Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2009
Village and Town of Champlain
1104 Route 9, Main Street, Champlain, NY 12919
Village Public Water Supply ID# NY0900211
Town Public Water Supply ID# NY0930006
    INTRODUCTION
To comply with State regulations we will be annually issuing a report describing the quality of your drinking water. The purpose of this report is to raise your understanding of drinking water and awareness of the need to protect our drinking water sources. This report provides an overview of last year’s water quality. Included 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 our Water Operator, Larry Sorrell at (518) 298-4152. We want you to be informed about your drinking water. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled board meetings. The Village Board meets on the second Monday night of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Village offices. The Town Board meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month.  Or contact the Clinton County Health Department.

    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, in some cases, radioactive material, 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 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.

Our drinking water source is drawn from three deep wells.  The wells are 100’ deep with 8” casings. Two wells are used as primary sources and the other is used as a back up source. The Village has studied source water for possible susceptibility to contamination. Please see the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) Summary provided by the State Health Department included in this report for additional information. The well water is disinfected with chlorine prior to distribution. Since 1992, the Village has also added orthophosphate for corrosion control, and to prevent rusty water problems. Village water, like most in our area, is hard water. Many residents have found that installation of a water softener reduces hard water problems, and prevents damage to pipes and furnaces.

    FACTS AND FIGURES
Our water system serves a population of approximately 2,950 persons within the Village, including the NCCS School and the Champlain Border facilities, as well as the Town districts with approximately 150 people.  There are approximately 610 service connections within the system. The total amount of water produced on 2009 was about 60 million gallons.  The amount of water delivered to customers was about 30.4 million gallons.  This leaves an unaccounted for total of about 29.6 million gallons, which was lost due to flushing, fire protection or leakage.  It is recommended that customers retrofit their plumbing with water saving and conservation devices. Upon request, DPW employees will show customers water leak detection procedures that can be easily instituted in the home.  In 2009, water customers were charged the following fees:

ARE THERE CONTAMINANTS IN OUR DRINKING WATER?
As the State regulations require, we routinely test your drinking water for numerous contaminants. These contaminants include: total coliform, asbestos, gross alpha particle activity, nitrate, lead and copper, haloacitic acids, primary inorganic compounds, total trihalomethanes, and synthetic organic compounds, principal organic chemicals, Radium 226 and Radium 228. The table presented below depicts which compounds were detected in your drinking water. The State allows us to test for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Some of our data, though representative, are more than one year old. It should be noted that all drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably 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 Clinton County Health Department at (518) 565-4870.

Notes:
1- Sampling for lead and copper is conducted separately for the Town and Village water districts. The level presented represents the 90th percentile of the 10 sites tested. A percentile is a value on a scale of 100 that indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it.  The 90th percentile is equal to or greater than 90% of the copper values detected at your water system.  In this case, ten samples were collected at your water system and the 90th percentile value was the second highest value (0.739 mg/l).  The action level for copper was not exceeded at any of the sites tested.
2-The level presented represents the 90th percentile of the 10 samples collected. The action level for lead was not exceeded at any of the sites tested.
3- Sampling for total trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids (disinfection by-products) is conducted separately for the Town and Village water districts.
4- Follow up sampling was conducted upon learning of the positive sample and revealed no contamination.
5-These contaminants were detected in Principal Organic Chemicals sampling but are trihalomethanes, so the MCL for these contaminants is calculated by combining the results of four separate contaminants. (Bromodichloromethane, Dibromochloromethane, Bromoform and chloroform)

Definitions:
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible.
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 allow for a margin of safety.
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 contamination.
Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other
requirements which a water system must follow.
Treatment Technique (TT): Required process intended to reduce level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Non-Detects (ND): Laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.
Milligrams per liter (mg/l): Corresponds to one part of liquid in one million parts of liquid.
Micrograms per liter (ug/l): Corresponds to one part liquid in one billion parts of liquid (parts per billion-ppb). Picocuriesper liter (pCi/L): A measure of the radioactivity in water.
BRL:  Below reportable limits

WHAT DOES THIS INFORMATION MEAN?
As you can see by the table we have learned through our testing that some contaminants have been detected; however, these contaminants were detected below the level allowed by the State.

IS OUR WATER SYSTEM MEETING OTHER RULES THAT GOVERN OPERATIONS?
Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not your drinking water meets health standards. New York State Sanitary Code requires that microbiological samples be collected from our distribution system each month and be analyzed for Total Coliform Bacteria. Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other potentially harmful bacteria may be present.  We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. During 2009, our systems were in compliance with applicable State drinking water operating, monitoring and reporting requirements except that Town of Champlain Water District had a violation for failure to collect Lead and Copper samples in 2009 within the monitoring period. This sampling will be conducted in 2010. Both the Town and the Village Water Districts were issued violations because the recently developed Cross Connection Control Law has not yet been enacted.

DO I NEED TO TAKE SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS?
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 HJV/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 at
(800-426-4791).

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 wells, pumping systems and water towers; 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 15gallons for every cycle, regardless of how many dishes are loaded.  So get a run for your money and load 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 up 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 15minutes, if it moved, you have a leak.

    Champlain Village-(PWS# NY0900211): Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) Summary for AWOR
The NYS DOH has completed a source water assessment for this system, based on available information.  Possible and actual threats to this drinking water source were evaluated. The state source water assessment includes a susceptibility rating based on the risk posed by each potential source of contamination and how easily contaminants can move through the subsurface to the wells. The susceptibility rating is an estimate of the potential for contamination of the source water, it does not mean that the water delivered to consumers is, or will become contaminated. See section “Are there contaminants in our drinking water?” for a list of the contaminants that have been detected. The source water assessments provide resource managers with additional information for protecting source waters into the future.

As mentioned before, our water is derived from 3 drilled wells. The source water assessment has rated these wells as having a high susceptibility to enteric bacteria, enteric viruses, herbicides/pesticides, and nitrates. These ratings are due primarily to the close proximity of permitted discharge facilities (industrial/commercial facilities that discharge wastewater into the environment and are regulated by the state and/or federal government), and residential properties within the assessment area. The source water assessment has also rated these wells as having a medium-high susceptibility to halogenated solvents, metals, nitrates, industrial organics, petroleum products, and protozoa. These ratings are given because the wells are located in an area that may be prone to flooding.   ease note that, while the source water assessment rates our wells as being susceptible to microbials, our water is disinfected to ensure that the finished water delivered into your home meets the New York State drinking water standards for microbial contamination. A copy of the assessment, including a map of the assessment area, can be obtained by contacting us, as noted.

Closing: We ask that all our customers help us protect our water sources, which are the heart of our community. If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this report, please do not hesitate to contact our Public Works Department at (518)298-4152.