West Daviess County Water District

We're proud to present this year's Annual Municipal Water Quality Report. This document aims to inform you about the quality water and services we deliver daily. Our constant goal is to provide you with safe, reliable water service.

Your water isn't sourced directly from the Ohio River. Instead, Owensboro Municipal Utilities (OMU) draws it from an underground aquifer along the Ohio River. This water naturally filters through earth layers before reaching the aquifer. Once collected, OMU processes it through aeration, softening, chlorination, filtration, and adds fluoride and polyphosphate to meet drinking standards.

We then pump this treated water from OMU and distribute it to you, our valued customer. We're pleased to confirm that your tap water is safe and meets all Federal and State requirements.

All municipal water, including bottled varieties, may contain small amounts of some contaminants. Their presence doesn't necessarily indicate a health risk. For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, contact the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

Municipal water sources include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over land or underground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals, sometimes radioactive materials, and can pick up substances from animal or human activity.

Potential contaminants include:

• Microbial contaminants (viruses, bacteria) from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations, and wildlife
• Inorganic contaminants (salts, metals) either naturally-occurring or from urban runoff, wastewater discharges, oil/gas production, mining, or farming
• Pesticides and herbicides from agriculture, urban runoff, and residential uses
• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile compounds from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, urban runoff, and septic systems
• Radioactive contaminants, either naturally-occurring or from oil/gas production and mining

The EPA establishes regulations limiting contaminants in public water systems, while FDA regulations set limits for bottled water to provide equivalent public health protection.

Some individuals may be more vulnerable to water contaminants than the general population. Immunocompromised persons—including cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune disorders, some elderly, and infants—should seek advice about drinking water from healthcare providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on reducing infection risk from cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

For more information about our water system, you can obtain a Source Water Assessment from the Green River Area Development District at 3860 U.S. Highway 60 West. This assessment rated our water supply's susceptibility to contamination sources as moderate, with 2,024 potential sources identified (263 high, 1,746 medium, and 15 low risk).

This report won't be sent to individual customers but is available at our office upon request. We ask that landlords, business owners, and other billing recipients distribute or post this information for all end users.

For questions about this report or our water utility, please contact Keith Krampe, Office Manager, at (270) 685-5594 Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. We encourage customers to attend our regular Public Board meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month at 9:00 AM at our 3400 Bittel Rd. office. Please call to confirm meeting dates.

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