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2009 Annual
Drinking Water Report
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Introduction
To comply with State and Federal regulations, 10 NYCRR, Subpart 5-1.72 and 40CFR Part 141, Subpart O, respectively, the city of Troy, Department of Public Utilities is issuing this annual report describing the quality of your drinking water. The purpose of this report is to raise your understanding of drinking water and increase your awareness of the need to protect our drinking water sources. We are proud to report that last year your tap water met all State drinking water health standards and did not violate a maximum contaminant level or any other water quality standard. This report provides an overview of last year’s water quality. Included in the report are details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to State standards.
If you have any questions about this report or concerning your drinking water, please contact the city of Troy, Department of Public Utilities at 237-0319. If you want to learn more, please attend any of the regularly scheduled City Council meetings. The meetings are held the first Thursday of each month in the Council Chambers of the Troy City Hall at 1776 Sixth Avenue.
Where Does Our Water Come From?
In general, 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 can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activities. Contaminants that may be present in source water include: microbial contaminants; inorganic contaminants; pesticides and herbicides; organic chemical contaminants; and radioactive contaminants. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the State Health Department and the EPA prescribe regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The State Health Department’s and the FDA’s regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.
The water source for the city of Troy is the Tomhannock Reservoir, a man made reservoir 6 ½ miles northeast of the city. The reservoir is 5 ½ miles long and holds 12.3 billion gallons when full. The quality of the water from the Tomhannock Reservoir is good to excellent. During 2009, the city did not experience any restriction of our water source. Water flows from the reservoir by gravity where seasonally potassium permanganate is added and then at the Melrose Chlorination Station the water is pre-disinfected with chlorine dioxide. The water then flows to the John P. Buckley Water Treatment Plant (WTP) a conventional water treatment plant utilizing coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, chlorination and fluoridation processes.
The New York State Health Department completed a Source Water Assessment for the Tomhannock Reservoir. It includes a susceptibility rating based on the risk posed by each potential source of contamination and how likely contaminants could enter the reservoir and is only an estimate of the potential for contamination. It does not mean that the water delivered to your home is or will become unsafe to drink. The assessment found an elevated susceptibility to contamination for this source of drinking water. The amount of agricultural lands in the assessment area results in elevated potential for protozoa and pesticides contamination. However, there is reason to believe that land cover data may over estimate the percentage of row crops in the assessment area. While there are some facilities present, permitted discharges do not likely represent an important threat to source water quality, based on their density in the assessment area. In addition, it appears that the total amount of wastewater discharged to surface water in this assessment area is not high enough to further raise the potential for contamination (particularly for protozoa). There is also noteworthy contamination susceptibility associated with other discrete contaminant sources, and these facility types include: mines and closed landfills. Finally, it should be noted that hydrologic characteristics (e.g. basin shape and flushing rates) generally make reservoirs highly sensitive to existing and new sources of phosphorus and microbial contamination.
Facts and Figures
The city of Troy, Department of Public Utilities serves water to approximately 50,000 residents of Troy, as well as the industrial and commercial customers within the city, through over 13,000 service connections. In addition, the city wholesales water to the city of Rensselaer, The Village of Menands, and portions of the Towns of East Greenbush, North Greenbush, Brunswick, and Schaghticoke. The Village of Waterford and Town of Halfmoon have a connection to the city water system, which is used on an as needed basis. The total finished water produced at the water treatment plant in 2009 was 6,181.4 million gallons or an average of 17.0 million gallons a day. Of this, 1,498.5 million gallons were accounted for through metered sales within the city, with the remainder being used for the wholesale customers and the unaccounted for water. The unaccounted for water is estimated to be about 33.4%. In 2009, water customers within the city of Troy were charged $ 3.432 per 1,000 gallons of water.
Are There Contaminants In Our Drinking Water?
Water quality testing is required of all public water systems by Part 5 of the New York State Sanitary Code. According to these requirements, the Department routinely tests your drinking water for numerous contaminants. These contaminants include: total coliform, turbidity, inorganic compounds, nitrate, nitrite, lead and copper, volatile organic compounds, total trihalomethanes, and synthetic organic compounds. The tables below indicate which contaminants were detected and which were not.
It should be noted that all drinking water, including bottled drinking 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 EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426- 4791) or the Rensselaer County Health Department at 270-2664.
What Does This Information Mean?
As you can see by the tables, our system had no violations. We have also learned through our testing that some other contaminants have been detected; however, these contaminants were detected below New York State requirements. They are also indicated in the table below as non-detected contaminants.
Is Our Water System Meeting Other Rules That Govern Operations?
During 2009, our system was in compliance with all applicable State drinking water operating, monitoring and reporting requirements.
Do I Need to Take Special Precautions?
Although our drinking water met or exceeded state and federal regulations, some people may be more vulnerable to disease causing microorganisms or pathogens 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 from their health care provider about their drinking water. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium, Giardia and other microbial pathogens are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
Information of Fluoride Addition
Our system is one of the many drinking water systems in New York State that provides drinking water with a controlled, low level of fluoride for consumer dental health protection. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, fluoride is very effective in preventing cavities when present in drinking water at an optimal range from 0.8 to 1.2 mg/l (parts per million). To ensure that the fluoride supplement in your water provides optimal dental protection, the State Department of Health requires that we monitor fluoride levels on a daily basis. During 2009 monitoring showed fluoride levels in your water were in the optimal range 100 % of the time. None of the monitoring results showed fluoride at levels that approach the 2.2 mg/l MCL for fluoride.
Why Save Water and How to Avoid Wasting It?
Although our system has an adequate amount of water to meet present and future demands, there are a number of reasons why it is important to conserve water:
• Saving water saves energy and some of the costs associated with both of these necessities of life;
• Saving water reduces the cost of energy required to pump water and the need to construct costly new sources, pumping systems and water storage tanks; and
• Saving water lessens the strain on the water system during a dry spell or drought, helping to avoid severe water use restrictions so that essential fire fighting needs are met.
You can play a role in conserving water by becoming conscious of the amount of water your household is using, and by looking for ways to use less whenever you can. It is not hard to conserve water. Conservation tips include:
• Automatic dishwashers use 15 gallons for every cycle, regardless of how many dishes are loaded. Run it only when you have loaded it to capacity.
• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.
• Check every faucet in your home for leaks. Just a slow drip can waste 15 to 20 gallons a day. Fix it and you can save almost 6,000 gallons per year.
• Check your toilets for leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank, watch for a few minutes to see if the color shows up in the bowl. It is not uncommon to lose up to 100 gallons a day from one of these otherwise invisible toilet leaks. Fix it and you save more than 30,000 gallons a year.
• Use your water meter to detect hidden leaks. Simply turn off all taps and water using appliances, then check the meter after 15 minutes, if it moved, you have a leak.
System Improvements
The unloading area at the Water Treatment Plant was reconstructed and upgraded to meet NYSDEC regulations for chemical deliveries.
New equipment and technologies have been installed in the lab for better control and monitoring of chemical applications.
Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO’s)
The city of Troy in cooperation with the city of Albany Water Board, the cities of Cohoes, Rensselaer, Watervliet and the Village of Green Island joined in a venture to develop a CSO’s Long Term Control Plan (LTCP), with the Capital District Regional Planning Commission coordinating the project. This is being done as mandated by the NYSDEC and USEPA to comply with the National CSO Control Policy. The communities mentioned conducted the monitoring, sampling and analysis in the summer of 2008 to identify the issues associated with CSO’s during wet weather events. The results are being used to determine CSO impacts to the receiving water bodies, i.e. Hudson River, and to develop the required LTCP. For more information please visit www.csop.com
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4)
The city of Troy in cooperation with other Rensselaer County communities, the NYSDEC and the EPA have been working with the county and local governments to help control storm water run-off and try to educate and inform the public about stormwater. Stormwater can contribute to pollution of the area waterways (Hudson River) by carrying contaminates and debris from the streets, open areas and illicit discharges to the storm sewers. For questions and brochures please visit:
www.troyny.gov/public_utilities/SWMP.html, www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater or
www.capitaldistrictwaters.org
Closing
Thank you for allowing us to provide your family with quality drinking water in 2009. We will continue to strive, improve and deliver you safe drinking water for years to come. We ask that all our customers help us protect our local water sources, which are the heart of our community and our way of life. The Rensselaer Land Trust is interested in helping us protect the Tomhannock Watershed. For more information visit their website at www.renstrust.org or write to RTLC, PO Box 40, Lansingburgh Station, Troy, NY 12182.
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