The State Water Board requires water providers to conduct a source water assessment to help protect the quality of water supplies. The assessment describes where a water system’s drinking water comes from, the types of polluting activities that may threaten the quality of the source water, and an evaluation of the water’s vulnerability to the threats.
Updated assessments of EID’s drinking water sources were completed in 2023. Our source water is considered most vulnerable to recreation, residential sewer, septic system, and urban runoff activities, which are associated with constituents detected in the water supply. Our source water is also considered most vulnerable to illegal activities, dumping, fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide application, forest activities, and wildfires, although constituents associated with these activities were not detected. constituents associated with these activities were not detected.
Copies of the assessments are available online at www.eid.org in our Document Library. If you have question about the assessment updates, contact Patrick Wilson, P.E, EID Drinking Water Operations Division Manager, at 530-642-4010.
Your Drinking Water—What You Should Know
The sources of drinking water—both tap and bottled—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 from human activity.
Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
- Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
- Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, that can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, and farming.
- Pesticides and herbicides that may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
- Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, that are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, agricultural applications, and septic systems.
- Radioactive contaminants that can be naturally-occurring or are the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
In order to ensure tap water is safe to drink, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations and California law also establish limits for contaminants in bottles water that provide the same protection.
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NOTE: 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. Contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426-4791 for more about contaminants and potential health effects.
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