HERITAGE RANCH COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT

HERITAGE RANCH COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT FOR WATER

Heritage Ranch Community Services District is responsible for the safe supply of water to the community of Heritage Ranch. We test your drinking water for many constituents as required by State & Federal Regulations. This report shows the results of our monitoring for the 2008 calendar year.

Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua potable.
Tradúzcalo ó hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.

Report summary: There were no contaminants exceeding state imposed primary drinking water limits nor any violations of any treatment or monitoring and reporting requirements.

Dear Customer,

The water source for Heritage Ranch is surface water from the Nacimiento River, approximately 3,000 feet downstream from Lake Nacimiento. Well Number 1, located in the Nacimiento River, delivers water to our water treatment plant to remove any contaminants and adds chlorine as a disinfectant to protect you against microbial contaminants. The Jim McWilliams Water Treatment Plant is a state of the art facility operated by our own State Certified Treatment Operators who are dedicated to provide you with a safe and clean supply of drinking water. We conduct hundreds of tests every year for over 80 possible contaminants in your drinking water. The District performed a sanitary survey and source water assessment update in December 2005. This brochure is intended to provide you information because informed customers are our best allies. The Heritage Ranch Community Services District Board of Directors meet on the third Thursday of every month at 4:00 pm. at the District Office located at 4870 Heritage Road. For more information about your drinking water, call John D’Ornellas, Manager, at the District office at 227-6230, email contact.us@heritageranchcsd.com.

TERMS USED IN THIS REPORT:

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.

Primary Drinking Water Standards (PDWS): MCLs for contaminants that affect health along with their monitoring and reporting requirements, and water treatment requirements.

Secondary Drinking Water Standards (SDWS): MCLs for contaminants that affect taste, odor, or appearance of the drinking water. Contaminants with SDWSs do not affect the health at the MCL levels.

ND: not detectable at testing limit

ppm: parts per million or milligrams per liter (mg/L)

ppb: parts per billion or micrograms per liter (ug/L)

ppt: parts per trillion or nanograms per liter (ng/L)

pCi/L: picocuries per liter (a measure of radiation)

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.

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 (USEPA).

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL): The level of a disinfectant added for water treatment that may not be exceeded at the consumer’s tap.

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG): The level of a disinfectant added for water treatment below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs are set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Regulatory Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.

Variances and Exemptions: Department permission to exceed an MCL or not comply with a treatment technique under certain conditions.

General Information about Drinking Water

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.

All 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 the water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

· Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

· 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.

· Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.

· 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, and septic systems.

· Radioactive contaminants, which 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, USEPA and the state Department of Public Health (Department) prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Department regulations also establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same protection for public health. We treat our water according to Department regulations. The purpose of this report is to let you know of any detected chemicals or other constituents. As the report summarized below, there were no violations of Primary Drinking Water standards in 2008.

Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 list all of the drinking water contaminants that were detected during the most recent sampling for the constituent. The presence of these contaminants in the water does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. The Department requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants are not expected to vary significantly from year to year. Some of the data, though representative of the water quality, are more than one year old.

Table 1 - sampling results showing the detection of coliform bacteria
Microbiological Contaminants	Highest No. of detections	No. of months in violation	MCL	MCLG	Typical Source of Bacteria
Total Coliform Bacteria	None	None	More than 1 sample in a month with a detection.	0	Naturally present in the environment.
Fecal Coliform or E. coli	None	None	A routine sample and a repeat sample detect total coliform and either sample also detects fecal coliform or E. coli.	0	Human and animal fecal waste.

Table 2 - sampling results showing the detection of Lead and copper
Lead and Copper	Sample Date	No of Sample collected	90^th percentile level detected	No. Sites exceeding AL	AL	PHG	Typical Source of Contaminant
Lead (ppb)	2007	10	< 5	None	15	2	Internal corrosion of household water plumbing systems; discharges from industrial manufacturers; erosion of natural deposits.
Copper (ppm)	2007	10	.62	None	1.3	0.17	Internal corrosion of household water plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives.

TAble 3 - sampling results for sodium and hardness
Chemical or Constituent (and reporting units)	Sample Date	Level Detected	Range of Detections	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	Typical Source of Contaminant
Sodium (ppm)	2008	15		None	none	Generally found in ground and surface water.
Hardness (ppm)	2008	140		None	none	Generally found in ground and surface water.

TAble 4 - detection of contaminants with a Primary Drinking Water Standard
Chemical or Constituent (and reporting units)	Sample Date	Level Detected	Range of Detections	MCL (MRDL)	PHG (MCLG) (MRDLG)	Typical Source of Contaminant
Aluminum (ppm)	2008	.09		1	.6	Erosion of natural deposits; residue from some surface water treatment processes
Fluoride (ppm)	2008	.1		2	1	Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories.
Nitrate (as NO₃) ppm	2008	.9		45	45	Runoff and leaching from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks and sewage; erosion of natural deposits
**TTHMs [Total trihalomethanes] (ppb)	2008	76	44 - 98	80	n/a	By-product of drinking water chlorination.
**Halocetic Acids (ppb)	2008	69	39 - 92	60	n/a	By-product of drinking water disinfection.
**Chlorine (ppm)	2008	.84	.41 – 1.73	4 as Cl₂	n/a	Drinking water disinfection added to treatment.

**Distribution system sampling results.

TAble 5 - detection of contaminants with a Secondary Drinking Water Standard
Chemical or Constituent (and reporting units)	Sample Date	Level Detected	Range of Detections	MCL	PHG (MCLG)	Typical Source of Contaminant
Sulfate (ppm)	2008	40		500	n/a	Runoff/leaching from natural deposits’ industrial wastes.
Total Dissolved Solids [TDS] (ppm)	2008	180		1000	n/a	Runoff/leaching from natural deposits.
Specific Conductance (micromhos)	2008	310		1600	n/a	Substances that form ions when in water; seawater influence.

TAble 5 - detection of contaminants with a Secondary Drinking Water Standard

Chemical or Constituent
(and reporting units)

Sample Date

Level Detected

Range of Detections

MCL

PHG

(MCLG)

Typical Source of Contaminant

Chloride (ppm)

2008

6.8

500

n/a

Runoff/leaching from natural deposits; seawater influence

Turbidity (units)

2008

1.4

n/a

Soil runoff.

Odor – Threshold (units)

2008

n/a

Naturally occurring organic materials.

Color (units)

2008

n/a

Naturally-occurring organic materials

Iron (ppb)

2008

100

300

n/a

Leaching from natural deposits; industrial wastes

Manganese (ppb)

2008

720*

n/a

Leaching from natural deposits.

Summary Information for Contaminants Exceeding an MCL or AL, or a Violation of any Treatment or Monitoring and Reporting Requirements

Manganese was found at levels that exceed the secondary MCL of 50 ppb. The manganese MCL is set to protect you against

unpleasant aesthetics effects such as color and odor and the staining of plumbing fixtures. The high manganese effect

occurred in May 2008 and may have been due to the low reservoir level we are experiencing. To combat the manganese in

our water, increased pre filter chlorination was started that resulted in oxidizing and removing the manganese during the

filtering process. This treatment resulted in reducing manganese levels in the distribution system to a range of 50 - 60 ppb.

Source Water Assessment

The District performed an update to the watershed sanitary survey in December 2005. None of the issues identified in the

original 1995 survey have changed. Our water source is vulnerable to cattle, recreation, and wild land fire. If you would like

to view the complete assessment please contact the District office at (805) 227-6230.

Table 7 - sampling results showing TREATMENT OF SURFACE WATER SOURCES
Treatment Technique ^(a): Our drinking water treatment plant is a direct filtration system including flocculation, coagulation, filtration and disinfection. This process is intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Turbidity Performance Standards ^(b) (that must be met through the water treatment process) Turbidity (measured in NTU) is a measurement of the cloudiness of water and is a good indicator of water quality and filtration performance. Turbidity results which meet performance standards are considered to be in compliance with filtration requirements.	Turbidity of the filtered water must: 1 - Be less than or equal to 0.5 NTU in 95% of measurements in a month. 2 - Not exceed 1.0 NTU for more than eight consecutive hours. 3 - Not exceed 5.0 NTU at any time.
Lowest monthly percentage of samples that met Turbidity Performance Standard No. 1.	100% of samples met Standard No 1
Highest single turbidity measurement during the year.	.1 NTU
The number of violations of any surface water treatment requirements.	None

(a) A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

(b) Turbidity (measured in NTU) is a measurement of the cloudiness of water and is a good indicator of water quality and filtration performance. Turbidity results which meet performance standards are considered to be in compliance with filtration requirements.

Additional General Information On Drinking Water

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 the water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the USEPA’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. USEPA/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).