SCWA - 2024 Water Quality Report For HOOD & EAST WALNUT GROVE / DELTA ESTATES

DEFINITIONS

Average: The annual average of all tests for a particular substance.
Detection Limit for Reporting: The limit at or above which a contaminant is detected.
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. Primary MCLs are set as close to the PHGs (or MCLGs) as is economically and technologically feasible.
Secondary MCLs are set to protect the odor, taste, and appearance of drinking water.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs are set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL): The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG): The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use
of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.
Primary Drinking Water Standards (PDWS): MCLs, MRDLs and treatment techniques (TTs) for contaminants that affect health, along with their monitoring and reporting requirements.
Public Health Goal (PHG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. PHGs are set by the California Environmental Protection Agency.
Range (Lo - Hi): The range between the lowest and highest values of a specific substance measured throughout the course of the year.
Regulatory Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system must follow.
Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Weighted Average (WTD AVG): An average of water quality samples in which each sample is assigned a weight. Each sample's contribution (or weight) is based on the amount of water the corresponding water source produces
for the whole system. Instead of each of the sample results contributing equally to the final average, some of the results contribute more than others.

STATE MANDATED INFORMATION FOR NITRATE, ARSENIC & LEAD:

Arsenic:
While your drinking water meets the federal and state standard for arsenic, it does contain low levels of arsenic. The arsenic standard balances the current understanding of arsenic's possible health effects against the costs of removing arsenic from drinking water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to research the health effects of low levels of arsenic, which is a mineral known to cause cancer in humans at high concentrations and is linked to other health effects such as skin damage and circulatory problems.
Lead:
If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women, infants and young children; as they are typically more vulnerable to lead in drinking water than the general population. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. The Sacramento County Water Agency is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety for materials used in plumbing components. It is possible that lead levels at your home may be higher than at other homes in the community as a result of materials used in your home’s plumbing. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you do so, you may wish to collect the flushed water and reuse it for another beneficial purpose, such as watering plants. Additional information on lead in drinking water, testing methods and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the USEPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791) or at http://www.epa.gov/lead.

SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT
To help protect the quality of existing and future groundwater supplies, the Drinking Water Source Assessment and Protection (DWSAP) program calls for examining the vulnerability of drinking water sources to potential contamination. The Water Agency completed its latest comprehensive report in May 2019. The Water Agency's report identified the following potential contamination results:
Arden Park Vista & Northgate:
Most vulnerable to commercial types of activities such as the dry cleaning business, gas stations, a sewer collection system and a leaking underground storage tank, electronic manufacturers and photo processors.
Central & South Service Area (CSA & SSA):
Most vulnerabe to activities including automobile-gas stations; boat services/ repair/ refinishing; chemical/ petroleum pipelines; dry cleaners; fleet/ truck/ bus terminal; grazing; historic waste dumps/ landfills; leaking underground storage tanks; other animal operations; pesticides/ fertilizer/ petroleum storage transfer areas; plastics/ synthetics producers; research laboratory; wells-agricultural/ irrigation types; wells-oil, gas, and geothermal types; wood preserving/ treating.
Hood, East Walnut Grove and Delta Estates:
Most vulnerable to irrigated crops and septic systems.
North Service Area (NSA):
Most vulnerable to commercial types of activities such as grazing, known contaminant plumes, low-density septic systems, sewer collection systems and wells-agricultural irrigation types.