Water Quality as a Priority

Water quality continues to be a priority for the Calleguas Municipal Water District. Our mission since the 1950s has been to provide our service area with a reliable supply of high quality, imported drinking water. A team of highly trained professionals works hard to ensure that Calleguas’ water supply meets all state and federal water quality standards. This brochure provides information about the sources and quality of the water delivered by Calleguas in 2006. Included are details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to state and federal standards.

During the year, multiple tests for over 150 drinking water contaminants were performed on Calleguas’ water supply to determine concentrations of mineral, physical, bacteriological, inorganic, organic, and radioactive constituents. Once again, we are proud to report that our system did not violate any water quality standards. For additional information on the quality of water delivered by Calleguas, please contact Tony Goff at (805) 579-7138 or visit our website at www.calleguas.com.

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 USEPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

General Information About Source Water

he 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 before we treat it include:

• 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, that 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, that 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, that are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, agricultural application, and septic systems.
• Radioactive contaminants that can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

Our Treated Water

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the State Department of Health Services (Department) prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Department regulations also establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same protection for public health.

Calleguas achieves these standards through vigilant watershed protection and treatment techniques used at Metropolitan’s Jensen Plant as well as Calleguas’ Lake Bard Water Filtration Plant. A good indicator of the effectiveness of our filtration system is the measurement of turbidity. Turbidity, or the cloudiness of water, is listed in the tables included in this report.

Drinking Water Fluoridation

In fall 2007, Calleguas’ wholesale water provider, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, is scheduled to join a majority of the nation’s public water suppliers in adding fluoride to drinking water in order to prevent tooth decay. In line with recommendations from the California Department of Health Services, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Metropolitan will adjust the natural fluoride level in the water, which historically ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 parts per million, to the optimal range for dental health of 0.7 to 0.8 parts per million.

Fluoride has been added to U.S. drinking water supplies since 1945. Of the 50 largest cities in the U.S., 43 fluoridate their drinking water.

For more information about the benefits of drinking water fluoridation, please visit the following web sites:

The American Dental Association

The American Water Works Association

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention