INTRODUCTION

 

The Federal Safe Drinking Water Act requires all community water systems to distribute an annual water quality report to its customers. This is the 2017 annual water quality report of the Corinna Water District, which covers the period from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. This annual report is intended to provide you with important information about your drinking water. We know that you count on the Corinna Water District for a safe and reliable supply of water everyday, and we are committed to providing the highest quality of service to you.

WATER QUALITY

 

The Safe Drinking Water Act mandates that the State of Maine, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), establish and enforce minimum drinking water quality standards. These standards set limits on certain biological, radioactive, organic and inorganic substances sometimes found in drinking water. The limits set on these substances are known as Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL’s). Two types of standards have been established. Primary Standards set required levels of drinking water quality to protect your health. Secondary Standards provide guidelines regarding the taste, odor, color, and other aesthetic aspects of your drinking water which do not present a health risk. The Corinna Water District’s water quality is within the levels established by EPA and the State of Maine for all Primary Standards.

 

Responsibility for maintaining water quality resides with the Corinna Water District staff. The Corinna Water District includes operators that are licensed by the State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services. We ensure that your water is safe through regular total coliform testing and chlorine residual monitoring. These tests are conducted by the Maine State Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory, Clearwater Lab and the Corinna Water District.

 

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 human health risk. Contaminants that may be present in source water include: (1) microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage or wildlife; (2) inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, or farming; (3) pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, stormwater runoff, and residential uses; (4) organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which can come from gas stations, runoff, and septic systems and (5) radioactive contaminants which can be naturally occurring. 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 microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

 

Table 1 lists regulated testing conducted by the Corinna Water District for which results were obtained in 2017. The most recent result is also included for contaminants which are not tested annually. All other tested and regulated drinking water contaminants were below detection levels. This testing is required by the State of Maine Drinking Water Program (DWP) and must be reported to all customers on an annual basis:

 

TABLE 1: 2017 REQUIRED CORINNA TESTING RESULTS

 

CONTAMINANT	DATE	CORINNA RESULTS	EPA LIMIT	EPA GOAL	SOURCE
MICROBIOLOGICAL
Total Coliform	Quarterly Testing	0 Positive Results	1 Positive Result	0 Positive Results	Naturally present in the environment.
INORGANICS
Antimony, Total	4/3/17	1.1 ppb	6 ppb	6 ppb	Discharge from petroleum refineries, fire retardants, ceramics, electronics, and solder.
Arsenic	4/3/17	2.8 ppb	10 ppb	0 ppb	Erosion of natural deposits.
Barium	4/3/17	0.0035 ppm	2 ppm	2 ppm	Erosion of natural deposits.
Chromium	4/3/17	3.7 ppb	100 ppb	100 ppb	Erosion of natural deposits.
Fluoride	4/3/17	0.1 ppm	4 ppm	4 ppm	Erosion of natural deposits.
Copper 90th Percent Value	Summer 2017	0.033 ppm	1.3 ppm	1.3 ppm	Corrosion of household plumbing systems.
Lead 90th Percent Value	Summer 2017	0.35 ppb	15 ppb	0 ppb	Corrosion of household plumbing systems.
RADIONUCLIDES
Combined Uranium	4/3/17	1.5 ppb	30 ppb	0 ppb	Erosion of natural deposits.
Radium-228	4/29/13	0.71 pCi/L	5 pCi/L	0 pCi/L	Erosion of natural deposits.
Uranium-238	3/10/14	1.4 ppb	30 ppb	0 ppb	Erosion of natural deposits.
DISINFECTANTS AND DISINFECTION BYPRODUCTS
Total Trihalomethanes	7/12/16	9.4 ppb	80 ppb	0 ppb	Byproduct of drinking water chlorination.
Chlorine Residual	Quarterly Testing	0.54 ppm (0.23-1.27 ppm)	4.0 ppm	4 ppm	Drinking water chlorination

Definitions:

• Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.
• Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health.
• Running Annual Average (RAA): The Average of all monthly or quarterly samples for the last year at all sample locations.
• Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant that, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system must follow.
• 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 contaminants.

       Units:

       ppm = parts per million or milligrams per liter (mg/L)           pCi/L = picocuries per liter (a measure of radioactivity).

       ppb = parts per billion or micrograms per liter (µg/L)            pos = positive samples.

       Notes:

1)   Total Coliform Bacteria: Reported as the highest quarterly number of positive samples, for water systems that take < 40 samples per month.

2)   Arsenic: While your drinking water may meet EPA's standard for Arsenic, if it contains between 5 to 10 ppb you should know that the standard balances the current understanding of Arsenic's possible health effects against the costs of removing it from drinking water. EPA continues to research the health effects of low levels of Arsenic, which is a mineral known to cause cancer in humans at high concentrations and is linked to other health effects such as skin damage and circulatory problems.

3)   Fluoride: Fluoride levels must be maintained between 0.5 to 1.2 ppm, for those water systems that fluoridate the water. Corinna does not fluoridate its drinking water.

4)   Lead/Copper: Action levels (AL) are measured at consumer’s tap. 90% of the tests must be equal to or below the action level.

5)   TTHM: Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) are formed as a by-product of drinking water chlorination. This chemical reaction occurs when chlorine combines with naturally occurring organic matter in water.

 

The data presented in Table 1 demonstrates that the Corinna Water District has been in complete compliance with the requirements for bacteria sampling and has not experienced any positive results for Total Coliform. Total coliform is used as an indicator parameter for water supply bacterial contamination. This data also shows that the Water District is in compliance with Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Chromium, Fluoride, Radionuclides and Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts. The Water District tests every three years for lead and copper at five homes during each sampling event. Copper testing in 2017 was in complete compliance with a result of 0.033 ppm as compared to the EPA limitation of 1.3 ppm. The lead sampling was also in compliance with a result of 0.35 ppb versus an EPA standard of 15 ppb. If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. The Corinna Water District is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. 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 exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

 

WATER SUPPLY/DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION

 

The Water District has been obtaining water from three groundwater wells: two located adjacent to the standpipe on Nokomis Road and one on St. Albans Road. Public water service is available in the village area of the community where private wells had been contaminated by the previous manufacturing process at Eastland Woolen Mill. The Corinna Water District provides water service to about 30 connected customers. The District supplied an average of 12,000 gallons of water per day or 4.4 million gallons of potable water to customers in 2017. The District has a 264,000-gallon glass-lined steel storage tank off of Nokomis Road that can supply water for up to several days during average water use in the community. This water storage tank also is used for peak flow fluctuations experienced during periods of hydrant flushing and is available for fire protection purposes. The District maintains fire protection through 10 hydrants located throughout the village area. Sodium hypochlorite is added for disinfection prior to sending the water to the system. There is no other treatment necessary.

 

SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT

 

The sources of drinking water can include rivers, lakes, ponds, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and radioactive material and can pick up substances resulting from human or animal activity. The DWP has evaluated all public water supplies as part of the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP). The assessments included geology, hydrology, land uses, water testing information, and the extent of land ownership or protection by local ordinance to see how likely our drinking water source is to being contaminated by human activities in the future. Assessment results are available at the DWP. For more information about the SWAP, please contact the DWP at telephone 287-2070.

 

SOURCE WATER PROTECTION

 

The Town has adopted a zoning ordinance as part of a wellhead protection initiative to help prevent source contamination.

 

VIOLATION

 

Violation Period                    Violation Type

6/1/2017 - 9/30/2017            66 Violation - LEAD CONSUMER NOTICE (LCR) LEAD & COPPER RULE

 

We are required to notify any customer who participated in the District’s lead/copper testing program of their individual lead/copper results. In 2017, the District failed to provide this information to its customers. This information has since been mailed to all customers participating in this testing.

WAIVER INFORMATION

 

In 2017, our system was granted a 'Synthetic Organics Waiver.' This is a three year exemption from the monitoring and reporting requirements for the following industrial chemical(s): TOXAPHENE/CHLORDANE/PCB, HERBICIDES and SEMIVOLATILE ORGANICS. This waiver was granted due to the absence of these potential sources of contamination within a half mile radius of the water source(s).

 

FUTURE PLANS AND NEEDS

 

The District has recently applied for funding to rehabilitate its production wells, specifically Well #3 due to a loss of about 50% of its capacity, complete telemetry improvements, correct maintenance problems with the standpipe identified in a 2017 inspection report including replacing sealants, replacing damaged roof and sidewall panels, installing a new cathodic protection system, and protecting the bolts from corrosion.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

 

This report is a summary of the Water District’s activities during the past year. If you have any questions about your water quality, the information contained in this report, or your water service in general, please call the Corinna Water District Operator at (207) 223-2232. You may also direct questions or concerns to the DWP at (207) 287-2070 or the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791. The District office hours are generally 8:00 AM to noon, Thursdays except on holidays.