2024 WATER QUALITY REPORT - NORTH SERVICE AREA (NSA) (See Note #1)

DETECTED PRIMARY STANDARDS - Mandatory Health-Related Standards Established by the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board)

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.

Educational Information:

Drinking Water Contaminants:
The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.
Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

1. Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
2. Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, that can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
3. Pesticides and herbicides, that may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
4. Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, that are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater
   runoff, agricultural application, and septic systems.
5. Radioactive contaminants, that can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations and California law also establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that provide the same protection for public health.

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the U.S. EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. U.S.
EPA/Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

State Mandated Information for Lead

Lead:
The Sacramento County Water Agency is conducting an inventory of all water service lines, which are the pipes that connect your building or home to the water main. The purpose of the inventory is to identify the material these service lines and fittings are made of. Pipes containing lead have been banned from being installed in new construction for many years; however, some of the water distribution systems owned and operated by SCWA are old. Some of the pipe has not been identified or is considered an unknown material. You can access online reporting of inventoried pipe material in SCWA's Electronic Annual Reports under "Data Downloads" at
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/ear.html . SCWA's "Lead Assessment Program" and the lead service line inventory is available at https://mapservices.gis.saccounty.gov/portal/apps/sites/#/scwalead-
service-line-inventory.

Lead can cause serious health effects in people of all ages, especially pregnant people, infants (both formula-fed and breastfed), and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and parts used in service lines and
in home plumbing. The Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA) is responsible for providing high quality drinking water and removing lead pipes but cannot control the variety of materials used in the plumbing in your home.
Because lead levels may vary over time, lead exposure is possible even when your tap sampling results do not detect lead at one point in time. You can help protect yourself and your family by identifying and removing lead materials
within your home plumbing and taking steps to reduce your family's risk. Using a filter, certified by an American National Standards Institute accredited certifier to reduce lead, is effective in reducing lead exposures. Follow the instructions provided with the filter to ensure the filter is used properly. Use only cold water for drinking, cooking, and making baby formula. Boiling water does not remove lead from water. Before using tap water for drinking, cooking, or making baby formula, flush your pipes for several minutes. You can do this by running your tap, taking a shower, doing laundry or a load of dishes. If you have a lead service line or galvanized requiring replacement service line, you may need to flush your pipes for a longer period. If you are concerned about lead in your water and wish to have your water tested, contact Aaron Wyley with SCWA by phone [(916)875-5815]. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available at https://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Cryptosporidium:
Cryptosporidium is a microbial pathogen found in surface water (e.g., rivers, lakes and streams) throughout the U.S. SCWA’s monitoring indicates the presence of these organisms in our source water, which is the Sacramento River.
Between May 2015 and April 2017 SCWA took monthly samples for Giardia and Cryptosporidium, as well as turbidity and E. coli. Of the 24 samples taken, only one detected the presence of these organisms. The results ranged from non-detect (ND) to 0.182 Oocysts per liter. The maximum average is below the threshold of 0.075 oocysts per liter. SCWA's surface water is treated with a thorough disinfection and filtration process to remove Cryptosporidium before distribution to the customer; however, the most commonly-used filtration methods cannot guarantee 100 percent removal. Current test methods do not allow us to determine if the organisms are dead or if they are capable of causing disease. Ingestion of Cryptosporidium may cause cryptosporidiosis, an abdominal infection. Symptoms of infection include nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. Most healthy individuals can overcome the disease within a few weeks. However, immune-compromised people, infants and small children and the elderly are at greater risk of developing life-threatening illness. We encourage immune-compromised individuals to consult their doctor regarding appropriate precautions to take to avoid infection. Cryptosporidium must be ingested to cause disease, and it may be spread through means other than drinking water.

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 and sewer collection systems

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.