Westville Water Department

2001 Annual Water Quality Report

June 12, 2002

Dear Westville Water Customer,

We are pleased to present a summary of the quality of the water provided to you during the past year. This report details where our water comes from, what it contains, and the risks our water testing and treatment are designed to prevent. The Westville Water Department is committed to providing you with the safest and most reliable water supply. Informed consumers are our best allies in maintaining safe drinking water.

Westville’s drinking water meets or surpasses all federal and state drinking water standards.

We encourage public interest and participation in our community's decisions affecting drinking water. The Town Council has regular meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at the Town Hall, 353 W. Main Street at 7:00 pm. The public is invited to attend. Questions or concerns about your drinking water should be directed to Utility Superintendent Bart Frank at 785-1880. This report along with other information about the water system is available online at www.spectrum-services.net/westville

Source Water

The Town of Westville supplies ground water from two wells. These wells draw water from the Valparaiso Moraine at a depth of 175 feet.

EPA’s required language for this report:

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 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 such as agriculture, urban stormwater 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 stormwater 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 that 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 that 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 water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

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).

Important Definitions And Abbreviations:

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 feasible 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.

AL- Action Level

pCi/l- Picocuries Per Liter A measure of radioactivity for radionulides.

ppm- Part Per Million

ppb- Part Per Billion

Water Quality Analyses Results

Most regulated and unregulated substances monitored by the EPA are not detected in Westville’s drinking water. IDEM allows us to monitor for some substances less than once per year because the concentrations are not likely to change. The following chart shows the maximum amount of all substances that were detected in the most recent tests. Note that the substances that were detected were well below the MCLs.

Additional Testing

Only those substances that were detected are shown in this report. Monitoring was also preformed for more than 100 other substances, none of which were present.