Water Quality Report for the Drinking Water Supply

City of Slater, Saline County, Missouri

Introduction: The Missouri State Board of Health Laboratory began investigating Missouri water supplies in 1902. The April 1904, Bulletin of the Missouri State Board of Health reported Slater’s source of supply to be a deep well and a sample collected at the hotel on January 29, 1904 indicated that the water was hard. But, it was very clear, produced no odor or growth of bacteria, and had no bad effect on a Guinea Pig. Water analysis methods and water quality standards and reporting have improved greatly over the past ninety-five years and so has the quality and reliability of Slater’s water supply.

The City of Slater believes the best way to assure that your drinking water is safe and reliable is to provide you with accurate facts. The Consumer Confidence Report for the year January 2000 to December 2000 will explain where your water comes from and Slater’s water treatment process. Slater’s water supply staff conducts thousands of routine analysis each year to assure that only the highest quality of drinking water is made available for your use. Additional analyses are conducted on Slater’s water at State and Federal designated laboratories. We are proud to report that Slater’s drinking water meets or exceeds all quality standards set by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MO DNR).

Source of Supply: Slater’s water supply is pumped from three wells that draw from the sand and gravel formation beneath farmland in the Missouri River Bottoms seven miles east of Slater. This alluvial formation is filled with water to within 20 feet of the surface. The new wells, constructed in 1995 and 1997, are 65 feet deep and can each pump up to 600 gallons per minute through stainless steel screens, which hold back the sand and gravel. According to water plant records 148,903,400 gallons of water were distributed in 2000. The untreated raw water from this source would be safe to drink, but highly undesirable to use in your household. The raw water is hard (scale forming) and contains nearly 40 times the iron levels (red staining) recommended for a water supply.

Treatment: Slater’s first lime softening plant built in 1934 to treat this source of water was replaced in 1967 with the current 500 gpm lime softening and iron removal plant. The treatment plant underwent a major upgrade in 1993-1995 to correct problems with the original facility, modernize controls and to assure compliance with all regulations.

Slater’s water treatment process include: aeration to convert the iron to a solid form; lime additions to convert dissolved calcium hardness to a solid form; polymer feed and mechanical mixing to produce a settle-able floc of the iron and hardness; sedimentation to separate the floc from the clear water; CO2 recarbonation to reduce scale forming; filtration to remove missed solids; chlorine disaffection to assure that the water does not deteriorate after it leaves the treatment plant and fluoridation to prevent tooth decay.

The water is then stored at the treatment plant for an hour or two before it is pumped into distribution system for your use. Through the treatment plant the hardness is reduced from 400 mg/1 to approximately 120 mg/1 and iron from 11 mg/1 to 0.1 mg/1 or less by these treatment process. The secondary standard for iron is 0.3 mg/1.

Operational control of the treatment process required that the plant operator conduct a battery of at least five chemical analysis on the treated water every two hours, additional analysis every four hours and raw water and sludge analysis once per shift. This is more than 20,000 test per year in addition to the five bacteriological monitoring samples with chlorine analysis taken each month on the distribution system and the more than 205 possible drinking water contaminates that we are also required to test for. The Slater water plant staff have certified as competent to operate the facility by the MO DNR.

The finished water is pumped from the treatment plant clear well storage to Slater’s 850,000-gallon ground storage tank through seven miles of 12-inch cast iron waterline, 5½miles of which was constructed in 1917. Interconnecting along this line are the City of Gilliam and Public Water Supply District No. 2 of Saline County. The water is pumped from ground storage into Slater’s distribution system. Slater has two towers of 200,000-gallons and 300,000-gallon capacity, respectively. Slater serves five more interconnections with PWSD No. 2 of Saline County, which serves the Village of Arrow Rock. Both Gilliam and Arrow Rock provide their own local elevated water storage.

System Upgrades: The City of Slater is proud of the improvements made during the 90’s to the water supply to assure your reliance on a safe water supply. This includes: a filter backwash water recycle system; sludge storage and treatment facilities; three new alluvial wells replacing those dated back to the 30’s; and a complete treatment plant renovation to a condition better than when it was new in 1967. Distribution system improvements include a 300,000-gallon water tower and more than 9,600 feet of 8-inch waterline and 5,000 feet of 6-inch waterline. The net result of this distribution system project is a seventy five percent increase in the average output from the City of Slater’s 106 fire hydrants from 408 gpm in 1990 to 713 gpm in 1997. The older 200,000-gallon water tower was painted in 1999 for $75,000 with the ground storage being proposed in 2001. The cost of these projects exceeded $1,600,000. The vast majority of which has been paid for with State and Federal grants.

The next project (that is currently underway) to improve system reliability and water quality is to replace the 1917 waterline to Slater at a total cost of $671,000. The City of Slater has received a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant to help fund this much-needed project.

Quality Data: All drinking water, whether bottled or tap water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least a small amount of contaminates. Of the more than (129 unregulated plus 76 regulated) 205 possible drinking contaminates Slater is required to test for, these were detected.

Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/l) – one part per million corresponds to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.

Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (ug/l) – one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.

Maximum Contaminant Level – The "Maximum Allowed" (MCL) is 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.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal – The "Goal" (MCJG) is 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.

Arsenic, Dissolved* ppb 50 n/a 4.050 nd-8.1 No Erosion of natural Deposits; Runoff from

Orchards; runoff from glass and electronics

Production wastes.

Barium, Dissolved* ppm 2 2 0.290 0.0417-0.538 No Discharge of drilling wastes; Discharge from

Metal refineries; Erosion of natural deposits.

Fouoride ppm 4 4 0.886 0.63-1.24 No Erosion of natural deposits; water additive which

Promotes strong teeth; Discharge from fertilizer

And aluminum factories.

Nitrate+Nitrite as N ppm 10 10 0.270 0.27 No Runoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic

Tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits.

1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene* ppb 70 70 0.300 nd-0.6 No Discharge from textile- finishing factories.

Sulfate* ppm 41.300 31.1-51.5

Bromodichloromethane ppb 17.600 17.6

Bromoform ppb 3.900 3.9

Chloroform ppb 16.300 16.3

Dibromochloromethane ppb 16.400 16.4

Copper levels at customer’s taps were tested at .069 ppm which is 18.8 times lower than the EPA limit of 1.3 ppm. Lead levels, which are measured in parts per billion have an EPA maximum contaminant level goal of 0 ppb with the maximum contaminant level allowed of 15 ppb. The average of samples tested from customer taps was 5.44 ppb. The next lead & copper test will be conducted in the summer of 2001.

Quick fact—A dripping faucet can leak over 3 gallons of water a day or 1,095 gallons in one year. The city issued no boil orders for city customers in 2000.

Radon is naturally occurring gas present in soil and most ground water in Missouri. Radon in home indoor air comes mainly from infiltration from soil in contact with foundations, slabs, and basement walls. EPA recommends that indoor air levels not exceed 4 pCi/L (picocuries per liter). EPA uses a conversion factor of 10,000 to 1 to determine indoor air contribution from water (see figured below). Radon poses a risk for lung cancer (estimated at 160 deaths/year nationally from drinking water, 85% of these in smokers), and stomach cancer (5 deaths annually). However, experts are not sure exactly what the cancer risk is from a given level of radon in drinking water. If you are concerned about radon in your home, tests are available to determine the exact levels. Call you local health department for details.

PCI/L 15.430 15.43 0.0015

Inorganic Units Level Found Range of Detections

Aluminum, Dissolved* ppb 5.100 nd – 10.2

Calcium, Dissolved ppm 47.750 10.3 – 85.2

Chloride* ppm 16.550 12 – 21.1

Hardness as CaCO3* ppm 203.500 97 – 310

Iron, Dissolved* ppb 4,655.000 nd – 9310

Magnesium, Dissolved* ppm 20.250 17.2 – 23.3

Manganese, Dissolved* ppb 173.500 nd – 347

.pH* 8.085 7.25 – 8.92

Potassium, Dissolved* ppm 4.450 4.3 – 4.6

Sodium, Dissolved* ppm 16.350 15.1 – 17.6

Total Alkalinity as CaCO3* ppm 188.000 105 – 271

Total Dissolved Solids* ppm 274.000 161 – 387

Volatile Organic Units Level Found Range of Detections

Total HAA5* ppb 19.388 7.25 – 39.2

TTHM’s ppb 54.200 54.2

Additional Information: This Consumer Confidence Water Quality Report is a requirement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More information about contaminates and potential health effects may be obtained by calling the U. S. Environmental

Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

Any citizen interested in learning more about drinking water quality or wishing to express their opinion about our water supply may do so by attending a regular meeting of the City Council, which meet the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. or contacting:

Gene Griffith, Assistant Administrator, City Hall, 232 N. Main Slater, MO 65349

Robert Richards, Water Plant Supervisor, Slater Water Plant, Phone: 660-784-2340

David Hack, Slater City Engineer, Marshall Engineering, Columbia, MO Phone: 573-875-8832