Consumer Confidence Report Water Quality Report 2015

Every Drop is Beautiful Save Water. Nothing Can Replace It. The City of Arlington’s conservation program is part of a regional effort to help plan for future water supply needs and meet the requirements of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Texas Water Development Board. With a constant concern over water quantity, the City of Arlington is asking residents and businesses to comply with City ordinances and use water wisely. The City of Arlington appreciates your commitment to conserving water and we encourage you to save water and money by changing your water use habits today. For more water conservation tips, visit www. SaveArlingtonWater.com. Arlington Water Utilities 2015 City of Arlington Laboratory Services group For more information: Water Quality:...................................817-575-8984 Laboratory Services water sample requests, water quality questions or water quality problems. If you have questions concerning this brochure, ask for the laboratory. 2015 Water Quality Report Customer Services:.............................817-275-5931 Open new or transfer account, billing inquiries, water conservation, water and sewer rates. Emergency Water, and Sewer Services (24 hours):...................817-459-5900 Should I be worried about lead in my drinking water? Service interruptions, water leaks, sewer problems Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD):................................817-237-8585 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ):..................................512-239-1000 Lead seldom occurs naturally in water supplies like lakes and rivers, and lead is rarely present in water coming from the treatment plant. Lead enters drinking water primarily as a result of corrosion or wearing-away of materials containing lead in the water system or home plumbing, such as pipes and household plumbing. The City of Arlington does not have any lead service lines (pipes carrying water to your home). The most common source of lead in drinking water is solder used to join copper pipes or faucets made of brass or chrome-plated brass. Older homes (built before 1930) are more likely to have plumbing fixtures containing lead. There are several things that can be done to minimize possible exposure to lead in drinking water: 1. Flush your tap water, particularly when the faucet has gone unused for more than a few hours. Flushing for 1-2 minutes clears water standing in your service lines and ensures you are drawing fresh water from the main water line. 2. Use only cold water for cooking and drinking. Lead leaches more easily into hot water. 3. Make sure lead-free materials are used when building a new home. More information about lead is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800- 426-4791). To participate in decisions concerning water: Attend the Arlington City Council meetings, held on the 2 nd and 4 th Tuesday nights at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber located at City Hall, 101 West Abram Street. Meeting schedule is posted online at www.arlington-tx.gov/citycouncil/meeting-schedule/ To view City Council Agenda or to watch a City Council meeting webcast, please visit www.arlington-tx.gov/citycouncil/agendas/ Visit our website at: www.ArlingtonTX.gov/water/CCR Este informe incluye información importante sobre su agua potable, si necesita ayuda para entender esta información por favor llame al 817-575-8984. Ban bao cao nay bao gom nhung thong tin can biet ve nuoc uong. Moi chi tiet va thac mac xin lien lac 817-575-8984. Arlington’s Water treatment plants can produce 172.5 million gallons per day. Photography: City of Arlington Laboratory staff Published May 2016 Arlington A s you read through this report, you will notice that drinking water produced by Arlington Water Utilities Water Fact The Environmental Protection Agency meets or exceeds all Federal and State drinking water quality regulations. Substances found in Arlington Sampling stations are installed (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline 100 homes around the water are well below the maximum allowable levels. The information included in this report reflects the data at over city to monitor water D rinking water, including bottled water, may quality. collected from January 1 through December 31, 2015, unless noted otherwise. reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents. The presence of How is Arlington water treated? Is Arlington water safe to drink? these constituents does not necessarily indicate The water in Arlington is treated at two state of the art Absolutely. Our employees take great pride in that water poses a health risk. In order to ensure water treatment plants. Ozone is used as the primary producing and delivering to you, our customer, water that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes disinfectant. Aluminum sulfate and a cationic poly- that meets all Federal and State regulations. To ensure regulations that limit the amount of certain mer are added to help dirt and other your water is of the highest quality, Arlington Water substances in water provided by public water particles clump together and settle out Utilities Laboratory closely monitors the drinking systems. The treatment process removes these during treatment. The water is then fil- water at over 120 distribution Reservoirs substances from the raw water and provides Raw water Primary tered through granular activated carbon locations throughout pump station disinfection further protection prior to sending it to the (Ozone) Filters beds to remove smaller particles and the city. In 2015, the distribution system. More information about substances that are dissolved in the laboratory collected Pre-Ozonation contaminants and potential health effects can be water. The water is then chloraminated about 6,500 samples Mixing Coagulation Sedimentation Secondary obtained by calling the Environmental Protection disinfection (Chloramine) chamber basin basin (treated with chlorine and then ammo- and performed Agency’s (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline Clearwell storage nia) as it enters the clearwell for storage. about 13,500 tests at 800-426-4791 or visiting the EPA website at Chloramine is the secondary disinfectant that keeps monitoring 144 www.epa.gov/safewater. Distribution the water safe on its way to your faucet. analytes. Arlington Water Fact Health information for Special Populations You may be more vulnerable than the general population to certain microbial contaminants, such as Cryptosporidium, in drinking water. Infants, some elderly or immuno- compromised persons such as those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer; those who have undergone organ transplants; those who are undergoing treatment with steroids and people Water Conservation Efforts Water is a precious and finite resource. It is essential that water utilities audit their water supplies and implement strategies to minimize water losses in future years. Of the 19,456,325 gallons of water treated by the City of Arlington, Arlington an estimated 2,045,677 gallons of Water Fact The lab checks for proper water (10.5%) was lost due to a residuals around variety of reasons such as main disinfectant the city every day of the year line breaks, leaks, unauthorized consumption, etc. The City of Arlington’s water conservation specialists use state of the art technology to identify and locate suspected leaks throughout the city. Please report any suspected leaks to 817-459-6777. with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders can be particularly at risk from infections. You should seek advice about drinking water from your health care provider. Additional guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791). There are no lead service lines in Arlington Where does Arlington drinking water come from? Arlington purchases its water for treatment from the Tarrant Regional Water District. The water is taken from four reservoirs. Cedar Creek, Richland-Chambers and Lake Benbrook supply the John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant. Lake Arlington supplies the Pierce-Burch Water Treatment Plant. Cryptosporidium Monitoring Information: In 2015, Tarrant Regional Water tract and can cause an illness District monitored all raw water called cryptosporidiosis. sources for Cryptosporidium Cryptosporidiosis is typically and found none in the source an acute short-term infection waters servicing Arlington. but can become severe and non-resolving in children Cryptosporidium is a and immuno-compromised microscopic, disease-causing individuals. parasite, housed in a hard- shelled egg-shaped oocyst. Arlington uses coagulation, When ingested, the oocyst splits filtration, and Ozone (the open, releasing sporozoites. primary disinfectant) to These sporozoites invade the further protect against lining of the gastrointestinal Cryptosporidium.