NCCWD explains the quality and testing of our water

Pacifica Tribune/Local Views/Cari Lemke, North Coast County Water District General Manager/week of 3/16/16. "Water quality and safety."  Print copy only, page A6, continued on B8.

"The Flint, Michigan water crisis has understandably made people concerned about their own town's water safety.  As the general manager for North Coast County Water District, I would like to convey to the public that the lead contamination seen in Flint is a tragedy, and something we strive to prevent ever happening in Pacifica. Water quality and safety has been and remains our number one priority since 1944.  

Okay I'm drinking this stuff.

So much better for you than soda.

Hey, you've got a water leak!

....  The North Coast County Water District complies with very strict regulations of water safety, following state and federal standards, including EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and State Water Resources Control Board - Division of Drinking Water (formerly California Department of Public Health) guidelines. Our certified laboratory, equipment and logs are inspected annually. The State-mandated Consumer Confidence Report is generated each July and mailed to every customer and property owner in Pacifica. Within this report, lead and copper testing results are disclosed. A regulation which was established by the EPA in 1991, the Lead and Copper Rule, requires agencies to monitor drinking water at customer taps. The rule states, if lead concentrations exceed an action level of 15 ppb (parts per billion) or copper concentrations exceed an action level of 1.3 ppm (1300 ppb) in more that 10% of of customer taps sampled, the system must undertake a number of additional actions to control corrosion.

To meet the terms of the EPA's Lead and Copper Rule, the District must collect 30 samples from the State Water Resources Control Board - Division of Drinking Water pre-approved list of test sites within Pacifica. These sample sites include residences throughout Pacifica. Using the 90th percentile reading formulated by the 30 samples, the most recent lead results were 2.9 ppb, well below the EPA standard 15 ppb. Copper test results taken at the same time were 78 ppb, also well below the 1300 ppb standard.

Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. There are no known lead service lines in our water distribution system.We are responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in home plumbing components. If yo are concerned about lead levels in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Additional information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the US EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline 800-426-4791, (or visit the reference US EPA Basic Information link below)."

Reference. North Coast County Water District.  Facebook.  US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), "Basic information about lead in drinking water."

Related. US EPA/Learn the issues, "Clean Water Rule. Clear Protection for Clean Water." "Streams and wetlands matter:  Streams and wetlands form the foundation of our nation’s water resources. Clean water upstream means cleaner water flowing into rivers, lakes, bays, and coastal waters. What the Rule does: The rule ensures that waters protected under the Clean Water Act are more precisely defined, more predictably determined, and easier for businesses and industry to understand. What the Rule does not do: The rule does not protect any new types of waters, regulate most ditches, apply to groundwater, create any new permitting requirements for agriculture, or address land use or private property rights." 

Note photographs.  Boy from Healthy Child Advocacy/Megan Boyle/8/20/15.  Filling water pitcher facepage image to Wisconsin Watch/Silke Schmidt and Dee J. Hall, 2/1/16, "Lead pipes, antiquated law threaten Wisconsin's drinking water quality." Cat drinking water image from Buzz Hunt/UK/

Posted by Kathy Meeh