Covina Water Department

Each day, the City of Covina staff work diligently to provide residents with premium quality water, dependable service and competitive rates. This Consumer Confidence Report outlines water quality and testing results from 2017. The report also clarifies the source of your municipal water, potential contaminants that may be found in your tap water, and how Covina water quality compares to regulatory standards.

2017 Water Quality Results
Your tap water undergoes regular testing to ensure safety. The City of Covina routinely examines water from its distribution system for bacterial and chemical contaminants, while the Covina Irrigating Company and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California monitor their water supplied to the City. The 2017 report compares your tap water quality to Federal and State standards. California allows the City to test for certain contaminants less frequently because concentration levels rarely fluctuate. Some data, while representative, may be over one year old.

Your Water Supply Sources
In 2017, approximately 97% of Covina's water came from the Covina Irrigating Company, which filters surface water from the San Gabriel River and untreated imported water from Three Valleys Municipal Water District. About 3% came from imported surface water via the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, sourced from the Colorado River and Northern California's Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers through the Weymouth Plant. Water is treated with chlorine or chloramines before delivery; Covina Irrigating Company also utilizes ultraviolet light (UV) technology for disinfection.

Potential Contaminants in Source Water
Municipal water sources (both tap and bottled) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water moves across land or underground, it dissolves natural minerals, sometimes radioactive materials, and can pick up substances from animal presence or human activity. All water, including bottled water, can reasonably contain at least minimal contaminants. Their presence doesn't necessarily indicate a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects is available at www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water or through the U.S. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Types of Potential Contaminants:
• Microbial contaminants like viruses and bacteria from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations, and wildlife
• Inorganic contaminants such as salts and metals occurring naturally or from urban runoff, wastewater discharges, oil/gas production, mining, or farming
• Pesticides and herbicides from agriculture, urban runoff, and residential usage
• Radioactive contaminants occurring naturally or resulting from oil/gas production and mining
• Organic chemical contaminants including synthetic and volatile organics from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, urban runoff, agriculture, and septic systems

Important Health Information
Some individuals may be more vulnerable to contaminants than the general population. Immunocompromised persons such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, HIV/AIDS patients, some elderly, and infants may face higher infection risks. These individuals should seek advice about municipal water from healthcare providers. U.S. EPA/CDC guidelines on reducing infection risk from Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available at www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water or by calling the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Arsenic Advisory
This notice is issued because in 2017 the City of Covina reported arsenic measurements between 5 and 10 micrograms per liter (µg/L) in the water supply. While your tap water falls well below the 10 µg/L MCL for arsenic, it does contain low levels. The arsenic standard balances current understanding of health effects against removal costs. The U.S. EPA continues researching health effects of low arsenic levels, a mineral known to cause cancer at high concentrations and linked to skin damage and circulatory problems.

Coliform Bacteria Regulations
This report reflects regulatory changes effective in 2016. All water systems must comply with California's Total Coliform Rule and, since April 1, 2016, the Federal Revised Total Coliform Rule. These regulations protect public health by ensuring distribution system integrity and monitoring for microbial presence (total coliform and E. coli bacteria). The U.S. EPA anticipates improved public health protection as vulnerable systems must now identify and fix problems. Systems exceeding certain total coliform frequencies must evaluate for sanitary defects and correct any issues found.

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