PWSID# 0428002

Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

Pine Hill Borough MUA

For the Year 2008, Results from the Year 2007

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 and services we deliver to you every day.  Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water.  We want you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources.  We are committed to ensuring the quality of your water.  Our water source is wells.  Our five wells draw groundwater from the Cohansey, Mt. Laurel-Wenonah and Potomac-Raritan-Magothy (PRM) Aquifers.  The wells range in depth from 80’ to 670’ feet.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has completed and issued the Source Water Assessment Report and Summary for this public water system, which is available at www.state.nj.us/dep/swap/ or by contacting the NJDEP, Bureau of Safe Drinking Water at 609-292-5550.  We have included the summary table for Susceptibility Ratings for PHMUA Sources.

The Susceptibility Ratings table provides the number of wells that rated high (H), medium (M), or low (L) for each contaminant category.  If a system is rated highly susceptible for contaminant category, it does not mean a customer is consuming contaminated drinking water.  The rating reflects the potential for contamination of source water, not the existence of contamination.  Public water systems are required to monitor for regulated contaminants and to install treatment if any contaminants are detected at frequencies and concentrations above allowable levels.   

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).

EPA requires monitoring for over 80 drinking water contaminants.  Those contaminants listed in the table are the only contaminants detected in your water.  As you can see by the table, our system had no violations and we are pleased to report that our drinking water meets or exceeds all federal and state safety requirements.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact our office at 856-783-0739 or our superintendent George Smith at 856-783-5524.  We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility.  If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled MUA monthly meetings held on the 3^rd Thursday at 7:30 PM, 907 Turnerville Road.

The Pine Hill Borough MUA routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1^st to December 31^st, 2007.  The state allows us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently.   Some of our data, though representative, are more than one year old.

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 asbestos and synthetic organic chemicals.

We at Pine Hill MUA work hard to provide top quality water to every tap.  We ask that all our customers help us protect our water sources, which are the heart of our community, our way of life and our children's future by continuing to follow the mandatory odd/even restrictions within the borough. 

TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICE FOR THE DEAF (TTD) allows a deaf or speech-impaired person to contact a Federal agency or program affiliate.  Contact 1-800-852-7897.

Tom Hassett, Executive Director

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:

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

·          Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas projection, mining, or farming.

·          Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.

·          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 storm water runoff, and septic systems.

·          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.

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 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.

DEFINITIONS:      

The following definitions may help you better understand the terms and abbreviations found in our Contaminations Table:

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.

Non-Detects (ND) - laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.

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

Action Level - the concentration of a contaminant, which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements, which a water system must follow.

Treatment Technique (TT) - A treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level - The "Maximum Allowed" (MCL) is 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 -The "Goal"(MCLG) is 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.

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

Recommended Upper Limit (RUL) – Recommended maximum concentration of secondary contaminants.  These reflect aesthetic qualities such as odor, taste or appearance.  RUL’s are recommendations, not mandates.

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 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.

The following definitions may help you when reading the Susceptibility Ratings Table:

Pathogens:  Disease-causing organisms such as bacteria and viruses.  Common sources are animal and human fecal wastes.

Nutrients:  Compounds, minerals and elements that aid growth, that are naturally occurring and man-made.  Examples include nitrogen and phosphorus.

Volatile Organic Compounds:  Man-made chemicals used as solvents, degreasers, and gasoline components.  Examples include benzene, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), and vinyl chloride.

Pesticides:  Man-made chemicals used to control pests, weeds and fungus.  Common sources include land application and manufacturing centers of pesticides.  Examples include herbicides such as atrazine, and insecticides such as chlordane.

Inorganics:  Mineral-based compounds that are both naturally occurring and man-made.  Examples include arsenic, asbestos, copper, lead, and nitrate.

Radionuclides:  Radioactive substances that are both naturally occurring and man-made.  Examples include radium and uranium.

Radon: Colorless, odorless, cancer-causing gas that occurs naturally in the environment. 

              For more information go to http://www.nj.gov/dep/rpp/radon/index.htm or call (800) 648-0394.

Disinfection Byproduct Precursors:  A common source is naturally occurring organic matter in surface water.  Disinfection byproducts are formed when the disinfectant (usually chlorine) used to kill pathogens react with dissolved organic material (for example leaves) present in surface water.