Huntsville Utilities

MUNICIPAL WATER INFORMATION

Nearly all tap water, including bottled varieties, might contain trace amounts of various contaminants. The presence of these substances doesn't necessarily indicate a health hazard. Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) are established with significant safety margins. To understand potential health impacts from regulated constituents, an individual would need to consume approximately two liters of water daily at the MCL threshold for a lifetime to face a one-in-a-million risk of experiencing the described health effect.

Potential contaminants in water supplies include:

• Microbial contaminants (viruses, bacteria) from sewage facilities, septic systems, agricultural operations, and wildlife
• Inorganic contaminants (salts, metals) that occur naturally or result from urban runoff, wastewater discharges, oil/gas production, mining, or farming
• Pesticides and herbicides from various sources including agriculture, stormwater runoff, and residential usage
• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organics from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, urban runoff, and waste systems
• Radioactive contaminants, either naturally occurring or resulting from oil/gas production and mining

The EPA establishes regulations limiting contaminant levels in public water systems, while FDA regulations set standards for bottled water. Some individuals may be particularly vulnerable to certain water contaminants, including those undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, people with HIV/AIDS or immune disorders, some elderly individuals, and infants.

Huntsville Utilities routinely tests source water for Cryptosporidium and Giardia, which were detected in raw source water at levels of 0-0.18 organisms/Liter. These pathogens typically enter water through animal or human waste. Immunocompromised individuals should consult CDC guidance at www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypto/gen_info/infect_ic.html or contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791. This statement doesn't indicate the presence of these organisms in treated drinking water.

For water systems using surface sources or groundwater influenced by surface water, filtration processes must produce water with turbidity no greater than 0.3 turbidity units (NTU) in 95% of filtered samples monthly, never exceeding 1.0 NTU. Groundwater sources must produce treated water that never exceeds 5.0 NTU.

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