2005 Drinking Water Quality Report
Bistone Municipal Water Supply District

Know the Facts

We're pleased to present to you our 2005 Drinking Water Quality Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality water and services we deliver to you every day.  We are required by the Safe Drinking Water Act to prepare and deliver this report to you on an annual basis.

Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. We want you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources.  To focus everyone's efforts at the Water District, a mission statement was adopted which states, "Our mission is to provide our customers with safe drinking water in a customer friendly atmosphere, providing an environment for the development of our personnel while providing fiscal responsibility for our facilities and by meeting the challenging regulatory concerns and our customers future needs and requirements".

We are pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets federal and state requirements.  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality recognized Bistone in March 2003 as having an outstanding performance record in protecting public health.  Bistone received this recognition for the five-year period, 1997-2001, for having no violations related to the "Total Coliform Rule".

Notice to At-risk Populations

You may be more vulnerable than the general population to certain microbial contaminants, such as Cryptosporidium, in drinking water.  Infants, some elderly, or Immuno-compromised persons such as those UNDERGOING CHEMOTHERAPY for cancer;  those who have undergone ORGAN TRANSPLANTS;  those who are undergoing treatment with steroids;  and people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders can be particularly at risk from infections.  You should seek advice about drinking water from your physician or health care provider.  Additional guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline 800-426-4791.

Este reporte incluy informacion importante sobre el agua para tomar.  Para asistancia en espanol, favor de llamar al telefono (254)562-5922.

Who Are Our Customers?

The District's primary responsibility is wholesale water supply.  The City of Mexia, Mexia State School, City of Tehuacana and Whiterock W.S.C (excluding Forest Glade system) are the District's wholesale customers at this time.  The District also has 200 direct retail customers.  They are located on the east side of Lake Mexia and along Highway 39.

The City of Mexia sells water, purchased from the District, to their citizens inside the City limits.  The City of Mexia also sells wholesale water to the following entities:  Shiloh W.S.C., Point Enterprise W.S.C. (approximately 20 active connections and for emergency supply only), Whiterock W.S.C. (Forest Glade area), West 84 W.S.C. and the City of Wortham.

Where do we get our Drinking Water?

We currently have two separate water sources.   They are Lake Mexia (surface water)and the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer (ground water). During 2005, we used the water from Lake Mexia during the months of August through November.

Although we have two sources of water, we do not mix lake water and well water together.  Bistone maintains each system independently of the other.  Owning and operating two water plants, with separate water sources is beneficial to our customers.  It gives Bistone the ability to serve all customers from only one system at a time or to have both systems working separately.  The City of Mexia and Bistone's retail customers along the Highway 39 are served by the well system.  The lake plant serves the Mexia State School, City of Tehuacana, Whiterock WSC and retail customers east of Lake Mexia, when it is in service.

The TCEQ has completed a Source Water Susceptibility Assessment for your drinking water source(s).  This report describes the susceptibility and types of constituents that may come into contact with your drinking water source based on human activities and natural conditions.   The information contained in this assessment will allow us to focus our source water protection activities.

What You Can Expect in Your Drinking Water?

Contaminants may be found in drinking water that may cause taste, color, or odor problems.  These types of problems are not necessarily causes for health concerns.  For more information on taste, odor, or color of drinking water, please contact the District's business office.

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 Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which 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.

Bistone Municipal Water Supply District routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State Laws.  We tested for many possible contaminants.  The tables included show the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2005.  Only the contaminants that were detected are listed in the tables.

The State allows us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently.  Some of our data, thought representative, are more than one year old.  The date the contaminant was tested is included, if the data is more than one year old.

TCEQ completed an assessment of your source water and results indicate that some of our sources are susceptible to certain contaminants.  The sampling requirements for your water system are based on this susceptibility and previous sample data.  Any detection of these contaminants will be found in this Consumer Confidence Report.  For more information on source water assessments and protection efforts at our system contact R. Brent Locke at 254-562-5922.

As you will see in the tables, our system had no violations.  We're proud that your drinking water meets or exceeds all Federal and State requirements.  We have learned through our monitoring and testing that some constituents have been detected.  The EPA has determined that your water IS SAFE at these levels.

General Information About Water Sources

The sources of drinking water (both tap 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 human activity.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

• Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which 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 water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
• Pesticides and herbicides, which might have 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.

Definitions

In the following tables you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with.  To help you understand these terms, we've provided the following definitions and abbreviations.

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 (g/l) - One part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.

Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - A measure of radioactivity.

Nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU) - A measure of turbidity; a measure of the clarity of water.

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

Treatment Technique (TT) - A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.  MCLs are set as close to 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.

Turbidity - A measure of cloudiness of water.  We monitor it because it is a good indicator of the effectiveness of our filtration system. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.

MCLs are set at very stringent levels.  To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink 2 liters of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to have a one-in-ten thousand chance of having the described health effect.

Questions and Public Participation Opportunities

If you have any questions about this report or any other issue concerning your water utility, please contact R. Brent Locke, General Manager, at 254-562-5922.  We want you to be informed about our water quality.  Our office is open Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM to Noon and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

To learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled Board meetings.  They are held monthly, on the third Monday at 6:00 PM in our Lake Mexia Pavilion, located at 730 FM 2681, Lake Mexia. If the third Monday is a holiday, the meetings are normally held the next business day.

Start Saving Water and Monday Today

• Install a low-flow showerhead that limits the flow from the shower to less than three gallons per minute.
• Take a shower instead of taking a bath.  Showers with low-flow showerheads often use less water than taking a bath.
• Scrape dishes clean instead of rinsing them before washing.  There is no need to rinse unless they are heavily soiled.
• Use a small pan of cold water when cleaning vegetables, rather than letting the water run over them.
• Wash only a full load when using an automatic washing machine (32 to 59 gallons are required per load).
• Whenever possible, use the lowest water-level setting on the washing machine for light and partial loads.