Customers of the City of Ferndale water utility received a report in the form of a brochure (click for PDF version) via mail recently that detailed results of tap water sample analyses. In some cases, results are from periodic samples and in others from a single annual sample.
According to the city website,
All water purveyors are required to publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report which outlines important information about the drinking water they provide to their customers.
Click for more information
Click for more informationContained in the recently released 2015 report is a table detailing the presence of various substances in the samples. Included in that data is the following:
Substance Amount/Range
DetectedMaximum
LevelArsenic 0.002 ppm 0.01 ppm Barium 0.039 ppm 2 ppm Chlorine 0.6 to 0.8 ppm 4 ppm Copper (tested in 2015) 0 to 0.134 ppm 1.3 ppm Lead (tested in 2015) 0 to 0.003 ppm 0.015 ppm Total Coliform 0 positive samples (of 132 taken) 1 positive samples Nitrate 0 positive of 1 sample 10 ppm Haloacetic Acids 2.1 to 7.9 ppb 60 ppb Total Trihalomethanes 11.3 to 44.8 ppb 80 ppb
The data provided reveals none of the ‘nasties’ on the list are appearing in the tap water at levels near to the allowed maximums.
Comparing the 2015 data with the 2014 data,
Substance 2014 Amt/Range Detected 2015 Amt/Range Detected Measured in “raw water” before treatment Total organic carbon (ppm) 0.50-1.52
(avg 0.71)0.63-1.40
(avg 0.78)Measured in Plant Arsenic (ppm) 0.002 Barium (ppm) 0.039 Free Chlorine (ppm) 0.6 to 0.8 Copper (ppm) Nitrate (ppm) 0 positive of 1 sample Measured in Distribution Total Coliform 0 positive samples of 132 0 positive samples of 132 Copper (ppm) 0 to 0.194 0 to 0.134 Lead (ppm) 0 to 0.16 0 to 0.003 Halo acetic acids (ppb) 4.9 to 12.1 2.1 to 7.9 Total Trihalomethanes (ppb) 39.5 to 77.0 11.3 to 44.8
In all cases, the amounts detected in the 2015 samples were less than or equal to the 2014 samples. In other words, the results in 2015 indicate an improvement over 2014’s data for some items, others stayed the same and no items showed any worsening.