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City of Melbourne’s 2007
Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
We are pleased to
report that your water is safe and your utility is in compliance with
all state and federal regulations. Please review our annual drinking
water quality report that includes the results of water quality testing
during the 2006 calendar year. This report will 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.
Melbourne continually
strives to improve our water treatment processes and protect our water
resources. Construction of Phase II of the John A. Buckley Surface Water
Treatment Plant expansion and improvement project is underway. This $15 million project will provide for ozonation,
which is an advanced system used for disinfections, as well as taste and
odor control. Ozonation will replace choramination as the primary means
of disinfections for the City’s drinking water system.
Melbourne’s Water
Sources
Our water supply is derived from two
independent sources, Lake Washington and the Floridan Aquifer.
Lake
Washington – Lake Washington is part of the
St. Johns River, the largest river in Florida. Lake Washington is
approximately four miles long, and mile wide, and 10 to 15 feet deep.
Lake Washington is one of the few surface water supplies used for
drinking water in Florida.
Floridan Aquifer – The Floridan
Aquifer is an extensive underground water source that covers some 82,000
square miles. Melbourne’s reverse osmosis water treatment plant is
supplied by three Floridan Aquifer system wells. The wells are
approximately 650 to 900 feet deep. Brackish water from the Floridan
Aquifer is treated with a reverse osmosis filtering process to remove
salts and impurities.
Water Blended --
The water from Lake Washington, which is treated through the Actiflo
process and then filtered, is blended with treated reverse osmosis
water. Chloramine booster stations in the water
distribution system ensure that adequate levels of disinfectant are
maintained throughout the system. Melbourne
now has a peak capacity of 26.5 MGD. On a typical day, demand for water
is about 15.5 MGD.
The City of Melbourne
has a diversified water-supply approach, using both groundwater and
surface water to make sure high-quality water is always available when
needed.
Source Water Assessments
The Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (FDEP) has performed a Source Water Assessment
on our system. This assessment was conducted to provide
information about any potential sources of contamination in the vicinity
of our wells and surface water intakes. Potential sources of
contamination identified include underground petroleum storage tanks,
dry cleaning facilities, and domestic wastewater sites. The
assessment results are available on the FDEP Source Water Assessment and
Protection website at
www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp
Water Quality Test Results
Our state-certified laboratory continuously
analyzes water quality throughout the treatment process to ensure
superior quality drinking water is delivered to our customers.. The
table contained in this report shows the results of our monitoring for
the period of January 1 to December 31, 2006, as well as what the
results mean. The state allows us to sample for some contaminants less
than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do
not change frequently. Because of this, some of the data, though
representative, is more than one year old.
Melbourne’s
Water Quality is Continuously Monitored
In Melbourne’s
state-certified water quality laboratory, professional technicians
perform tens of thousands of chemical and bacteriological tests on water
samples each year. The results of this rigorous testing continually
confirm that Melbourne’s water is safe to drink. We
are pleased to report that our drinking water meets all federal and
state requirements.
EPA Statements About Water Sources and
Contaminants
The sources of drinking water (both tap
water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds,
reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels over the surface of the
land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals
and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances
resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.
Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
(A)
Microbial contaminants,
such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment
plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
(B)
Inorganic contaminants,
such as salts and metals, which can
be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff,
industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production,
mining, or farming.
(C)
Pesticides and herbicides,
which may come from a variety
of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential
uses.
(D)
Organic chemical contaminants,
including synthetic and
volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial
processes, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff,
and septic systems.
(E)
Radioactive contaminants,
which can be naturally
occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining
activities.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe to
drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain
contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants
in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public
health.
Drinking water, including bottled water, may
reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some
contaminants. The presence of these 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.
Individuals May Be More Susceptible to
Contaminants
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 (1-800-426-4791).
Treated Water Quality Terms to Know
In the table below, you
will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with.
To help you better understand these terms, please refer to the following
definitions:
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL):
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):
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.
Action Level (AL): The concentration
of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other
requirements which a water system must follow.
Treatment Technique (TT):
A required
process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Maximum residual disinfectant level (MRDL):
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): 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.
Parts per million (ppm): One part
by weight of analyte to 1 million parts by weight of the water sample.
Parts per billion (ppb)
or micrograms per liter ( µg/L ):
One part by weight of analyte to 1 billion
parts by weight of the water sample.
Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU):
Measurement of the clarity, or turbidity, of water.
Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.
Picocuries per liter (pCi/L):. A
measure of the radioactivity in water.
N/A: Not applicable
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