Your Water Quality Report
Walker County Water
2018 Consumer Confidence Report
The Walker County Water & Sewerage Authority is pleased to report that your community's drinking water met or exceeded all safety and quality standards set by the State Of Georgia and EPA during the previous year. This 2018 Water Quality Report provides our customers with detailed accounts of all the monitoring and testing results gathered from water quality testing during the previous year. Our employees are committed to providing you with safe dependable tap water on a year round basis.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
You are invited to participate in our public board meetings and voice your concerns about your drinking water. We meet at 6:00PM every second Tuesday of every month at the Walker County Water & Sewerage Authority,
CONTACT INFORMATION
For more information about this report, or for any questions relating to your drinking water, please call Brandon Whitley, General Manager, at (706) 820-1455 or Randall Haney, Water Production Superintendent, at (706) 375-6603.
Source Water Assessment
A Source Water Assessment is a study, unique to each water system, which provides basic information about drinking water. Source water assessments identify the area of land that impacts the raw water used for drinking water and identifies the major potential sources of contaminant sources. Copies of our Source Water Assessment are available upon request. To receive a copy, please contact Randall Haney at (706) 375-6603 between 9:30 AM and 4:30 PM Mon. - Fri.
Where Does My Water Come From?
The Walker County Water Treatment Plant, located in The City of Chickamauga.
Permitted to treat up to 4.5 million gallons a day.
An average of 1.108 million gallons a day are treated and pumped to the distribution.
Coke Oven Wells, located in The City of Chickamauga.
Permitted to treat 2.8 million gallons a day.
An average of 1.64 million gallons a day are pumped to the distribution.
The Kensington Wells, located in Kensington GA.
Permitted to treat 1.0 million gallons a day.
An average of 585 thousand gallons a day are pumped to distribution.
Treatment Process
Water from the Walker County Water Treatment Plant goes through a series of steps.
Step 1: Withdrawal Process
Raw water is drawn from our water sources (ground water) located at the plant.
Step 2: Microfiltration
Water then goes through 160 Microfiltration Modules. Microfiltration (commonly abbreviated to MF) is a type of physical filtration process where contaminated water is passed through a special pore-sized membrane to separate microorganisms and suspended particles from the water.
Step 3: Disinfection Process
Chlorine is added as a precaution against any bacteria that may still be present. We carefully monitor the amount of chlorine, adding the smallest amount necessary to protect the safety of your water without compromising taste.
Step 4: Additives and Storage
Finally, fluoride (used to promote strong bones and prevent tooth decay) and a corrosion inhibitor (used to protect distribution pipes from scale build up) are added before the water is pumped to a sanitized water storage tank. Water from the Coke Oven Wells and the Kensington Wells do not require the filtration process.
Important Health Information
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 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 (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. EPA/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).
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.
Contaminants that may be present in source water include the following:
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, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm 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 storm water runoff, and residential uses.
Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water 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, EPA prescribes regulations that 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.
Definitions
AL (Action level): The concentration of a contaminate which, if exceeded, triggers Treatment or other requirement which a water system must follow.
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 using the best available treatment technology.”
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 microbiological 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
NA: Not Applicable
NTU Nephelometric Turbidity Units: Measurement of the clarity, or turbidity, of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person
ppb ( parts per billion): One part substance per billion parts water.
ppm (parts per million): One part substance per million parts water.
TT (Treatment Technique): A required process intended to reduce, the level of a contaminant in drinking water
