CITY OF FREEPORT

2007 WATER QUALITY REPORT

The Freeport Water & Sewer Commission is pleased to present to you this year’s Water Quality Report. This report is a summary of the quality of water that we provided last year. Included in the report are details about where your water comes from, what it contains and how it compares to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state health standards. We are committed to providing you with information because informed customers are our best allies. For more information about this report, please feel free to visit our web page at http://www.essex1.com/people/fwascmain/fwasc-main.htm or contact Denise Ihrig at 815-233-0111.

During the 2006 calendar year the Water & Sewer Commission conducted tests for close to 100 drinking water contaminants. We are pleased to report that no drinking water quality violations were recorded during 2006. We have learned through our monitoring and testing that some constituents have been detected. The EPA has determined that your water “is safe” at these levels. 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 Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, USEPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.

Unregulated contaminants are those for which EPA has not established drinking water standards. The purpose of unregulated contaminant monitoring is to assist EPA in determining the occurrence of unregulated contaminants in drinking water and whether future regulation is warranted. The Water & Sewer Commission monitored for EPA’s list of unregulated contaminants in May and December of 2003. Results are available by visiting our web page or by calling our water office at 815-233-0111.

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. EPA/CDC guidelines on the appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

While Freeport obtains its water from wells, other sources of drinking water (including both tap and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, reservoirs and springs. 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 human activity. Possible contaminants of source water include: microbial contaminants such as viruses and bacteria, inorganic contaminants such as salts and metals, pesticides and herbicides from residential uses or agricultural runoff, synthetic and volatile organic chemicals from industrial sources and radioactive contaminants from mining or naturally occurring sources.

The Freeport Water Treatment Plant has been in operation since 1882. Through 11,000 services connections, the Water & Sewer Commission supplies an average of 3.5 million gallons per day of treated drinking water to the local population. Most of Freeport’s groundwater is obtained from five municipal wells drilled around the water treatment plant. Two wells are drilled into the glacial and alluvial deposits above the bedrock while the other three wells are in a shallow bedrock aquifer called the Saint Peter Sandstone. A fourth well that was located in the Saint Peter Sandstone was abandoned and sealed according to Illinois Department of Public Health regulations. Raw well water is pumped to the water treatment plant where it undergoes several treatment processes including aeration, chlorination, filtration and fluoridation. An air stripping facility is designed to remove volatile organics from the water supply on an as needed basis.

The most recent well (No. 8) added to the City’s water distribution system was in October 2000. This well obtains water from the St. Peter Sandstone aquifer and the much deeper Ironton-Galesville aquifers. Because the source water is lower in manganese and iron, only the chlorination and fluoridation treatment processes are needed.

To determine Freeport’s susceptibility to groundwater contamination the Illinois Rural Water Association conducted a well site survey in January 2003. The survey identified 33 potential sources of ground water contamination that could pose a hazard to the groundwater utilized by the City of Freeport. Based upon this information, the Illinois EPA determined that Freeport’s source water supply for wells numbers 2 through 7 is susceptible to contamination. The study also determined that the source water for well No. 8 is not susceptible to contamination. As such, the Illinois EPA has provided 5-year recharge area calculations for wells number 2 through 7. The land use within the recharge areas of the wells was analyzed as part of this susceptibility determination. This land use includes residential, commercial and agricultural properties. Additional information on the Source Water Assessment Summary and source water protection efforts recommended by EPA can be found on our web page or by calling our water office at 815-233-0111.

In addition to the informational section of this report, we have included a water quality data table for your review. The table will give you a better picture of the contaminants that were detected in Freeport’s water. A complete listing of the contaminants that were tested for, but not detected can be obtained from our web page. If you would like to learn more about your water utility, please feel free to attend any of our regularly scheduled Board meetings. The meetings are held on the last Tuesday of every month at 5:00 PM. in the City Council Chambers at 230 West Stephenson Street in Freeport, Illinois.

City of Freeport - 2006 Water Quality Data

Definitions: Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLG’s allow for a margin of safety. Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCL’s are set as close to the MCLG’s as feasible using the best available treatment technology. Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, when exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow. Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Abbreviations: ND.: Not detected at testing limits. N/A: Not applicable. ppm: Parts per million or milligrams per liter. ppb: Parts per billion or micrograms per liter. ppt: Parts per trillion or nanograms per liter. pCi/l: picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water. # of positives/month: Number of positive samples per month.

The table below lists all the drinking water contaminants that were detected during the period of January 1 to December 31, 2006. The presence of these contaminants in the water does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. In most cases, the Level Found column represents an average of sampling data collected during the calendar year. The Range of Detections column represents a range of individual sampling results, from lowest to highest that were collected during the calendar year. If a date appears in the Date of Sample column, the Illinois EPA requires monitoring for this contaminant less than once per year. This is because the concentrations do not frequently change. If no date appears in the column, monitoring for this contaminant was conducted during the calendar year.

TEST RESULTS - DETECTED CONTAMINANTS
Contaminant (units)	MCLG	MCL	Level Found	Range of Detections	Violation Y/N	Date of Sample	Likely Source of Contamination
Microbiological Contaminants
Total Coliform Bacteria (# positive samples/month)	0	>1	1	ND. to 1	N		Naturally present in the environment.
Radioactive Contaminants
Beta/Photon Emitters (pCi/L)	0	50	6.3	3.0 to 9.0	N	2003 Data	Decay of natural and man-made deposits.
Alpha Emitters (pCi/L)	0	15	9.5	6 to 13	N	2005 Data	Erosion of natural deposits.
Combined Radium (pCi/L)	0	5	4.95	2.2 to 5.3	N	2005 Data	Erosion of natural deposits.
Radium 226 (pCi/L)	N/A	N/A	2.9	1.3 to 3.0	N	2005 Data	Erosion of natural deposits.
Radium 228 (pCi/L)	N/A	N/A	2.05	0.9 to 2.3	N	2005 Data	Erosion of natural deposits.
Inorganics Contaminants
Barium (ppm)	2	2	0.076	0.048 to 0.076	N		Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits.
Copper (ppm)	1.3	AL=1.3	0.150	0 exceeding AL	N	2005 Data	Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives.
Fluoride (ppm)	4	4 State	1.0	0.9 to 1.2	N		Water additive which promotes strong teeth.
Iron (ppb)	N/A	1000 State	150	ND. to 150	N		Erosion from naturally occurring deposits.
Lead (ppb)	0	AL=15	5	0 exceeding AL	N	2005 Data	Corrosion of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits.
Manganese (ppb)	N/A	150 State	1.7	ND. to 1.7	N		Erosion of naturally occurring deposits.
Nitrate & Nitrite (As Nitrogen) (ppm)	10	10	0.041	ND. to 0.041	N		Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of natural deposits.
Nitrate (As Nitrogen) (ppm)	10	10	0.041	ND. to 0.041	N		Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of natural deposits.
Sodium (ppm)	N/A	N/A	13.0	5.7 to 13.0	N		Erosion of naturally occurring deposits; used as a water softener.
Sulfate (ppm)	N/A	N/A	35.0	18.0 to 35.0	N		Erosion of naturally occurring deposits.
Zinc (ppb)	N/A	5000 State	8	ND. to 8	N		Naturally occurring; discharge from metal factories.
Disinfectants/Disinfection By-Products
TTHM [Total Trihalomethanes] (ppb)	N/A	80	60.3	34.6 to 86.2	N		By-product of drinking water chlorination.
Bromodichloromethane (ppb)	N/A	N/A	16	10 to 23	N		By-product of drinking water chlorination.
Bromoform (ppb)	N/A	N/A	2.0	N.D. to 2.8