For

Central Wyoming Regional Water System

1500 SW Wyoming Blvd.

Casper WY 82604

(307) 265-6063

We're pleased to present to you this year’s Annual Quality Water Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality water and services we deliver to you every day. 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. We are committed to ensuring the quality of your water. Our water source consists of twenty-one ground water wells and surface water drawn from the North Platte River.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Steve Garner at (307) 265-6063. We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings. They are held on the third Wednesday of every month at 12:00 PM or 6:00 PM located at 1500 SW Wyoming Blvd.

Central Wyoming Regional Water System (CWRWS) routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1^st to December 31^st, 2003. As water travels over the land or underground it can pick up substances or contaminants such as microbes, inorganic and organic chemicals, and radioactive substances. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents. It's important to remember that the presence of these constituents does not necessarily pose 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.

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

Non-Detects (ND) - laboratory analysis indicates that the laboratory does not detect the constituent.

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 - one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.

Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) - nephelometric turbidity unit is a measure of the clarity of water. Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.

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

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

Maximum Contaminant Level - (mandatory language) 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 - (mandatory language) The "Goal"(MCLG) 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.

What does this mean?

As you can see by the table, 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.

As part of the Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (IESWTR) regulation governing treatment for the pathogen Cryptosporidium (40 CFR Part 141, Subpart P), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires a treatment technique for 99% removal of Cryptosporidium. Water Systems using surface water or ground water under the direct influence of surface water (GWUDI) must comply with this new treatment technique starting in January 2002.

Currently, the CWRWS utilizes GWUDI from collection devices along the North Platte River: vertical wells, horizontal wells or caissons, and an infiltration gallery. This water is not treated in a filtration plant, but it is ozonated and disinfected with chloramines. Alternative filtration occurs through these devices, such as riverbank filtration occurring from the wells. Past operational data from the GWUDI system, and current microbial data being collected from the North Platte River and the combined GWUDI system water, indicates that the GWUDI system operates as an alternative filtration technology. The IESWTR provides that a PWS may use an alternative filtration technology if it demonstrates to the regulatory agency that the technology meets the treatment technique requirements. EPA is granting conditional removal credit to the CWRWS GWUDI system while a more detailed study is designed, and CWRWS completes the study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the alternative filtration technologies to remove Cryptosporidium. During the study period, the CWRWS will implement interim measures designed to ensure public health protection, using the multiple barriers of alternative filtration, and maximized inactivation with ozonation and chloramines. The turbidity of the water from individual GWUDI system devices will be continuously monitored, and turbidity performance requirements will be set for individual devices as well as the combined GWUDI system water. The CWRWS will have to meet all disinfectant byproduct regulations while maximizing ozone treatment, monitor the GWUDI system water and surface water sources for E. coli and Cryptosporidium, meet all other monitoring and treatment technique requirements of the surface water treatment rules. This conditional approval of 2-log removal will expire on January 1, 2005.

A Source Water Assessment report will be available for review in late 2004.

Some of our data in the tables is more than one year old, since certain chemical contaminants are monitored less than once a year. Our sampling frequency complies with EPA drinking water regulations.

The sources of drinking water include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it can dissolve naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive materials. The water can also pick up substances such as:

1. Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural operations and wildlife.
2. Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic waste water discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming.
3. Pesticides and Herbicides, which may come from agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.
4. Organic chemical contaminants, which can come from industrial processes, gas stations, urban storm water runoff and septic systems.
5. Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to insure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA establishes regulations, which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration establishes limits for contaminants in bottled water.

MCL’s are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink a half gallon of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect.

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. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791) or EPA (800-227-8917).

We at the Central Wyoming Regional Water System work around the clock to provide top quality water to every tap. We ask that all our customers help us protect our water sources, which are the heart of our community, our way of life and our children’s future.