Q and A and the 2007 Water Quality Report
Why am I receiving this report?
As part of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) wants to make certain that
every consumer of tap water in the USA has information on the water you
are drinking.
Bottom line… what does it say? I don’t have time to
read the whole thing, and don’t think I’ll understand it.
The report tells you, basically, how your water
is treated, where it comes from – Potomac or Patuxent rivers - and the
range and level of detection of any of the nearly 200 substances we test for in
the water.
How can I find out about ALL of the parameters for which
you test?
Our complete Tap Analysis is available by clicking right
here.
How does our water compare to neighboring water
utilities – especially northern Virginia?
Because most utilities in the area draw from the same
source – the Potomac River - and use similar treatment processes, there
is little difference.
Is my tap water safe to drink? Should I drink bottled
water instead?
Your tap water is very safe to drink. At WSSC, we have
never had a violation of any of the water quality standards set by USEPA.
The standards for bottled water are set by the Food and Drug
Administration and it undergoes much less stringent testing than does tap
water. It, too, can be expected to contain trace amounts of some
contaminants.
How often do you test the water?
Frequency of analysis depends on the parameter or
contaminant being measured. Some are measured constantly in real time.
Others are monitored hourly, or daily, or weekly, and so forth. For
example, dozens of samples per day are tested for bacteria, but some rare
exotic pesticides are monitored merely quarterly.
Can I use my tap water to make my baby’s formula?
Because infants are particularly vulnerable to any
organism in the water, the USEPA recommends that water used for baby’s
formula be boiled before it is used.
Is my water safe for bathing and washing clothes?
Yes, unconditionally so.
Do you test for cryptosporidium?
Yes, we have been monitoring our source water regularly since October 2006, as required by EPA. We will continue to monitor through September 2008, and the results will help us determine whether we need to perform additional treatment (e.g., UV disinfection) to address Cryptosporidium levels in our source waters. We are also conducting some special monitoring, on a limited basis, researching sources of Cryptosporidium within the Potomac watershed, and those results will help improve source protection programs.
Regardless of the monitoring results, WSSC is already taking the most important steps in protecting against Cryptosporidium, which include maintaining effective coagulation and filtration processes in our water treatment plants as well as adding UV disinfection equipment to both our water treatment plants.
Is my water soft or hard?
Most of our customers receive their water from the
Potomac Water Filtration Plant, and that water tends to be moderately
hard. If you live in Laurel, Greenbelt or Beltsville, you are probably
drinking water from the Patuxent Water Filtration Plant. That water tends
to be more soft. Customers living in the hatched area on the map, roughly
Silver Spring to Landover, are receiving a blend of the water from both
plants.
Why does my water smell bleachy or musty?
Due to rain, ice and snowstorms, river
conditions can produce strong bleachy odors and musty/earthy odors. The
strong bleachy odor is not an indication of increased
chlorine. The odor is a result of the combination of the chlorine used to
disinfect and ammonia in the runoff water (rain, melting snow and ice)
producing chloramines. Chloramines are not harmful and in fact are used by
some utilities as the primary disinfectant. However, under certain
circumstances, chloramines produce a very strong bleachy odor. There are
no adverse health affects from the odor.
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