We are pleased to present to you this year’s Annual Drinking Water Quality Report.  This report is designed to inform you about the quality water we deliver to you every day.  Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water.

            Our wells draw water from the Kirkwood Aquifer, over 700 feet deep.  Our wells are located at the pumphouse near the corner of Seaview Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

            The Seaview Water Company is pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets federal and state requirements.  We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility.  If you have any questions about this report or the water utility, please contact Arthur Bunting at 609-641-0024.

            The Seaview Water Company routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws.  Please refer to the Table of Test Results for the monitoring period of January 1^st to December 31^st, 2004.  Web address is http://drink.to/seaview.

 

2004 Test Results

Contaminant

Violation Yes/No

Level Detected

Units of Measurement

MCLG

MCL

Likely Source of Contamination

Radioactive Contaminants             * Annual Testing not required

*Alpha emitters (tested 09-10-97)

No

0.00

pCi/l

0

15

Erosion of natural deposits

Inorganic Contaminants  (**Test Results from 2003 where indicated)

Barium **	No	<0.001	ppm	2	2	Discharge of drilling wastes, Discharge from metal refineries, erosion of natural deposits
Copper	No	0.722	ppm	1.3	AL=1.3	Corrosion of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits, leaching from wood preservatives
Fluoride **	No	0.20	ppm	4	4	Erosion of natural deposits, water additive which promotes strong teeth, discharge from fertilizers and aluminum factories
Lead	No	0.004	ppb	0	15	Corrosion of household plumbing fixtures, erosion of natural deposits
Mercury ** (inorganic)	No	0.001	ppb	0.002	0.002	Erosion of natural deposits, discharge from refineries and factories, runoff from landfill, runoff from crop land
Thallium**	No	<0.002	ppm	0	0.002	Leaching from a re-processing site, discharge from electronics, glass and drug factories

**Volatile Organic Contaminants :     ALL TEST RESULTS  -  NONE DETECTED**

Nitrate = None Detected

 

The Seaview Water system had no violations for the year of 2004.  The drinking water meets or exceeds all Federal and State requirements.  We have learned through our monitoring and testing that some constituents have been detected.  The EPA has determined that your water is safe at these levels.  Call the office if you have questions.

To date, the Bureau of Safe Drinking Water has not completed an assessment for our sources of drinking water.  Source Water Assessments will be completed for all sources of public drinking water by May 2005.

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 EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).  EPA’s web site is at http://www.epa.gov.

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).

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 service 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:

v      Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

v      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.

v      Pesticides or herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.

v      Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.

v      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.  Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) : The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.  MCL’s are set as close to the MCLG’s as feasible using the best available treatment technology.

MCL’s are set at very stringent levels.  To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink 2 liters of water every day at the MCL level for seventy years to have a one - in - 1 – million chance of having the described health effect.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) : The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health.  MCLG’s allow for a margin of safety.

Treatment Technique : 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.

Lead : Infants and young children are typically more vulnerable to lead in drinking water than the general population.  It is possible that lead levels at your home may be higher than at other homes in the community as a result of materials used in your home’s plumbing.  If you are concerned about elevated lead levels in your home’s water, you may wish to have your water tested and flush your tap for 30 second to 2 minutes before using your water.  Additional information is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

Nitrate - Nitrate in drinking water at levels above 10 ppm is a health risk for infants of less than six months of age.  High nitrate levels in drinking water can cause blue baby syndrome.  Nitrate levels may rise quickly for short periods of time because of rainfall or agricultural activity.  If you are caring for an infant, you should ask for advice from your health care provider.

Arsenic - EPA is reviewing the drinking water standard for arsenic because of special concerns that may not be stringent enough.  Arsenic is a naturally occurring mineral known to cause cancer in humans at high concentrations.

Some people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess of the MCL over many years may experience problems with the liver, kidneys, or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.

Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness of the water.  We monitor it because it is a good indicator of water quality.  High turbidity can hinder the effectiveness of disinfectants.

Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/l) - 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.

Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - picocuries per liter is a measure of radioactivity in water.

Recommended Upper Limit (RUL) - Recommended maximum concentration of secondary contaminants.  RUL’s are recommendations, not mandates.

Secondary Contaminant – Substances that do not have an impact on health.  They affect aesthetic qualities such as odor, taste or appearance.  Secondary standards are recommendations, not mandates.

The Safe Drinking Water Act regulations allow monitoring waivers to reduce or eliminate the monitoring requirements for asbestos, volatile organic chemicals, and synthetic organic chemicals.  Our system received monitoring waivers for all of the aforementioned contaminants.

 

Special Considerations Regarding Children, Pregnant Women, Nursing Mothers, and Others – Children may receive a slightly higher amount of a contaminant present in the water than do adults on a body weight basis, because they may drink a greater amount of water per pound of body weight than do adults.  For this reason, reproductive or developmental effects are used for calculating a drinking water standard if these occur at lower levels than other health effects of concern.  If there is insufficient toxicity information for a chemical (for example, lack of data on reproductive or developmental effects), an extra uncertainty factor may be incorporated into the calculation of the drinking water standard, thus making the standard more stringent, to account for additional uncertainties regarding these effects.  In the cases of lead and nitrate, effects on infants and children are the health endpoints upon which the standards are based.