Title
2021 Water Quality Report
Recommended Action
UAC Deliverable:
Receive a briefing on the City of Olympia’s 2021 Water Quality Report
Report
Issue:
Staff will provide a briefing on Olympia’s annual Water Quality Report and review sampling frequency and test results.
Staff Contact:
Cheri Reimers, Water Quality Specialist, Public Works Water Resources, 360.709.2774
Presenter:
Cheri Reimers
Background and Analysis:
The City of Olympia is proud of its great drinking water. Staff work diligently to provide safe and reliable drinking water to our customers. The City is in 100 percent compliance with all state and federal drinking water quality standards.
Water systems are required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), per the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), to provide annually a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) by July 1st. Olympia’s CCR is called the Water Quality Report (WQR) and is posted on the City’s website and is announced in the March/April edition of the Five Things utility insert (see link in attachments). Customers can view/print a copy from the website or can request a hard copy to be mailed to them.
Water Quality Test Results
The City is required to provide the most current water quality test results in the WQR. The City continues to meet or exceed all state and federal drinking water regulations. Pages 1-4 of the 2021 WQR report show test results for:
• Water supply system samples
• Lead and Copper test results
• pH
• Source inorganic compounds
• Alkalinity and pH readings
A list of contaminants the City is required to test for, per state and federal regulations, is also posted to the website (see attached hyperlink). The frequency of testing is every one to ten years depending on the regulations and if contaminants are detected. The City is only required to report on contaminants with detections in the annual WQR.
The annual water quality sampling schedule provides guidance on all the samples to be taken for the year. It breaks down daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual sampling requirements plus reporting dates for Department of Health (DOH), Ecology and EPA if required that year.
Unregulated Contaminants Monitoring Rule (UCMR)
UCMR sampling is required under the SDWA. Every six years the EPA chooses a list of contaminants that are suspected to be in drinking water and do not have health-based standards to regulate them. The results from UCMR sampling provides the EPA and others with data to assess population exposure. EPA then follows a process to determine if the contaminant should be regulated. There have been 4 UCMR sampling events and a fifth sampling event is scheduled in the near future:
• UCMR 1 occurred between 2001 and 2005. It looked at 26 contaminants including fuel additives, herbicides, insecticides and a few personal care products (PCP).
• UCMR 2 occurred between 2007 and 2011. It looked at 25 contaminants including two insecticides, 5 flame retardants, 3 explosives, 9 herbicides, and 6 nitrosamines.
• UCMR 3 occurred between 2012 and 2016. It looked at 30 contaminants including 7 volatile organics (VOC), 1 synthetic organic compounds (SOC), 6 metals, 1 defoliant, 6 polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) compounds, 7 hormones, and 2 viruses
• UCMR 4 occurred between 2017 and 2021. It looked at 30 contaminants including, 10 cyanotoxins (algae), 2 metals, 9 pesticides, 3 disinfection products groups, 3 alcohols, and 3 semi-volatile organic chemicals.
• UCMR 5 will occur between 2022 and 2026 focusing on 29 per- and PFAS substances and Lithium.
While the EPA continues looking at regulating PFAS the State DOH has moved forward with regulating some of these contaminants and is in the process of setting a State Action Level (SAL). The regulations should be completed by the end of 2021 and sampling will likely coincide with the UCMR 5 sampling between 2023 and 2025.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known): The community is very interested the quality of its drinking water. The WQR report is available online and staff speak to customers over the phone if they have specific questions.
Options: None at this time. Briefing only.
Financial Impact: Sampling costs are paid for by the Drinking Water Quality operating budget.
Attachment:
Link to 2021 Water Quality Report
Link to List of Contaminants