2018 Public Water System Consumer Confidence Report (CCR)

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

Division of Drinking & Ground Waters

Village of Ashville Water Department

Annually, the Village of Ashville includes a report on the quality of water provided to our residents in our monthly newsletter. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (O-EPA) calls this the CCR or Consumer Confidence Report. All community public water systems are required to prepare a CCR and distribute this to their customers. The report contains information on the community's drinking water including the source of the water, contaminants detected, the likely sources of detected contaminants, health effects of the contaminants when violations occur, and availability of source assessments.

CCR's are required by the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Federal Rule (40 CFR 141.151 through 155) was finalized on August 19, 1998. We hope this information will provide you comfort and security. We recognize that water quality is a very important area of operation.

The Village of Ashville pumped 195.697 million gallons in 2018 with 90.895 removed in the process resulting in total finished pumped of 172.043 MG.

Your drinking water met all Ohio EPA standards.

A word from the Water Department

In 2018 the water department made repairs to our softeners replacing aging valves and repairing controllers. A new pc unit was upgraded and one was replaced. In the distribution system we either replaced or repaired 5 hydrants. A new generator pad and generator was installed and we now have the ability to run in any emergency. We had seven water line breaks in the system and three in the water plant. On four different occasions we either supplied water temporally to the village of South Bloomfield or they supplemented our system through our emergency connection.  Also the village added more homes and water main lines with the new subdivision improvements. With all this we had zero water interruptions and violations and are currently operating with an unconditional certificate from the OHIO EPA. For a water plant and system that is 85 years old this year, we are operating well and keeping up with demand as expected. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.     

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Thank you for your time. 

Introduction

The Ashville Water Department is pleased to provide you with this year’s Consumer Confidence Report. We want to keep you informed about the excellent water and services we have delivered to you over the past year. Our goal is, and has been to provide you a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. The treatment facility is located at 140 Park Street. The water treatment facility removes iron and manganese by oxidation and filtration. The filtered water is softened using an ion-exchange process. The softened water is disinfected with chlorine prior to distribution to our customer. The Village of Ashville’s Water Department has prepared the following report to provide information to you, the consumer, on the quality of our drinking water.  Included in this report is general health information, water quality test results, how to participate in decisions concerning your drinking water and water system contacts.

We have been fortunate to have very few interruptions over the last year in our distribution system, such as large breaks resulting in loss of service.  Last year we also installed a new chlorine feed system and overhauled our storage room.  New tanks, ventilation, and piping were installed with an outside bulk feed line.  These improvements make the delivery of chlorine significantly safer and more convenient.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the water department.

Thank you for your time.

Source Water Information

The Village of Ashville’s Water Department receives its drinking water from two (2) wells located at the village-owned and operated facility. A third (3rd) well is located south of the village on Viking Way. These wells obtain raw water from the Teays Valley Aquifer.  Aquifers are porous underground formations (such as sand or gravel) that are saturated with water.       

 

 

The Teays River network, which existed prior to disruption by glaciers during the Last Ice Age. Reconstruction is based on the discovery of large buried valleys in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana and other evidence.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teays_River

Links to information about Ohio Aquifersor click on above image. http://epa.ohio.gov/Portals/28/documents/ gwqcp/Aquifer&Geochem_ts.pdf https://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/portals/ geosurvey/PDFs/GeoFacts/geof10.pdf

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has developed a program called Ohio's Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) which is designed to protect our sources of drinking water. Through this program, the Ohio EPA has endorsed “the Delineation and Potential Contaminant Source Inventory components of the Village of Ashville’s drinking water source protection plan as meeting the requirements of the Ohio Wellhead Protection and Source Water Assessment and Protection Programs”.  According to this study, the aquifer (water-rich zone) that supplies water to the Village of Ashville has a high susceptibility to contamination.  This determination is based on the following:

• presence of a relatively thin protective layer of clay/shale/other overlying the aquifer,
• shallow depth (less than 50 feet below ground surface) of the uppermost aquifer, and
• presence of significant potential contaminant sources in the protection area.

This susceptibility means that under currently existing conditions, the likelihood of the aquifer becoming contaminated is relatively high.  This likelihood can be minimized by implementing appropriate protective measures. More specifically this report identified seven (7) potential significant sources of contamination within the one-year capture zones. They include: (1)sanitary sewer lines, (2,3,4) source wells, (5)natural gas line, (6) Ashville Park, and (7) municipal road maintenance.

Should you need to find your Source Water Assessment Information, the report can be accessed at Ohio EPA’s website, utilizing the Interactive Web Map located at http://epa.ohio.gov/ddagw/swap.aspx  and selecting “Drinking Water Source Assessment Area” in the box under the “Quick Links”. When the map appears, you can search by your water system name or by your 7-digit PWS ID number which begins with “OH”. You can also type your 7-digit PWS ID into the following link in place of the X’s:  http://wwwapp.epa.ohio.gov/gis/swpa/OH6500012.pdf .

      

 

 

More information about the source water assessment or what consumers can do to help protect the aquifer is available by calling Jim Welsh or Franklin Christman at 740-983-6367. The SWAP can be found at http://wwwapp.epa.ohio.gov/gis/swpa/OH6500012.pdf 

1. Water Main            2. Water Tap            3. Water Laterial            4 & 5. Curb Shut Off Valve            6, 7 & 8. Meter Set-up

Special Precaution Needs

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 infection.  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).

What are sources of contamination to drinking water?

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: (A) Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations and wildlife; (B) 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; (C) Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses; (D) 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; (E) 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,

USEPA prescribes regulations which limit the number of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems.  FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which 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 Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

Lead Educational Information and Tier 3 Reporting

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. The village of Ashville’s Water Department 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 at 800-426-4791 or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Listed below is information on those contaminants that were found in the Village of Ashville’s Water Department:

Mean Hardness 355.0 mg/L  355,000 ppb

Average Hardness 340.33 mg/L  340,330 ppb

 

Mean Iron Content 0.18 mg/L 180 ppb

Average Iron Content 0.22 mg/L 220 ppb

 

ASHVILLE PWS TABLE OF DETECTED CONTAMINANTS FOR OH6500012
TABLE OF DETECTED CONTAMINANTS
Contaminants (Units)	MCLG	MCL	Level Found		Range of Detections	Violation	Sample Year	Typical Source of Contaminants
Disinfectant and Disinfectant By-Products
Total Chlorine (ppm)	MRDL = 4	MRL = 4	0.0352		0.17-5.55	No	2018	Water additive used to control microbes
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) (ppb)	0	60	6.5		One Sample	No	2018	By-product of drinking water disinfection
Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) (ppb)	0	80	<2.0		One Sample	No	2018	By-product of drinking water disinfection
Inorganic Contaminants
Barium (ppm)	2	2	0.11		One Sample     NA	No	2016	Discharge of drilling wastes; Discharge from metal refineries; Erosion of natural deposits
Fluoride (ppm)	4	4	1.03		One Sample     NA	No	2016	Erosion of natural deposits; Water additive which promotes strong teeth; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories
Nitrate (NO3)/Nitrite (NO2)  (ppb)	10	10	<.10		One Sample     NA	No	2018	Run off from fertilizer use, Leaching from septic tanks, seweage; Erosion of natural deposits
Alachlor (ppb)	0	2	<0.2		One Sample     NA	No	2018	Runoff from herbicide used on row crops
Atraziner (ppb)	3	3	<0.3		One Sample     NA	No	2018	Runoff from herbicide used on row crops
Simazine (ppb)	0	4	0.4		One Sample     NA	No	2018	Herbicide runoff
Organic Contaminants
Contaminants (Units)	MCLG	MCL	Samples		Range of Detections	Violation	Sample Year	Typical Source of Contaminants
Total coliform Bacterial	NA	TT	48		All Negative	No	2018	Naturally present in the environment
Lead and Copper
Contaminants (units)	Action Level (AL)	Individual Results over the AL		90% of test levels were less than		Violation	Year Sampled	Typical source of Contaminants
Lead (ppb)	15 ppb	0		<7		No	2015	Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits
	0 out of 20 samples were found to have lead levels in excess of the lead action level of 15 ppb.
Copper (ppm)	1.3 ppm	1		0.13		No	2015	Erosions of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives; Corrosions of household plumbing systems
	0 out of 20 samples were found to have copper levels in excess of the copper action level of 1.3 ppm.

 

About your drinking water:

The EPA requires regular sampling to ensure drinking water safety.  The Ashville Water Department conducted sampling for {bacteria; inorganic; radiological; synthetic organic; volatile organic} during 2014.  Samples were collected for a total of four (4) different contaminants most of which were not detected in the Ashville Water Department water supply.  The Ohio EPA requires us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently.  Some of our data, though accurate, are more than one year old.

License to Operate (LTO) Information In 2018 ,we have a current unconditional license to operate our water system.

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water – Facts & 4 Reasons to Drink Tap

 

The Rise of Bottled Water

Bottled water has grown more and more popular over the last few decades. The IBWA estimates that in 1976, each American drank 1.6 gallons of bottled water. By 2014, they were drinking more than 21 times as much. Today, more than one out of every six bottled drinks sold in this country is a bottle of water, making bottled water nearly as popular as carbonated soft drinks.

The IBWA attributes the growing popularity of bottled water to health-consciousness. A 16-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola has 190 calories and 52 grams of sugar, while a 16-ounce bottle of water has no calories, no sugar, and no artificial sweeteners. However, that doesn’t explain why consumers are choosing bottled water over tap water, which is also sugar-free and calorie-free.

Taste

One of the most common reasons people give for drinking bottled water is that it tastes better than their local tap water. For instance, in a blind taste test at the offices of Buzzfeed, staffers universally agreed that all the bottled waters they tried were better than the sample of unfiltered Los Angeles tap water, which tasters described as “pool water” and “disgusting.”

However, this result is actually the exception rather than the norm. In most blind taste tests, tap water easily holds its own against bottled waters, even the pricey ones. You can see the same result in numerous cities, both in the U.S. and abroad:

Safety

Many people choose bottled water because of concerns about the safety of their tap water. In many cases, these fears are perfectly reasonable.

Environmental writer Elizabeth Royte, author of the new book, “Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It,” points out in an interview with NPR that more than 10% of the community water systems in the U.S. don’t meet the standards set by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Also, about 10% of all Americans get their water from private wells, which aren’t covered under the SDWA. That means about 60 million Americans are getting tap water that may or may not be safe to drink.

However, choosing bottled water isn’t really a solution. According to the EPA, the standards for bottled water in the U.S. are exactly the same as those for tap water – and bottled water isn’t subject to the same reporting standards as tap water. Under the SDWA, municipal water systems must send users a consumer confidence report once per year telling them where their water comes from and whether it meets federal standards.

Bottled water, by contrast, is considered a food product and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Under FDA rules, bottled water doesn’t usually have to state what source it comes from or what methods were used to treat it. A 2009 investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that only “a small percentage” of all bottled water companies give their customers access to the same information about their water that municipal water suppliers are required to provide.

The FDA monitors and inspects water bottling plants, but it considers this job a “low priority” and doesn’t do it on any kind of regular schedule. Moreover, if a bottler fails to meet federal safety standards, it can still sell the water. All it has to do is put a statement on the label, such as “contains excessive bacteria” or “excessively radioactive.” In 1999, the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, tested 1,000 bottles of water from 103 different brands and found that for about one-third of them, at least one sample was over the allowable limits for synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, or arsenic.

Germs are particularly likely to cause problems in bottled water. As the World Health Organization explains in its 2008 Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality, “Some microorganisms that are normally of little or no public health significance may grow to higher levels in bottled water.” Food Safety News reports that in June 2015, 14 different brands of bottled water had to be recalled because of possible contamination with E. coli bacteria.

Fortunately, no one was sickened by this water, but problems with bottled water aren’t always caught in time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists 14 outbreaks of acute gastrointestinal illness caused by bottled water between 1973 and 2010.

Sustainability

When it comes to taste and safety, bottled water isn’t necessarily worse than tap water – it just isn’t better. However, when it comes to its environmental impact, tap water is definitely far greener.

The environmental costs of bottled water include the following:

• Water Scarcity. Fiji Water isn’t the only brand that comes from a place where water resources are limited. Many American brands get their water from drought-ridden California. Arrowhead and Crystal Geyser tap natural springs in the California mountains, while Aquafina and Dasani draw on the municipal water supply in California cities, according to an investigation by The Desert Sun. In fact, The Desert Sun reports that Nestle Waters North America gets its Arrowhead water from a spring in the San Bernadino National Forest using a permit that officially expired in 1988. To add insult to injury, the companies use still more water in the manufacturing process. A representative of the Coca-Cola company admitted to Mother Jones that its plants use 1.63 liters of water for every liter of bottled beverages they produce in California – including Dasani bottled water.
• Toxic Chemicals. Most water bottles are made from a kind of plastic called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. Manufacturing this type of plastic produces a variety of toxic chemicals into the air, including nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, and benzene. According to a report by the Berkeley Plastics Task Force, making a 16-ounce bottle out of PET creates more than 100 times as much air and water pollution as making the bottle out of glass. Worse still, some of the toxic chemicals in the plasticcan leach out over time into the water inside – particularly if the bottle is rinsed and reused.
• Energy Use. Bottled water uses energy at every stage of production: treating the water, manufacturing the bottles, filling them, shipping them, and keeping the water cold. The Pacific Institutecalculated in 2007 that just producing the bottles for the bottled water Americans drink used the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil. A 2009 Pacific Institute report, published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters, concludes that across its entire life cycle, bottled water takes anywhere from 1,100 to 2,000 times as much energy to produce as tap water.
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Anything that uses fossil fuels also creates greenhouse gases. The Pacific Institute estimates that the manufacturing of plastic water bottles alone produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2006 – not even counting the emissions from shipping the bottles. According to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, that gives water bottles a carbon footprintequal to more than half a million passenger vehicles.
• Packaging Waste. The Pacific Institutecalculates that about 3.8 million tons of PET are used each year to make water bottles – and only about 31% of that PET gets recycled, according to a 2012 EPA fact sheet. The rest ends up in landfills or gets burned (releasing toxic chemicals such as dioxin in the process), or simply gets tossed aside as litter. Many discarded plastic bottles eventually make their way into the oceans, where they can prove deadly to fish, seabirds, and other creatures that swallow them.

Final Word

Water is a necessity of life. In a world where so many people have to trek miles every day to fetch their water from the nearest stream, Americans are very lucky to live in a country where clean, safe water is available at the turn of a tap. It’s just common sense to take advantage of this great privilege, instead of shelling out money for something that comes into our homes practically free.

That’s not to say that drinking bottled water is always a bad idea. For instance, when a flood or a broken pipe interrupts the local water supply, bottled water can be a literal lifesaver. Similarly, if you’re out at a concert or a ball game and you need to buy a drink, choosing a bottle of water instead of a bottle of soda is definitely the right choice for your health. However, when you have a choice between bottled water and tap water, either filtered or unfiltered, drinking from the tap is a better choice for your wallet and for the planet.

The source of this information is the 

Definitions of some terms contained within this report.

• 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.
• Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest level of contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.  MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
• Parts per Million (ppm)  or Milligrams per Liter (mg/L) are units of measure for concentration of a contaminant.  A part per million corresponds to one second in approximately 11.5 days. 
• Parts per Billion (ppb) or Micrograms per Liter (μg/L) are units of measure for concentration of a contaminant.  A part per billion corresponds to one second in 31.7 years.
• Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
• Action Level Goal (ALG): The level of contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. ALGs allow for a margin of safety.
• Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG): The level of drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health.  
• Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL): The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water.  
• Million Fibers per Liter (MFL) millirems per year (mrem/year)pico Curies per liter is a measure of radioactivity = pCi/L.
• The “<“ symbol: A symbol which means less than.  A result of <5 means that the lowest level that could be detected was 5 and the contaminant in that sample was not detected.

Vulnerability Assessment Report

Ohio EPA recently completed a study of the Village of Ashville's source of drinking water to identify potential contaminant sources and provide guidance on protecting the drinking water source. According to this study, the aquifer (water-rich zone) that supplies water to the Village of Ashville has a high susceptibility to contamination. This determination is based on the following:

• Presence of a relatively thin protective layer of clay/shale/other overlying the aquifer,
• shallow depth (less than 50 feet below ground surface) of the uppermost aquifer, and
• presence of significant potential contaminant in the protection area.

Susceptibility means that under currently existing conditions, the likelihood of the aquifer becoming contaminated is relatively high. This likelihood can be minimized by implementing appropriate protective measures. More information about the source water assessment or what consumers can do to help protect the aquifer is available by calling James Welsh or Franklin Christman at (740) 983-6367.

How do I participate in decisions concerning my drinking water?

We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you want to learn more, please attend our regularly scheduled Village Council meetings. They are held at 6:30 P.M. on the first and third Monday of each month at 200 East Station Street.

For more information on your drinking water contact James Welsh or Franklin Christman (740) 983–6367.

We are pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets federal and state requirements. This report shows your water quality and what it means. Drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.  The presence of these contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk. Thank you for allowing us to continue providing your family with clean and quality drinking water this year.

New for 2017 - Lead Mapping of Water Distribution System

In 2017 the OhioEPA required municipalities to develop a Lead Water Distribution Map, click below:

Map of Lead for Distribution System

Narrative on the creation of the Map of Lead of Lead for Distribution System

Lead and Copper Monitoring Report

 

Link to the South Bloomfield Consumer Confidence Report (CCR)

Click on the image below to go to South Bloomfield's CCR

 South Bloomfield CCR

Past Consumer Confidence Reports

2017 CCR published in July 2018		2014 CCR published in July 2015		2011 CCR published in July 2012
2016 CCR published in July 2017		2013 CCR published in July 2014		2010 CCR published in July 2011
2015 CCR published in July 2016		2012 CCR published in July 2013		2009 CCR published in July 2010

For more month to month and annual utility department information click on the the image to the right to access the 2018 Water Utility Department Report.

For the Special Environmental Projects (SEP's) completed in 2014 click on the the image to the right to access that information.

For the information about the Water Resources Recovery Facility (WRRF) click on the the image to the right to access that information.