We're pleased to present to you this year's Annual Drinking Water Quality 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. 

Important Drinking Water Definitions:

Non-Detects (ND) - laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.

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.

Parts per trillion (ppt) or Nanograms per liter (nanograms/l) - one part per trillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000,000.

Parts per quadrillion (ppq) or Picograms per liter (picograms/l) - one part per quadrillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000,000 years or one penny in $10,000,000,000,000.

Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.

Millirems per year (mrem/yr) - measure of radiation absorbed by the body.

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.

Variances & Exemptions - ADEM or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions.

Action Level - the concentration of a contaminant that triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system shall follow.

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

Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL - The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.  MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
 

The City of Talladega Water & Sewer Department regularly monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2006, except for Copper, which is not required to be monitored during this sampling period. The Copper results posted here are from the period of January1st to December 31st 2004.

The sources of drinking water (both tap water 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 radioactive material, and it can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.

Based on a study conducted by ADEM with the approval of the EPA a statewide waiver for the monitoring of asbestos and dioxin was issued. Thus monitoring for these contaminants was not required.

In September 1999, EPA revised the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) 64 FR 50556 as required by the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. As of January 1, 2001 systems are no longer required to monitor for the contaminants above along with several others. Unregulated contaminants are those for which EPA has not established drinking water standards. The purpose of unregulated contaminant monitoring is to assist EPA in determining the occurrence of unregulated contaminants in drinking water and whether future regulation is warranted.

MCL’s are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated contaminants, a person would have to drink 2 liters 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.

All 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 (800-426-4791).

To ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water.

Result Summary:
None of the samples collected at the City of Talladega’s Surface Water Treatment Plant or from the distribution system in 2006 exceeded any MCL. However, there were two (2) sampling errors that did occur during this time period and The City of Talladega Water and Sewer Department is required by law to advise you as follows:

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. People who are immuno-compromised such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, HIV/AIDS positive or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. People at risk 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).

Thank you for allowing us to continue providing your family with clean, quality water this year. In order to maintain a safe and dependable water supply we sometimes need to make improvements that will benefit all of our customers. These improvements are sometimes paid by rate structure adjustments. Thank you for understanding. We at the City of Talladega Water & Sewer Department 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.

Information & Resources

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 City Council meetings. They are held on the first and third Mondays of every month at 5:30pm. These meetings are held at City Hall, located at 203 West South Street, Talladega, Alabama. The Water & Sewer Department, located at 100 North Court Street, office hours are 7:00am – 4:30pm. The Main Office phone number is (256) 362-4439 and our Service Center phone number is (256) 362-6211.

Your City of Talladega Representatives