South Toledo Bend Water District

Consumer Confidence Report 2006...

Annual Drinking Water Quality Report 2006
South Toledo Bend Water District
Public Water Supply ID # LA1085055

We're pleased to present to you the Annual Water Quality Report for the year 2006. This report is designed to inform you about the quality of water and services we deliver to you everyday. 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 drinking quality of your water. Our water source is listed below:

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 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 production, 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 by-products 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.

A Source Water Assessment Plan (SWAP) is now available from our office. This plan is an assessment of a delineated area around our listed sources through which contaminates, if present, could migrate and reach our source water. It also includes an inventory of potential sources of contamination within the delineated area, and a determination of the water supply's susceptibility to contamination by the identified potential sources. According to the Source Water Assessment Plan, our water system has a susceptibility rating of ‘high’. If you would like to review the Source Water Assessment Plan, please feel free to contact our office at 318-586-9836

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminates in water provided by Public Water Systems. Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminates in bottle water which must provide the same protection for public health. We are pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets Federal and State requirements. We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you have any questions about this report, want to attend any scheduled meetings or simply want to learn more about your drinking water, please feel free to contact our office at 318-586-9836. Our regularly scheduled meetings are held on the second Thursday of every month at 05:30 P.M. at the South Toledo Bend Water District's Main Plant located at 3260 Little Flock Road .

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals - Office of Public Health routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The tables that follow show the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1st - December 31st, 2006. Drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminates does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk.

In the table below, 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:

• AL – (Action Level) - the concentration of a contaminant that, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
• MCL – (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.
• MCLG – (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.
• MRDL – (Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level) – 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.
• MRDLG – (Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal) – 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.
• Mrem/yr – (Millirems per year) - measure of radiation absorbed by the body.
• MFL – (Million Fibers per Liter) - million fibers per liter is a measure of the presence of asbestos fibers that are longer than 10 micrometers.
• ND – (Non-Detects) - laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.
• NTU – (Nephelometric Turbidity Unit) - nephelometric turbidity unit is a measure of the clarity of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.
• ppm – (Parts per million) or mg/L (Milligrams per liter) - one part per million correspond to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.
• ppb – (Parts per billion) or ug/L – (Micrograms per liter) - one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.
• ppt – (Parts per trillion) or ng/L – (Nanograms per liter) - one part per trillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000,000.
• ppq – (Parts per quadrillion) or pg/L – (Picograms per liter) - one part per quadrillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000,000,000.
• pCi/L – (picocuries per liter) - picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.
• TT – (Treatment Technique) - a treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
• V&E – (Variances & Exemptions) - State or EPA permission not to meet MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions.

During the period covered by this report we had the below noted violations of drinking water regulations.

In the table below, we have shown regulated contaminants that were detected at levels BELOW their maximum contaminant level. These samples, except for lead and copper results and surface water systems, were collected at the raw water source and represent water before any treatment, blending or distribution. As such, the consumer tap levels could be less. The last chemical sampling of our source water was collected on Tuesday December 05,2006.Chemical sampling of our drinking water may not be required on an annual basis; therefore, information in this table refers back to the latest year of chemical sampling results.

In the table below, we have shown regulated contaminants that were detected at levels BELOW their maximum contaminant level. These samples, except for lead and copper results and surface water systems, were collected at the raw water source and represent water before any treatment, blending or distribution. As such, the consumer tap levels could be less. Chemical sampling of our drinking water may not be required on an annual basis; therefore, information in this table refers back to the latest year of chemical sampling results.

Please call our office if you have any questions. The following personnel can assist you:

Don Kelly – President

George Griffin – Vice-President

Tom Harless – Secretary/Treasurer
Ollie Forshee – Board Member

Buddy Brandon – Board Member

Herman H. Herzog – Manager/Operator
Kurt Simoneaux, Sarah Cooley, Steven Danley, Jimmy Speight, Belinda Houy – Operators

Thank you for allowing us to continue providing your family with clean, quality water this year. In order to maintain a safe and dependable water supply we sometimes need to make improvements that will benefit all of our customers. We at the South Toledo Bend Water District work around the clock to provide top quality water to every tap. We ask that all our customers help us protect and conserve our water sources, which are the heart of our community, our way of life, and our children's future.

This institution is an Equal Opportunity Provider