CITY OF NILES 2006 CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT

The City of Niles has prepared the following report on the water quality from Meander Reservoir. This report is required by the Safe Drinking Water Act. For technical water quality information, contact the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District (MVSD) at 330-652-3614. For information regarding distribution, service, pressure, lead & copper sampling results or discolored water, contact Randy Fabrizio at 330-544-9010.

How is the water supplied to customers?
The Mahoning Valley Sanitary District treats approximately 30 million gallons per day of raw water from Meander Creek Reservoir and pumps it to Youngstown, Niles, and McDonald. These communities distribute the water to residents and surrounding areas. Treatment includes chemical addition for softening, disinfection, fluoridation, taste & odor control, mixing, settling, filtration, and pumping. Niles distributes approximately 6 million gallons per day through 100 miles of pipeline to residents and sells water to Girard, Lordstown, Mineral Ridge, and portions of Howland and Weathersfield Township.

WATER SUPPLY MAP(click here)

Who needs to take special precautions?
Some people may be more vulnerable than the general population to contaminants in drinking water. Immune-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 infection. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care provider. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Water Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

A word or two about lead
Infants and young children are typically more vulnerable than the general public to lead in drinking water. It is possible that lead levels in your home may be higher than other homes in the community as a result of materials used in your home’s plumbing. The City of Niles tests 30 sites on a regular basis. The last testing period was 2005. At that time, the lead concentration at the 90th percentile was below the 15 microgram per liter action level prescribed by the USEPA. At the 90th percentile the sample was found to contain 2.4 micrograms per liter, which is equivalent to 2.4 pennies in a billion pennies, or 10 million dollars.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
• Microbial Contaminants: such as viruses and bacteria, which 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 & Herbicides: may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm runoff and residential uses.
• Organic Chemical Contaminants: include synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, can also come from gas stations, urban storm runoff and septic systems.
• Radioactive Contaminants: can be naturally occurring or the result of oil and gas production or mining activities.

The sources of drinking water both tap water and bottled water includes 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.

In order to insure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations limiting the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water that must provide the same protection for public health.

Table of Detected Contaminants for 2005(click here)

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 1-800-426-4791.

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