2007 Annual Water Quality Report

Public Health Protection

The availability of safe drinking water is one of the greatest public health advances of the 20th century and one of the most important reasons people are living longer. In the United States you can drink safely from virtually any public tap.

Fire Protection

A well-maintained water system is critical for fire protection. The ability to suppress fires influences new home construction, business location decisions, insurance rates and your personal safety. MCWA provides and maintains over 23,000 fire hydrants to help protect you and your property.

Support for the Economy

Our homes and businesses can not do without a safe and reliable water supply. Unlike many places around the world and the U.S., our area is fortunate to have ample water resources.

The Monroe County Water Authority is the third largest water supplier in New York State and one of the 60 largest water suppliers in the United States. The Authority is a public benefit corporation organized in 1950 under the New York State Public Authorities Law. Our sole purpose is to provide you with quality water and reliable service at an affordable price.

Source and Treatment
Our primary water source is Lake Ontario which is treated at our Shoremont Plant in Greece. We also operate the Corfu Plant, a small well supply in the Village of Corfu. In addition, we purchase water from the Town of Ontario, the City of Batavia, the City of Rochester, and the Erie County Water Authority (ECWA). The Distribution System Map shows the typical service area for the treatment plants. The boundary between Lake Ontario and purchased water can vary greatly depending on demand and system configuration. Service is provided on a retail or wholesale basis. In retail areas the Authority supplies the water, maintains the distribution system and bills the customer directly. In wholesale areas, a municipality or water district buys some or all of its water from the Authority, but maintains its own distribution and customer billing systems.

The New York State Health Department has evaluated the susceptibility of water supplies statewide to potential contamination under the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP). In general the Great Lakes sources used by Shoremont, ECWA and the Town of Ontario are not very susceptible because of the size and quality of the Great Lakes. Hemlock and Canadice Lakes which are used by the Hemlock plant are also not very susceptible because of size and the system’s controlled watershed. The well water used by the Corfu Plant is more susceptible but the confined nature of the aquifer provides protection against the few nearby potential contaminant sources. Tonawanda Creek and the well water used by the City of Batavia plant are much more susceptible because of the smaller water shed and the number of potential contaminant sources in it. Because storm and waste water contamination are potential threats to any source water, the water provided to our customers undergoes rigorous treatment and testing prior to its delivery.

The Shoremont Plant and the purchased water producers all use a treatment process: coagulation, filtration and disinfection. Coagulants are added to clump together suspended particles, enhancing their removal during filtration. Chlorine is used to disinfect the water and to provide the residual disinfectant that ensures the sanitary quality of the water as it travels from each plant to your home. Fluoride is also added to help prevent tooth decay. The treatment process at the Corfu Water Plant consists of filtration, softening and disinfection with chlorine.

These plants are in full compliance with all New York State and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) operational, monitoring, and reporting requirements.

For more information on the State’s Source Water Assessment plant and how you can help protect the source of your drinking water contact MCWA Customer Service at 585-442-7200 or check our SWAP page.

News
No Rate Increase: For the last 10 years our residential water rate increases have averaged less than 1.6% a year, much less than inflation. In fact, in 2007 and 2008 there was no rate increase at all.

Pharmaceuticals: Recently the AP published the results of their investigation into available test data showing that pharmaceutical residues can be measured in many drinking water supplies across the nation. These results highlight the need for the Federal government to move quickly to address the means and methods to protect our Nation’s aquifers and waterways from such discharges. Water is one of our most precious natural resources; it serves as a source of our region’s economic vitality, and we need to continue to step-up to address all new threats to its purity as they arise.

The regulatory agencies assure us that, while measurable with today’s advanced technologies, they do not believe a public health hazard is present at these extremely minute levels. Nonetheless, the Water Authority will continue to work proactively and diligently to provide the area with a safe and secure water supply.

All of the state-of-the-art water treatment plants that supply our system include the process of adsorption, using granular activated carbon just prior to filtration. This process is known to be effective in the treatment of many pharmaceuticals and like constituents. Just recently, MCWA, as part of a team lead by an international consulting firm and the University of Illinois, was selected by the American Water Works Association Research Foundation to complete an evaluation of this process for treatment of trace organic contaminants. Sample collection and analysis is underway. This study will have national implications and will put us in the best possible position to understand and address this very important issue.

The Water Authority urges the Federal government to take the lead in developing a national program to provide consumers with an easy way to dispose of unused prescriptions. Likewise, they should revise federal guidelines that currently encourage consumers to flush certain unused prescriptions down the sewer system. Congress should pass legislation directing EPA to promptly develop standards, and the corresponding laboratory methods, for discharges containing pharmaceuticals to the environment and for the testing of public water supplies for pharmaceuticals.

For more news see MCWA News

Water Quality 

Drinking water sources (both tap and bottled water) include lakes, reservoirs, rivers and streams, springs and wells. As water travels over land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and can pick up substances resulting from animal or human activity. Contaminants that may be present in untreated water include inorganic and organic chemicals, pesticides and herbicides, and radioactive and microbiological contaminants.

In order to ensure that your tap water is safe to drink, the State and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have established regulations that set limits on contaminant levels in water provided by public water systems. These limits are known as Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). The EPA regulations also specify testing, reporting, and public notification requirements for each contaminant. If a water supplier violates a regulation they are required to let you know. The EPA also requires monitoring of unregulated contaminants in order to provide occurrence data for future regulations.

MCWA's testing program substantially exceeds EPA and State Health Department requirements. Our own New York State certified water quality laboratories collect over 6,600 distribution system and 5,000 treatment plant samples each year and perform over 100,000 analyses. In addition, the Monroe County Health Department reviews all of our operating and monitoring data for compliance and independently monitors our distribution system.

Some of the constituents we tested for were detected, but at levels were well below the allowable MCL. A table of detected contaminants and a complete water quality summary are provided for each of the three treatment plants serving our retail and wholesale areas. It’s important to remember all 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 the water poses a health risk. Additional information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

Cryptosporidium and Giardia

Two of the contaminants we're testing for are Cryptosporidium and Giardia. These parasitic protozoans have caused outbreaks of intestinal diseases in the U.S. and overseas. They are common in surface waters and represent a potential health problem for anyone drinking untreated or poorly treated water. In 2006, Cryptosporidium and Giardia were not detected in any of the samples collected at the Shoremont, ECWA, or Town of Ontario Plants. No special precautions are needed by the general population to use our water.

Some people may be more vulnerable to disease-causing microorganisms or pathogens in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as chemotherapy patients, organ transplant recipients, 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 from their health care providers about drinking water. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791) or the Monroe County Health Department, 111 Westfall Road, Rochester, NY 14692 (585-753-5057).

Taste and Odor

You may notice a chlorinous taste and odor in your water. Although some people may find this objectionable, we're required to maintain a chlorine residual in the distribution system to prevent the growth of bacteria. Simply storing water drawn from your tap in a container overnight in your refrigerator will eliminate or reduce the taste. Alternatively, an inexpensive carbon filter will do the same thing, but they should be replaced regularly.

Hardness

Water hardness is a measure of the mineral content of water. Our water, which has a Total Hardness of between 5.6 and 7.6 grains per gallon, is considered "moderately hard". By way of comparison, before they switched to MCWA, many local communities used ground water supplies with Total Hardness values of more than 20 grains per gallon.

Home Treatment Units

Don’t let anyone pressure you into buying something by telling you your water is not safe. The water we provide to you is consistently better than drinking water regulations require.

We passed the lead test! There is no lead in the water we deliver to your home.  (It is possible for water to pick up lead from home plumbing solder or fixtures if it sits in the pipes for a long time, but tests show this is not a problem in our service area.)

Bringing you our most precious resource!