Water Quality Report PDF is found here.
CITY OF RONAN WATER DEPARTMENT
Montana Public Water Supply ID number 00318
2020 Water Quality Report
In a continuing effort to keep you informed about the quality of water and services we provide to you each day, we’re once again pleased to provide you with our Annual Water Quality Report. This report is a snapshot of the quality of water we provided you last year. It includes details regarding the source of your water, what your water contains and how it compares to EPA and the State of Montana standards.
Our water comes from two wells and from Middle Crow Creek. The shop well is 454 feet deep and the north well is 380 feet deep. The water from Crow Creek is filtered and disinfected with a powerful ultraviolet light. Then we add a small amount of chlorine to maintain the disinfection in our distribution system. We currently have 965 service connections on our system. We added 5 new service connections last year. A sanitary survey inspection of our water system was conducted in January of last year. No significant deficiencies that may affect the quality of our drinking water were noted.
We want you, our valued customers to be informed about your water utility. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings held on the first and third Mondays of each month at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall (207 Main Street SW Suite A). We are pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets all federal and state requirements. If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Ronan City Hall at (406) 676-4231. Chris Atkinson, Dan Miller, and Dave Marmon, are our certified operators with over 50 years of combined experience. They attend periodic training sessions to meet continuing education requirements. The most recent training courses they received were in 2020 and the topics included ultra-filtration, operations, maintenance, safety, and security.
DID YOU KNOW? The sources of drinking water (both tap and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and in some cases radioactive elements. Water can also pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.
Contaminants that may be present in water include:
1) Microbial contaminants such as viruses and bacteria which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock 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 and farming.
3) Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.
4) Volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial processes, petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.
5) Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health. The City of Ronan routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. We take all of our water samples to Montana Environmental Laboratory in Kalispell (406-755-2131). They are a private laboratory that is certified by the State of Montana and the EPA to analyze drinking water. In keeping with our monitoring schedule, the following tests were conducted from January 1st to December 31st 2020:
• 24 Coliform bacteria tests – all were coliform free.
• One nitrate plus nitrite test on each of our water sources – results were within EPA guidelines.
• Tests on each of our water sources to determine the possible presence of eleven inorganic contaminants – results were within EPA standards.
• Tests on each of our water sources to determine the possible presence of 61 organic contaminants – results were within EPA standards.
• Tests on each of our water sources to determine the possible presence of 40 pesticides & herbicides – none were detected.
• Tests on one of our wells to determine the possible presence of cyanide, PCB’s, and 27 EPA regulated organic contaminants to renew a state monitoring waiver – none were detected.
• Tests to determine the possible presence of 10 disinfection byproducts – results were within EPA standards.
Due to the purity of our water, we have applied for and been issued a monitoring waiver for ten inorganic contaminants on the shop well (EP503) and Crow Creek (EP502). This waiver allows our system to sample those water sources only once every nine years for these contaminants. Past sampling has shown that these contaminants are either not present in our water or occur in such small amounts that they do not warrant a health hazard. This waiver covers the period from 2020 to 2028.
The following table lists the contaminants detected during recent testing. Some of our data in the table is more than a year old, since certain chemical contaminants are monitored less than once a year.
nd auto repair shops Various chemicals Spills Low Clay rich soils; upward hydraulic gradient Very low Educate shop owners and staff on BMP’s in waste management and reduction Lake County weed district Pesticides and herbicides Spills Low Clay rich soils; upward hydraulic gradient Very low Work with staff for BMPs for chemical use and storage Ronan Public Works shop area Petroleum hydrocarbons and other chemicals Spills Low Clay rich soils; upward hydraulic gradient Very low Work with staff for BMPs for chemical use and storage US HWY 93, and MT Hwy 211 Various Spills Low Clay rich soils; upward hydraulic gradient Very low Develop emergency response protocols Railroad lines Various Spills Low Clay rich soils; upward hydraulic gradient Very low Develop emergency response protocols Agricultural land use Pesticides and herbicides, Nitrates Non point source, concentration Low Clay rich soils; upward hydraulic gradient Very low Educate community on BMPs for agriculture Storm water urban land use Various Spills Low Clay rich soils; upward hydraulic gradient Very low Develop storm water management plan
Our water system is committed to providing our customers with safe, pure water and we are pleased that our water meets or exceeds all established state and federal standards. Thank you for reviewing this report.
Prepared by Montana Environmental Lab, LLC 5/21