Lower Rio Grande PWWA Rincon CCR 2023

Spanish (Espanol)


Este informe contiene informacion muy importante sobre la calidad de su agua beber. Traduscalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.

 

Is my water safe?


We are pleased to present this year's Annual Water Quality Report (Consumer Confidence Report) as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This report is designed to provide details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. This report is a snapshot of last year's water quality. We are committed to providing you with information because informed customers are our best allies.

 

Do I need to take special precautions?


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/Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Water Drinking Hotline (800-426-4791).

 

Where does your water come from.


Your Quality drinking water comes from Two deep ground water wells which are located in the Caballo Mountains and draw from the Lower Rio Grande Aquifer.

 

Source water assessment and its availability


If you would like to know more about source water assessment, please contact the New Mexico Drinking Water Bureau at (505) 476-8620 or toll free 1-877-654-8720

 

Why are there contaminants in my drinking water?


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 Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791). 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:
microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, that 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 by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems; and 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 (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.

 

How can I get involved?


The Lower Rio Grande PWWA BOD meets Every Third Wednesday of each Month at 9:00am, locations are posted on our website.

 

Description of Water Treatment Process


Your water is treated by disinfection. Disinfection involves the addition of chlorine or other disinfectant to kill dangerous bacteria and microorganisms that may be in the water. Disinfection is considered to be one of the major public health advances of the 20th century.

 

Water Conservation Tips

 

Did you know that the average U.S. household uses approximately 400 gallons of water per day or 100 gallons per person per day? Luckily, there are many low-cost and no-cost ways to conserve water. Small changes can make a big difference - try one today and soon it will become second nature.

 

Cross Connection Control Survey

 

The purpose of this survey is to determine whether a cross-connection may exist at your home or business. A cross connection is an unprotected or improper connection to a public water distribution system that may cause contamination or pollution to enter the system. We are responsible for enforcing cross-connection control regulations and insuring that no contaminants can, under any flow conditions, enter the distribution system. If you have any of the devices listed below please contact us so that we can discuss the issue, and if needed, survey your connection and assist you in isolating it if that is necessary.

 

Source Water Protection Tips

 

Protection of drinking water is everyone's responsibility. You can help protect your community's drinking water source in several ways:

 

Public Notice


This is an alert about your drinking water and a cosmetic dental problem that might affect children under nine years of age. At low levels, fluoride can help prevent cavities, but children drinking water containing more than 2 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of fluoride may develop cosmetic discoloration or their permanent teeth (dental fluorosis). The drinking water provided by the Lower Rio Grande PWWA water system had the following concentrations of fluoride:
Sample Location: Entry Point #1, Sample Date: 06/06/2023, Result: 2.5 mg/L.

Dental fluorosis, in its moderate of severe forms, may result in a brown staining and or pitting of the permanent teeth. This problem occurs only in developing teeth, before they erupt from the gums. Children under nine should be provided with alternative sources of drinking water or water that has been treated to remove fluoride to avoid the possibility of staining and pitting of their permanent teeth. You may also want to contact your dentist about proper use by young children of fluoride-containing products. Older children and adults may safely drink the water.
Drinking water containing more than 4 mg/L of fluoride (the US Environment Agency's drinking water standard) can increase your risk of developing bone disease. Your drinking water DOES NOT contain more than 4 mg/L of fluoride, but we are required to notify you when we discover that the fluoride levels in your drinking water exceed 2 mg/L because of this cosmetic dental problem.
For more information, please contact Michael Lopez at (575) 233-5742 X 1011.
Some home water treatment units are also available (at your expense) to remove fluoride from drinking water. To learn more about available home water treatment units, you may call NSF international at 1-877-8-NSF-HELP.
Fluoride contamination is rarely due to human activity. Fluoride occurs naturally in some areas and is found in high concentrations in our source water.
We will continue to monitor fluoride levels, and we will inform you if they exceed the level of 4 mg/L.

 

Additional Information for Lead


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. Lower Rio Grande PWWA 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.

 

Additional Information for Arsenic


While your drinking water meets EPA's standard for arsenic, it does contain low levels of arsenic. EPA's standard balances the current understanding of arsenic's possible health effects against the costs of removing arsenic 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.

 


Water Quality Data Table

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The table below lists all of the drinking water contaminants that we detected during the calendar year of this report. Although many more contaminants were tested, only those substances listed below were found in your water. All sources of drinking water contain some naturally occurring contaminants. At low levels, these substances are generally not harmful in our drinking water. Removing all contaminants would be extremely expensive, and in most cases, would not provide increased protection of public health. A few naturally occurring minerals may actually improve the taste of drinking water and have nutritional value at low levels. Unless otherwise noted, the data presented in this table is from testing done in the calendar year of the report. The EPA or the State requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not vary significantly from year to year, or the system is not considered vulnerable to this type of contamination. As such, some of our data, though representative, may be more than one year old. In this table you will find terms and abbreviations that might not be familiar to you. To help you better understand these terms, we have provided the definitions below the table.

 

Contaminants

MCLG
or
MRDLG

MCL,
TT, or
MRDL

Detect In
Your Water

Range

Sample
Date

Violation

Typical Source

Low

High

Disinfectants & Disinfection By-Products

(There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants)

Chlorine (as Cl2) (ppm)

4

4

.5

.4

.5

2023

No

Water additive used to control microbes

Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) (ppb)

NA

60

1.65

1.65

1.65

2023

No

By-product of drinking water chlorination

TTHMs [Total Trihalomethanes] (ppb)

NA

80

11.9

11.9

11.9

2023

No

By-product of drinking water disinfection

Inorganic Contaminants

Arsenic (ppb)

0

10

6

6

6

2023

No

Erosion of natural deposits; Runoff from orchards; Runoff from glass and electronics production wastes

Barium (ppm)

2

2

.09

.09

.09

2023

No

Discharge of drilling wastes; Discharge from metal refineries; Erosion of natural deposits

Fluoride (ppm)

4

4

2.68

2.68

2.68

2023

No

Erosion of natural deposits; Water additive which promotes strong teeth; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories

Nitrate [measured as Nitrogen] (ppm)

10

10

1.7

1.7

1.7

2023

No

Runoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits

Radioactive Contaminants

Alpha emitters (pCi/L)

0

15

3.9

1.9

3.9

2023

No

Erosion of natural deposits

Beta/photon emitters (pCi/L)

0

50

14.4

14.4

14.4

2023

No

Decay of natural and man-made deposits.

Radium (combined 226/228) (pCi/L)

0

5

.08

.08

.08

2023

No

Erosion of natural deposits

Uranium (ug/L)

0

30

3

3

3

2023

No

Erosion of natural deposits

 

Contaminants

MCLG

AL

Your
Water

Sample
Date

# Samples
Exceeding AL

Exceeds AL

Typical Source

Inorganic Contaminants

Copper - action level at consumer taps (ppm)

1.3

1.3

.021

2023

0

No

Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits

 


Unit Descriptions

Term

Definition

ug/L

ug/L : Number of micrograms of substance in one liter of water

ppm

ppm: parts per million, or milligrams per liter (mg/L)

ppb

ppb: parts per billion, or micrograms per liter (µg/L)

pCi/L

pCi/L: picocuries per liter (a measure of radioactivity)

NA

NA: not applicable

ND

ND: Not detected

NR

NR: Monitoring not required, but recommended.

 

Important Drinking Water Definitions

Term

Definition

MCLG

MCLG: Maximum Contaminant Level Goal: 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.

MCL

MCL: Maximum Contaminant Level: 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.

TT

TT: Treatment Technique: A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

AL

AL: Action Level: The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.

Variances and Exemptions

Variances and Exemptions: State or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions.

MRDLG

MRDLG: Maximum residual disinfection 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 contaminants.

MRDL

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.

MNR

MNR: Monitored Not Regulated

MPL

MPL: State Assigned Maximum Permissible Level

 

For more information please contact:

Contact Name: Michael P Lopez
Address: P.O. Box 2646
Anthony, NM 88021
Phone: (575) 635-3921