City of McPherson

Quality is our priority. We're pleased to share our annual water quality report covering January 1 through December 31, 2016. Like previous years, we remain committed to delivering the highest quality municipal water possible. We continue to meet the challenges of new regulations, protect our water sources, promote conservation, and engage in community education while serving our customers' needs.

The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) serves nearly 6,000 water customers in our service area, including four rural water districts. This water quality report, provided as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendment of 1996, details the quality of your municipal water.

Where Does My Water Come From?
McPherson's sole water source is an underground aquifer called the Equus Beds. This aquifer spans portions of a four-county area, approximately 900,000 acres in size. Water is drawn from 12 underground wells surrounding the City of McPherson.

Potential Water Contaminants
The EPA establishes regulations limiting contaminant levels in public water systems to ensure safety. Similarly, FDA regulations set limits for bottled water. All drinking water, including bottled varieties, may contain small amounts of certain contaminants, though this doesn't necessarily indicate a health risk.

Water sources (both tap and bottled) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over land or underground, it dissolves natural minerals, sometimes radioactive materials, and substances from animal or human activity.

Possible contaminants include:

• Microbial Contaminants: Viruses and bacteria from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations, or wildlife
• Inorganic Contaminants: Salts and metals occurring naturally or from urban runoff, wastewater discharges, oil/gas production, mining, or farming
• Pesticides and Herbicides: From various sources including agriculture, urban runoff, and residential uses
• Organic Chemical Contaminants: Synthetic and volatile organic chemicals from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, urban runoff, or septic systems
• Radioactive Contaminants: Naturally occurring or resulting from oil/gas production and mining

For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, call the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Lead in Home Plumbing
Elevated lead levels can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in tap water primarily comes from materials in service lines and home plumbing. While we provide high-quality water, we can't control plumbing component materials. When water sits unused for several hours, minimize lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If concerned, consider water testing. Information about lead in water, testing methods, and exposure minimization is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at www.EPA.gov/lead.

Water Conservation Tips

• Dishwashers use 15 gallons per cycle regardless of load size - run full loads only
• Turn off taps while brushing teeth
• Check for leaky faucets - even slow drips waste 15-20 gallons daily (6,000 gallons yearly)
• Test toilets for leaks with food coloring - undetected leaks can waste 100 gallons daily (30,000 gallons yearly)
• Use your water meter to detect hidden leaks by turning off all water uses and checking if the meter moves after 15 minutes

Naturally Occurring Bacteria
Bacteria and microorganisms exist everywhere - in our food, on our skin, in our bodies, and in the environment, soil, and water. Some are harmful while others aren't. During the year, we regularly tested numerous water samples for coliform bacteria, with none testing positive. Federal regulations require additional testing for fecal coliform when coliform is detected. Fecal coliform, found only in human and animal waste, can cause illness and should never be present in drinking water. Our testing confirms no fecal coliform exists in our water.

Protecting Your Water
The EPA's Revised Total Coliform Rule (2016) requires additional steps to ensure drinking water distribution system integrity by monitoring for bacteria like total coliform and E. coli. This rule imposes stricter standards and requires vulnerable water systems to implement contamination prevention procedures. The EPA expects greater public health protection under this preventive approach to identifying and resolving issues. Though our drinking water quality is excellent, we aim to eliminate all potential contamination pathways into our distribution system, and this rule supports that goal.

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