Mid-Arkansas Utilities PWA

We're pleased to share this year's Annual Municipal Water Quality Report with you. This document aims to inform you about the quality water and services we provide daily. Our goal is to deliver safe, reliable municipal water, and we want you to understand and participate in our ongoing efforts to improve water treatment processes and protect our valuable water resources.

Our Water Sources: Municipal water (both from taps and bottles) comes from various sources including rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. We purchase treated surface water from Central Arkansas Water, which is sourced from Lake Winona and Lake Maumelle. Both lakes can supply Jackson Reservoir in Little Rock. Water travels through pipelines to the Jack H. Wilson and Ozark Point treatment facilities in Little Rock.

During 2016, we also purchased treated water from Jacksonville Waterworks, which draws from twelve wells in the Quaternary System Aquifer. Jacksonville also obtained water from Central Arkansas Water. Additionally, we purchased water from Lonoke-White County Water, which uses surface water from Greer's Ferry Lake.

Water Safety Assessment: The Arkansas Department of Health has completed a Source Water Vulnerability Assessment for our suppliers. This evaluation summarizes potential contamination risks and serves as a foundation for developing source water protection plans. Based on various assessment criteria, our water sources have been classified as having medium to high susceptibility to contamination.

Potential Contaminants: As water moves across land or through soil, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and may pick up substances from animal presence or human activities. These can include:

• Microbial contaminants (viruses, bacteria) from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations, and wildlife
• Inorganic contaminants (salts, metals) that occur naturally or result from urban runoff, industrial discharge, oil/gas production, mining, or farming
• Pesticides and herbicides from agriculture, urban runoff, and residential uses
• Organic chemical contaminants from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, urban runoff, and septic systems
• Radioactive contaminants that occur naturally or result from oil/gas production and mining

Health Considerations: All municipal water, including bottled varieties, may reasonably contain small amounts of contaminants. While their presence doesn't necessarily indicate a health risk, certain populations may be more vulnerable, including immunocompromised individuals, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, people with HIV/AIDS, some elderly individuals, and infants.

Lead Awareness: If present, elevated lead levels can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead typically comes from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. While we provide high-quality water, we cannot control the materials used in plumbing components. You can minimize potential lead exposure by running your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking, especially when it has been sitting for several hours.

We value our customers and want you to be informed about your water utility. For questions about this report or our water services, please contact Robert Stout, Operations Manager, at 501-982-0734. To learn more, attend our regularly scheduled meetings held on the fourth Wednesday of each month at noon at 26975 Hwy 107 in Cabot.

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