCL | MCLG | SWA Plant Results | Date | Violation | Likely Source of Contamination Combined Radium 226/228 (pCi/L) | 5 | 0 | 0.954 | 2023 | N [sic] | Erosion of natural deposits. PAGE 5 ====== EPA regulations limit contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The page 4 table lists all drinking-water contaminants detected during this report's calendar year. Although many more contaminants were tested, only the substances listed in the 2023 Chemical Analyses tables were found in your water. All drinking-water sources contain some naturally occurring contaminants. At low levels, these substances are generally not harmful. Removing all contaminants would be extremely expensive and, in most cases, would not increase public-health protection. A few naturally occurring minerals may improve drinking-water taste and have nutritional value at low levels. Unless otherwise noted, table data comes from testing in the report's calendar year. EPA or the State requires monitoring of some contaminants less than once per year because their concentrations do not vary significantly from year to year, or because the system is not considered vulnerable to that contamination. Some representative data may therefore be more than one year old. Definitions for unfamiliar table terms and abbreviations appear on page 7. As the page 4 tables show, the Sinclair Water Authority had no violations. In addition to state and federal monitoring, we continually monitor water during plant operations and run tests at least every three hours to ensure safe and reliable drinking water. 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. PAGE 6 ====== DO I NEED TO TAKE SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS? YOUR HEALTH IS OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY 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/Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance on lessening the risk of Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants is available from the Safe Water Drinking Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. HOTLINE — EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline: 1-800-426-4791. WATER CONSERVATION TIPS Did You Know? The average U.S. household uses approximately 400 gallons of water per day or 100 gallons per person per day? There are many low-cost and no-cost ways to conserve water. Small changes can make a big difference—try one today and soon it will become second nature. Take short showers. A 5-minute shower uses 4 to 5 gallons, compared with up to 50 gallons for a bath. Shut off water while brushing your teeth, washing your hair and shaving to save up to 500 gallons a month. Use a water-efficient showerhead. They are inexpensive, easy to install, and can save up to 750 gallons a month. Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month. Water plants only when necessary. Fix leaky toilets and faucets. Faucet washers are inexpensive and take only a few minutes to replace. To check a toilet for a leak, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait. If it seeps into the bowl without flushing, you have a leak. Repairing it or replacing it with a more efficient model can save up to 1,000 gallons a month. Adjust sprinklers so only your lawn is watered. Apply water only as fast as the soil can absorb it and during cooler parts of the day to reduce evaporation. Teach your kids about water conservation to ensure a future generation that uses water wisely. Make it a family effort to reduce next month's water bill. Need more ideas or information? Visit www.epa.gov/watersense. PAGE 7 ====== WATER QUALITY — UNDERSTANDING THE DATA UNIT DESCRIPTIONS Columns: Term | Definition ppm | Parts per million, or milligrams per liter (mg/L). ppb | Parts per billion, or micrograms per liter (μg/L). pCi/L | Picocuries per liter. NA | “ot applicable” [sic]. ND | Not detected. NR | Monitoring not required, but recommended. IMPORTANT DRINKING WATER DEFINITIONS Columns: Term | Definition MCLG | Maximum Contaminant Level Goal: The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected health risk. MCLGs allow a margin of safety. MCL | Maximum Contaminant Level: 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. TT | Treatment Technique: A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water. AL | Action Level: The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow. Variances and Exemptions | State or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions. MRDLG | Maximum residual disinfection level goal: 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 to control microbial contaminants. MRDL | Maximum residual disinfectant level: The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. Evidence shows that adding a disinfectant is needed to control microbial contaminants. MNR | Monitored Not Regulated. MPL | State Assigned Maximum Permissible Level. PLEASE CALL OUR OFFICE IF YOU HAVE ANY 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. PAGE 8 ====== CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT (CCR) Water utilities across the United States are required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide their customers with an annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). In 1996, Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) with a provision requiring all community water systems to deliver an annual water quality report to their customers. The report must contain information on the water system's source water, levels of detected contaminants, compliance with drinking-water rules, and other educational information. In 2023, the Sinclair Water Authority met ALL state and federal regulations for water quality. This annual report was prepared by ESG Operations, an Inframark Company, proudly serving the Sinclair Water Authority. www.esginc.net