Annual Drinking Water Quality

ReportSpring 2015

Cool, clear water tastes so good! It’s

important to know that

it’s clean and safe, too.

Take a look inside to see how we take care of your

water!

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 possible 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.

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 contamination.

NTU: Nephelometric Turbidity Unit: Turbidity is a measurement of water clarity. Materials that cause turbidity include clay, silt, bacteria and viruses.

TT: Treatment Technique: A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

GLOSSARY OF TERMSFOR TEST RESULTS

What can you do to prevent drinking water contamination? Do you have an irrigation or fire sprinkler system? Be sure to test your backflow

assembly annually.

A backflow prevention assembly protects our drinking water supplies from contamination due to backflow, which can draw soil, pet waste, fertilizers and pesticides into the public drinking water supply.

Your backflow assembly is your primary defense that protects you from a potential contamination incident that could affect the health of your family and neighbors. Annual testing can help determine if the assembly is still functioning properly. If a backflow assembly fails a test, it could be due to broken or malfunctioning parts.

For more information, call Chic Nessly, the District’s Cross Connection Control Specialist, at (425) 295-3213, or email him at chic.nessly@spwsd.org.

“This water tastes great! Let’s protect it.”

Prevent Drinking Water Contamination!

ppm: Parts per million, or milligrams per liter (mg/l). Compare with one cent in $10,000. One ppm = 1,000 ppb.

ppb: Parts per billion, or micrograms per liter (µg/l). Compare with one cent in $10 million.

TTHM: Total Trihalomethanes: By-products of drinking water disinfection.

HAA5: Haloacetic acids: The five haloacetic acids are also water disinfection by-products.

ND: Not Detected. NA: Not Applicable.2

Underground you will find a treasure that is worth more than gold - clean water, necessary for our very survival! It seeps between the spaces of layers of gravel and sand, sometimes hundreds of feet deep. How do we get it from way down there to your tap?

From below to above and beyond!Imagine drinking water through a straw. Our well pumps operate on a similar principle. These hard-working machines can pull water from depths of a thousand feet! Although this water source is clean, we treat it to remove any lingering bacteria and viruses. We then store it in our tanks so that when you turn on the tap, clean water is always there.

Get into the zone.This groundwater circulates in two separate zones. If you live south of the Redmond-Fall City Road in Sammamish or Issaquah, you get your water from the Plateau Zone. This zone includes two separate aquifer systems, the Plateau Aquifer and the Lower Issaquah Valley Aquifer (LIVA). We use eight wells to draw from the Plateau Aquifer and three wells to pump from the LIVA. If you live north of the Redmond Fall-City Road, you are in the Cascade View Zone, which includes an area of unincorporated King County. We have three wells working there to bring water to you.

Did you know? We share a joint tank with the Northeast Sammamish Sewer and Water District (NESSWD.) If you live north of NE 8th Street, you may receive some of your water from NESSWD’s sources. Please contact NESSWD at (425) 868-1144 for a copy of their water quality report.

Here are your water quality test results from the groundwater supply:Detected

Substance Unit MCL MCLG Average Range Likely Sources

Nitrate ppm 10 10 0.95 0.2 - 2.2

Runoff from fertilizer use, leaching from septic tanks, sewage, erosion of natural

deposits

Arsenic ppb 10 0 3.5 1 - 6 Erosion of natural deposits. Includes 2012 and 2013 data.

Fluoride ppm 4 4 0.75 0.67 - 0.83 Water additive which promotes strong teeth

TTHM ppb 80 NA 13.5 5.8 - 19By-products of drinking water

disinfectionHAA5 ppb 60 NA 5.58 4.0 - 7.7Chlorine ppm MRDL = 4 MRDLG = 4 0.40 0.28 - 0.49

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Buried Treasure: Your Groundwater

Up in the mountains east of North Bend lies a 90,000 acre wilderness. Seattle Public Utilities serves as the caretaker for this marvelous watershed resource. Melting snow feeds mountain streams that flow to clear, cold lakes. Your water is carefully cleaned and treated to remove any impurities. We then blend this wealth from the mountains with our groundwater so it is ready for you at your home!

Here are your water quality test results from the surface water supply:EPA’S Allowable

Limits Levels in Cedar Water Levels in Tolt Water

Detected Compounds Units MCLG MCL Average Range Average Range Typical Sources

Raw WaterTotal Organic Carbon ppm NA TT 0.9 0.4 - 1.9 1.3 1.1 - 1.7 Naturally present in the

environment

Cryptosporidium* #/100L NA NA ND ND ND ND Naturally present in the environment

Finished WaterTurbidity NTU NA TT 0.4 0.2 - 1.6 0.07 0.05 - 0.28 Soil runoff

Barium ppb 2000 2000 1.4 (one sample) 1.2 (one sample) Erosion of natural deposits

Bromate ppb 0 10 ND ND 0.2 ND - 1.5 By-product of drinking water disinfection

Fluoride ppm 4 4 0.8 0.7 - 0.8 0.8 0.7 - 0.9 Water additive that promotes strong teeth

Nitrate ppm 10 10 0.02 (one sample) 0.11 (one sample) Erosion of natural deposits

Cryptosporidium*: Cryptosporidium was not detected in any samples from the Cedar or Tolt (3 samples each supply).

Another precious realm is the Tolt River Watershed, located in the foothills of the Cascades east of Carnation. Seattle is also the steward of this area of 13,000 acres of protected forests, lakes and streams. The Tolt Treatment Plant is a state of the art facility that assures that you will always have clean water at your tap.

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Mountain Wealth: Your Surface Water

Cedar River Watershed

Tolt Watershed

Cascade Water Alliance manages

contracts with Seattle Public Utilities for wholesale water

purchases from these sources.

Water comes from many sources, including rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and groundwater wells. As water travels over the land surface or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and can pick up impurities resulting from the presence of animals or human activity. Substances that may be present in source water include:

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

Inorganic elements, 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.

Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources, including “weed and feed” products you might use on your lawn.

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

All drinking water, including bottled water, will likely contain at least small amounts of these materials but this doesn’t necessarily mean

that the water poses a health risk. To ensure that your tap water is safe to drink, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopts regulations setting the water quality standards for public water systems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates impurities in bottled water and provides the same level of public health protection for bottled water as the EPA does for tap water. The Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control both have guidelines on what we all can do to protect our water quality.

5You can get more information about water impurities and potential health effects by calling the EPA’s Safe Drinking

Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or see their website at www.epa.gov/safewater.

What the EPA would like you to know...

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population, such as people with compromised immune systems. This could include the following:

• You have cancer and are undergoing chemotherapy.

• You have undergone an organ transplant.

• You have HIV or AIDS or other immune system disorders.

• Some elderly persons may be affected.

• Infants can also be at risk from infections.

These people and their caregivers should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.

ARE YOU AT RISK?

Here are the lead and copper water quality test results (2013 data):

Detected Substance Unit MCLG Action Level (AL)

90th Percentile

Value

Highest Detected

Level

Range of Detections Likely Sources

Lead ppb 0 15 2 40 1 - 40 Corrosion of household plumbing systems

Copper ppm 1.3 1.3 0.10 0.16 0.003 - 0.16 Corrosion of household plumbing systems

How do lead and copper get into our drinking water? We do not have lead or copper in our source water. It comes primarily from the materials and components that make up the service lines in your home plumbing. The Department of Health did not require us to test for lead and copper in 2014, so we are providing you with our 2013 test results.

What is an action level? The EPA has set an action level instead of a maximum contaminant level for both lead and copper. If water testing indicates that we have exceeded the action level of a substance, then we must treat the water to remove lead and copper or follow other requirements. We have installed corrosion control facilities on many of our wells to comply with the requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule. This treatment approach has successfully reduced lead and copper issues in our distribution system.

What did you find regarding lead? Lead was detected in 9 out of 30 homes during the August 2013 testing. The lead action level is exceeded if the concentration of lead in more than 10 percent of the tap water samples (known as the 90th percentile value) is greater than the lead action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb). The 90th percentile value of the 30 District samples was 2 ppb, so we are in compliance for lead.

Are elevated levels of lead a concern? If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. We are responsible for providing you with high quality drinking water, but we can’t control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can flush your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking and cooking, which may help clear the lead out of your water. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize lead exposure are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or at www.epa.gov/safewater/lead. How about copper? Copper was detected in 28 out of 30 homes during the August 2013 testing. The copper action level is exceeded if the concentration of copper in more than 10 percent of the tap water samples (90th percentile) is greater than 1.3 parts per million (ppm). The 90th percentile value of the 30 District samples was only 0.10 ppm. The level for all homes was below the action level for copper, and none of the samples exceeded the copper action level, so we are currently in compliance for copper.

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Watching our Lead and Copper

We reach out to our customers.The Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District sponsored a number of public outreach events in 2014, including the SAMMI Awards, the Sammamish Disaster Preparedness Fair, Fourth on the Plateau, Sammamish Days and the Sustainable Sammamish Festival. We also participated in school science fairs and the Sammamish Watershed Festival, a two-day water education event that reached over 700 students.

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How are we using water efficiently?

We track our leaks. By law, we must maintain our distribution system leakage at 10% or less for a rolling three year average. The District’s 2014 leakage percentage was 8.04%, and the rolling three year average was 6.87%, which is within state Department of Health standards.

SPWSD Distribution System Leakage for 2014Category Total (in millions of gallons)

Water Production and Purchases 1,765Authorized Consumption 1,623

Distribution System Leakage (DSL) 142

We set goals. In order to meet state water use efficiency regulations, we worked in partnership with the Cascade Water Alliance to set a water conservation goal that covers the 2014-2019 time frame. The goal is to save 0.6 million gallons per day (mgd) on an average annual basis, and 1.0 mgd peak season, at full implementation of the program by 2020.

We conduct programs. Cascade provides water efficiency programs and services on behalf of its members, including the District. With these tools, you, our customers, are using water wisely! Here’s what Cascade provided in 2014:

> Showerhead and aerator installation at commercial accounts > Cascade Gardener classes for our residential customers > Irrigation system upgrade rebates for business and HOAs > Water education programs in area schools > Training for landscapers and parks staff on efficient irrigation management > Toilet leak detection dye strips mailed to all single family homes > WaterSense labeled new homes program for builders > Commercial and multifamily irrigation audit program (District)

We monitor our progress. These programs and service resulted in a savings of 178,459 gallons per day, or 29.7% of Cascade’s six year goal. We want to thank our customers for helping us make progress towards our goal!

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDSEATTLE WAPERMIT 315

Learn more about your drinking water inside!

Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District

1510 - 228th Ave. SESammamish, WA 98075

24 HOUR LINE: (425) 392-6256 www.spwsd.orgJohn Anderson

Water Superintendentjohn.anderson@spwsd.org

Washington State Department of Health

Division of Drinking Water(360) 236-3100

www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw

NEED HELP? HAVE A WATER EMERGENCY?

Call us anytime!

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Safe Drinking Water Hotline:1-800-426-4791

www.epa.gov/safewater