·         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 and residential uses.

·         Radioactive contaminants, which are naturally occurring.

·         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.

Water Treatment

In April of 1989, Arrowbear Park County Water District started the first treatment facility in the state for removal of uranium from drinking water.  By approving this treatment facility, your Board of Directors provided for safe water to be produced years before any standards were mandated.  Now regulated, our treated water consistently falls below all USEPA and California Department of Health Services contaminant level requirements.

Water Quality Data

Arrowbear Park County Water District routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws.  All testing for bacteriological, chemical, physical, and any special testing are done by Clinical Laboratory of San Bernardino, Inc., a state certified lab.  They also do our radiological testing.  Of the many constituents that can be present in a water supply, Arrowbear’s test results reveal that only a few were detected in Arrowbear’s treated water.  Of those detected, none exceeded the contaminant level prescribed by State and Federal regulations.  The following table on the reverse side of this page shows the test results for the only constituents detected during our monitoring period of January 1^st to December 31^st, 2009.

Water Quality Definitions

The following table contains several terms and abbreviations which may be unfamiliar to you.  To help you understand these terms we’ve provided the following definitions:

·         MCL: Maximum Contaminant Level- The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. Primary MCLs are set as close to the PHGs (or MCLGs) as is economically and technologically feasible. Secondary MCLs are set to protect the odor, taste, and appearance of drinking water.

·         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 are set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

·         PHG: Public Health Goal- The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. PHGs are set by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

·         PDWS: Primary Drinking Water Standard- MCLs for contaminants that affect health along with their monitoring and reporting requirements, and water treatment requirements.

·         Range: Lowest to Highest.

·         mg/l: Milligrams per liter (parts per million).

·         uG/l: Micrograms per liter (parts per billion).

·         pCi/l: picoCuries per liter, a measure of the radioactivity in water.

·         NTU: Nephelometric Turbidity Units- A measure of the clarity of water.  Turbidity is the measure of particles suspended in water.  Higher quality water has low turbidity.

·         NS: No Standard.

·         ND: Monitored for but Not Detected

·         N/A: Not available

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

·         uS: micromhos, a unit of measure for specific conductance or the ability of a solution (water) to carry an electric current.  A mircomhos is one millionth of an OHM.