Skip to content

LAKE DURANGO WA 2023 Drinking Water Quality Report Covering Data For Calendar Year 2022

 Public Water System ID: CO0134530

Esta es información importante. Si no la pueden leer, necesitan que alguien se la traduzca.

We are pleased to present to you this year’s water quality report. Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. Please contact TIMOTHY GRAHAM at 970-247-4062 with any questions or for public participation opportunities that may affect water quality.

General Information

All 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 Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791) or by visiting epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immunocompromised 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 of infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, or to receive a copy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and microbiological contaminants call the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (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:

  • Microbial contaminants: viruses and bacteria that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and
  • Inorganic contaminants: salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
  • Pesticides and herbicides: may come from a variety of sources, such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential
  • Radioactive contaminants: can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining
  • Organic chemical contaminants: including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and also may come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment prescribes regulations limiting the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same protection for public health.

Lead in Drinking Water

Lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. We are responsible for providing high quality drinking water and removing lead pipes, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components in your home. You share the responsibility for protecting yourself and your family from the lead in your home plumbing. You can take responsibility by identifying and removing lead materials within your home plumbing and taking steps to reduce your family’s risk. Before drinking tap water, flush your pipes for several minutes by running your tap, taking a shower, doing laundry or a load of dishes. You can also use a filter certified by an American National Standards Institute accredited certifier to reduce lead in drinking water. If you are concerned about lead in your water and wish to have your water tested, contact TIMOTHY GRAHAM at 970-247-4062. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available at epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP)

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment may have provided us with a Source Water Assessment Report for our water supply. For general information or to obtain a copy of the report please visit wqcdcompliance.com/ccr. The report is located under “Guidance: Source Water Assessment Reports”. Search the table using system name or ID, or by contacting TIMOTHY GRAHAM at 970-247-4062. The Source Water Assessment Report provides a screening-level evaluation of potential contamination that could occur. It does not mean that the contamination has or will occur. We can use this information to evaluate the need to improve our current water treatment capabilities and prepare for future contamination threats. This can help us ensure that quality finished water is delivered to your homes. In addition, the source water assessment results provide a starting point for developing a source water protection plan. Potential sources of contamination in our source water area are listed on the next page.

Please contact us to learn more about what you can do to help protect your drinking water sources, any questions about the Drinking Water Quality Report, to learn more about our system, or to attend scheduled public meetings. We want you, our valued customers, to be informed about the services we provide and the quality water we deliver to you every day.

 

Our Water Sources

 

Sources (Water Type – Source Type)

Potential Source(s) of Contamination

LAKE DURANGO RESERVOIR (Surface Water-Intake)

Row Crops, Pasture / Hay, Deciduous Forest, Evergreen Forest, Septic Systems, Road Miles

 

Terms and Abbreviations

  • Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) − The highest level of a contaminant allowed in drinking
  • Treatment Technique (TT) − A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking
  • Health-Based − A violation of either a MCL or
  • Non-Health-Based − A violation that is not a MCL or
  • Action Level (AL) − The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment and other regulatory
  • 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 Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) − The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
  • Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG) − The level of a drinking water disinfectant, below which there is no known or expected risk to MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.
  • Violation (No Abbreviation) − Failure to meet a Colorado Primary Drinking Water
  • Formal Enforcement Action (No Abbreviation) − Escalated action taken by the State (due to the risk to public health, or number or severity of violations) to bring a non-compliant water system back into compliance.
  • Variance and Exemptions (V/E) − Department permission not to meet a MCL or treatment technique under certain
  • Gross Alpha (No Abbreviation) − Gross alpha particle activity compliance It includes radium-226, but excludes radon 222, and uranium.
  • Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) − Measure of the radioactivity in
  • Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) − Measure of the clarity or cloudiness of Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the typical person.
  • Compliance Value (No Abbreviation) – Single or calculated value used to determine if regulatory contaminant level (e.g. MCL) is Examples of calculated values are the 90th Percentile, Running Annual Average (RAA) and Locational Running Annual Average (LRAA).
  • Average (x-bar) − Typical
  • Range (R) − Lowest value to the highest
  • Sample Size (n) − Number or count of values (i.e. number of water samples collected).
  • Parts per million = Milligrams per liter (ppm = mg/L) − One part per million corresponds to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.
  • Parts per billion = Micrograms per liter (ppb = ug/L) − One part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.
  • Not Applicable (N/A) – Does not apply or not
  • Level 1 Assessment – A study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water
  • Level 2 Assessment – A very detailed study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why an E. coli MCL violation has occurred and/or why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system on multiple occasions.

 

Detected Contaminants

 LAKE DURANGO WA routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The following table(s) show all detections found in the period of January 1 to December 31, 2022 unless otherwise noted. The State of Colorado requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants are not expected to vary significantly from year to year, or the system is not considered vulnerable to this type of contamination. Therefore, some of our data, though representative, may be more than one-year-old. Violations and Formal Enforcement Actions, if any, are reported in the next section of this report.

Note: Only detected contaminants sampled within the last 5 years appear in this report. If no tables appear in this section, then no contaminants were detected in the last round of monitoring.

Disinfectants Sampled in the Distribution System

TT Requirement: At least 95% of samples per period (month or quarter) must be at least 0.2 ppm OR

If sample size is less than 40 no more than 1 sample is below 0.2 ppm

Typical Sources: Water additive used to control microbes

Disinfectant Name

Time Period

Results

Number of Samples Below Level

Sample Size

TT

Violation

MRDL

Chlorine

December, 2022

Lowest period percentage of samples meeting TT requirement: 100%

0

2

No

4.0 ppm

Lead and Copper Sampled in the Distribution System

Contaminant Name

Time Period

90th Percentile

Sample Size

Unit of Measure

90th

Percentile AL

Sample Sites Above AL

90th Percentile AL

Exceedance

Typical Sources

Copper

09/07/2021 to

09/10/2021

0.07

10

ppm

1.3

0

No

Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits

Lead

09/07/2021 to

09/10/2021

1.3

10

ppb

15

0

No

Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits

Disinfection Byproducts Sampled in the Distribution System

Name

Year

Average

Range Low – High

Sample Size

Unit of Measure

MCL

MCLG

MCL Violation

Typical Sources

Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)

2022

33.02

22.9 to 54.6

4

ppb

60

N/A

No

Byproduct of drinking water disinfection

Disinfection Byproducts Sampled in the Distribution System

Name

Year

Average

Range Low – High

Sample Size

Unit of Measure

MCL

MCLG

MCL Violation

Typical Sources

Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)

2022

42.23

23.6 to 74.7

4

ppb

80

N/A

No

Byproduct of drinking water disinfection

Chlorite

2022

0.53

0.18 to 0.86

12

ppb

1.0

.8

No

Byproduct of drinking water disinfection

Summary of Turbidity Sampled at the Entry Point to the Distribution System

Contaminant Name

Sample Date

Level Found

TT Requirement

TT

Violation

Typical Sources

Turbidity

Date/Month: Jan

Highest single measurement:

0.3 NTU

Maximum 1 NTU for any single measurement

No

Soil Runoff

Turbidity

Month: Dec

Lowest monthly percentage of samples meeting TT requirement for our technology: 100 %

In any month, at least 95% of samples must be less than 0.3 NTU

No

Soil Runoff

Inorganic Contaminants Sampled at the Entry Point to the Distribution System

Contaminant Name

Year

Average

Range Low – High

Sample Size

Unit of Measure

MCL

MCLG

MCL

Violation

Typical Sources

Arsenic

2022

1.1

1.1 to 1.1

1

ppb

10

0

No

Erosion of natural deposits; runoff from orchards; runoff from glass and electronics

Inorganic Contaminants Sampled at the Entry Point to the Distribution System

Contaminant Name

Year

Average

Range Low – High

Sample Size

Unit of Measure

MCL

MCLG

MCL

Violation

Typical Sources

         

production wastes

Barium

2022

0.09

0.09 to 0.09

1

ppm

2

2

No

Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits

Fluoride

2022

0.32

0.32 to 0.32

1

ppm

4

4

No

Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which promotes strong teeth; discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories

Secondary Contaminants**

**Secondary standards are non-enforceable guidelines for contaminants that may cause cosmetic effects (such as skin, or tooth discoloration) or aesthetic effects (such as taste, odor, or color) in drinking water.

Contaminant Name

Year

Average

Range Low – High

Sample Size

Unit of Measure

Secondary Standard

Sodium

2022

15

15 to 15

1

ppm

N/A

Violations, Significant Deficiencies, and Formal Enforcement Actions

Health-Based Violations

Maximum contaminant level (MCL) violations: Test results for this contaminant show that the level was too high for the time period shown. Please read the information shown below about potential health effects for vulnerable populations. This is likely the same violation that we told you about in a past notice. We are evaluating, or we already completed an evaluation, to find the best way to reduce or remove the contaminant. If the solution will take an extended period of time, we will keep you updated with quarterly notices.

Treatment technique (TT) violations: We failed to complete an action that could affect water quality. Please read the information shown below about potential health effects for vulnerable populations. This is likely the same violation that we told you about in a past notice. We were required to meet a minimum operation/treatment standard, we were required to make upgrades to our system, or we were required to evaluate our system for potential sanitary defects, and we failed to do so in the time period shown below. If the solution will take an extended period of time, we will keep you updated with quarterly notices.

Name

Description

Time Period

Health Effects

Compliance Value

TT Level or MCL

NO CERTIFIED OPERATOR

FAILURE HAVE A CERTIFIED OPERATOR

06/01/2022 – 06/28/2022

Not being operated by a state certified operator at the appropriate level and may pose a risk to public health.

N/A

N/A

Additional Violation Information

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

There were delays in the process of updating operator certifications based on out-of-state reciprocity and online documentation issues. We have resolved the problem by submitting the proper documentation, and the violation has been resolved. A public notice regarding this violation was distributed 11/01/2022

 

 

Non-Health-Based Violations

These violations do not usually mean that there was a problem with the water quality. If there had been, we would have notified you immediately. We missed collecting a sample (water quality is unknown), we reported the sample result after the due date, or we did not complete a report/notice by the required date.

Name

Description

Time Period

PUBLIC NOTICE

FAILURE TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC/CONSUMERS

07/08/2022 – 11/01/2022

DI(2-ETHYLHEXYL) PHTHALATE

FAILURE TO MONITOR AND/OR REPORT

01/01/2022 – 12/31/2022

Additional Violation Information

Non-Health-Based Violations

These violations do not usually mean that there was a problem with the water quality. If there had been, we would have notified you immediately. We missed collecting a sample (water quality is unknown), we reported the sample result after the due date, or we did not complete a report/notice by the required date.

Name

Description

Time Period

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

Failure to notify the public/consumers: A Public notice regarding the Failure to notify the public consumers was sent via U.S. Mail on 11/01/2022.

Failure to monitor and/or report: Di (2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate sample was taken early in the (2023) testing period and the results have been reported.