2001 Water Quality Report

The Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for the Town of Bethany Beach, Delaware

2001 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

Town of Bethany Beach

P.O. Box 109, Bethany Beach, Delaware 19930

PWSID#DE0000556

May 8,2002

We're pleased to present to you this year's Annual Quality Water 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 groundwater. We have four wells that draw from the Manokin and Ocean City Aquifers.

The Division of Public Health in conjunction with the Department of Natural resources and Environmental Control is in the process of conducting source water assessments on all public water systems. As soon as the information is collected, we will notify you regarding how to obtain a copy of this assessment.

This report shows our water quality and what it means.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please

contact. Cliff Graviet @ 302-539-8011. 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 meetings. They are held on the third Friday of each month @ 7:30 p.m. at the Town Hall, 214 Garfield Parkway.

The Town of Bethany Beach routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2001. As water travels over the land or underground, it can pick up substances or contaminants such as microbes, inorganic and organic chemicals, and radioactive substances. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents. It's important to remember that the presence of these constituents does not necessarily pose a health risk.

In this table you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with.

To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions:

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

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.

Action Level - the concentration of a contaminant, which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements, which a water system must follow. Treatment Technique (TT) - (mandatory language) A treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level - (mandatory language) 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 - (mandatory language) 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.

All test results were found to be violation free with the exception of:

Microbiological Contaminants:
Total Coliform Bacteria:             Violation
Level Detected:                        *5 present samples out of 225
Unit Measurement:                    Absent/present
MCLG:                                       0
MCL:                                         presence of coliform bacteria in 5% of monthly samples
Likely source of contamination: Naturally present in the environment

(1) Total Coliform, Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially harmful bacteria may be present Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

All other contaminants tested for were in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act

The Town of Bethany Beach had one (1) positive Coliform test in May, 2001 and one (1) in June, 2001. In the month of August, the Town had 3 positive Coliform tests over a six-day period, August 3-9. We corrected this situation by increasing the chlorine feed and flushed water mains in the effected areas. Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially harmful, bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

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. In order to insure 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 established limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

All 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.

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 a lifetime to have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect.