PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT

This report is produced to provide information about the City of Laredo sources of water, the content of Laredo water, and answer water quality question. If you have more questions about water quality, please call (956) 795-2600.

SPECIAL INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE WITH

WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEMS

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. Environmental Protection Agency/Center for Disease Control 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).

When drinking water meets federal standards there may not be any health-based benefits to purchasing bottled water or point of use devices. 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. For more information about contaminants and potential health effects please call the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

WATER SOURCE

The only source of Laredo’s water is the Rio Grande River. The City of Laredo Utilities Department pumps from the Rio Grande River an average of 40 million gallons of water per day, and complies with specific and strict treatment guidelines to produce drinking water with the highest water quality ranking issued by the State of Texas—“SUPERIOR.” The constituents and values found in this report are monitoring requirements established by State and Federal guidelines to track the quality of your drinking water.

City of Laredo water is purified through chemical treatment, settling, filtration, and disinfection. Water treatment che-

micals including lime, ferric sulfate, chloramines (chlorine and ammonia), powdered activated carbon, and polymers

are added to water to remove impurities, kill harmful bacteria, eliminate tastes and odors help prevent tooth decay.

As the charts show, the levels of contaminants in Laredo water meet all the standards require by law. Laredo regularly test drinking water for more than 540 contaminants. About 580 tests each month are conducted to ensure the quality of the water.

Regulations Applicable at Treatment Plant

Year	Constituent	Range of Detected Levels	Highest LevelDetected	MCL	MCLG	Unit of Measure	Possible Source of Contamination
2001	Barium	0.010-0.085	0.085	2	2	ppm	Erosion of natural deposits; Discharge of drilling wastes; Discharge from metal refineries.
2001	Fluoride	0.3-0.6	0.6	4	4	ppm	Erosion of natural deposits; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories.
2001	Nitrate	0.01-0.46	0.46	10	10	ppm	Erosion of natural deposits; Runoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage.

Year	Constituent	Range of detected levels	Average of all sampling points	Unit of Measure	Reason for monitoring
2001	Chloroform	6.4-32.0	13.9	ppb	Unregulated contaminant monitoring helps EPA to determine where certain contaminants occur and whether it needs to regulate those contaminants.
2001	Bromoform	3.0-12.0	8.7	ppb	Unregulated contaminant monitoring helps EPA to determine where certain contaminants occur and whether it needs to regulate those contaminants.
2001	Bromodichloromethane	14.6-18.4	16.9	ppb	Unregulated contaminant monitoring helps EPA to determine where certain contaminants occur and whether it needs to regulate those contaminants.
2001	Dibromochloromethane	11.6-25.4	19.9	ppb	Unregulated contaminant monitoring helps EPA to determine where certain contaminants occur and whether it needs to regulate those contaminants.

Year	Constituent	Lowest Monthly % of Samples Meeting Limit *	Lowest Monthly Limit *	Highest Single Reading	Unit of Measure	Source of Constituent
2001	Turbidity	100%	92%	.21 **	NTU	Soil runoff.

* Turbidity must be less than .5 NTUs in at least 95% of monthly samples.

* The highest single monthly reading in 2001 was .21 (September).

Regulations Applicable in Distribution System

Year	Constituent	Range of Detected Levels	Highest LevelDetected	MCL	MCLG	Unit of Measure	Possible Source of Contamination
1999	Gross Alpha Adjusted	1.6	1.6	15	0	pCi/l	Erosion of natural deposits.
2001	Total Trihalomethanes	54.8-65.0	62.1	80	80	ppb	By-product of drinking water chlorination.

Year	Constituent	Highest Monthly % of Positive Samples	MCL	Unit of Measure	Source of Constituent
2001	Total Coliform Bacteria	1.7%	5%	Presence	Naturally present in the environment.

Regulations Applicable at Customer’s Tap

Year	Constituent	90th Percentile	# of sites exceeding action level	Action level	Unit of measure	Source of Constituent
1999	Lead	2.80	0	15	ppb	Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits.
1999	Copper	0.06	0	1.3	ppm	Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives.

The information contained in this report is based on official data compiled by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) in 2001.

Definitions

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.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected health risk. MCLG’s allow for a margin of safety.

Action Level - The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements a water system must follow.

Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) - The unit used to measure water turbidity.

Turbidity - A measurement of the cloudiness of water. The lower the turbidity the better.

Treatment Technique - A required process, i.e. filtration, intended to reduce the level of a contaminant (such as turbidity) in drinking water.

ppm - Parts per million.

ppb - Parts per billion.

pCi/l - Pico-curies per liter (a measure of radioactivity).

HEALTHY HYDRATION

By now, we've all heard that we should drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, just to maintain a healthy level of hydration.

Drinking water also contributes to health and living well in three other ways:

• Drinking water can help you control your weight by alleviating water retention and spurring your metabolism.
• Maintaining your hydration by drinking plenty of water helps your performance. Not only can you exercise longer, you are also more alert mentally when your body has its full complement of water
• Drinking enough water also helps you fight fatigue by keeping your body in its best shape.

This report is mailed to all Laredo Water

Utilities customers. It is available in the

Water Utilities Department and on the

City’s website www.cityoflaredo.com

For additional copies please call (956)795-2600

City of Laredo

Water Utilities

5816 Daugherty

Laredo, TX 78041