Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for Calendar Year 2021 Mill Creek Water District
This report is intended to provide you with important information about your drinking water and the efforts made by the water system to provide safe drinking water.  This report includes drinking water facts, information on violations (if applicable), and contaminants detected in your drinking water supply during calendar year 2021.  Each year, we will provide you a new report.  If you need help understanding this report or have general questions, please contact the person listed below.
Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre el agua que usted bebe. Tradúzcalo ó hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.		Contact Name:	Darin Huntley
		Telephone Number:	(217) 224-9343
		E-mail (if available)	millcreekwater@comcast.net

 

Sources of Drinking Water

 

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and groundwater 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.

 

Our source of water comes from 4 groundwater wells and a back-up water interconnect with purchased water from Quincy, IL.

 

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

·         Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may 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 water runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.

·         Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.

·         Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also, come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.

·         Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

 

Other Facts about Drinking Water

 

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 EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

 

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, 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.

 

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 microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

 

Source Water Information

 

Source water name	Type of water	Report Status
CC 02-Meter Quincy (Seasonal)	SW	Active
Well 1	GW	Active
Well 2	GW	Active
Well 3	GW	Active
Well 4	GW	Active

 

Source Water Assessments

 

Source water protection (SWP) is a proactive approach to protecting our critical sources of public water supply and assuring that the best source of water is being utilized to serve the public. It involves implementation of pollution prevention practices to protect the water quality in a watershed or wellhead protection area serving a public water supply. Along with treatment, it establishes a multi-barrier approach to assuring clean and safe drinking water to the citizens of Illinois.  The Illinois EPA has implemented a source water assessment program (SWAP) to assist with wellhead and watershed protection of public drinking water supplies.

 

We want our valued customers to be informed about their water quality. If you would like to learn more, please feel welcome to attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings. The source water assessment for our supply has been completed by the Illinois EPA. If you would like a copy of this information, please stop by or call our office at (217) 224-9343.

 

To view a summary version of the completed Source Water Assessments, including: Importance of Source Water; Susceptibility to Contamination Determination; and documentation/recommendation of Source Water Protection Efforts, you may access the Illinois EPA website at http://www.epa.state.il.us/cgi-bin/wp/swap-fact-sheets.pl.

 

Source of Water: MILL CREEK PWD to determine Mill Creek PWD's susceptibility to groundwater contamination, a Well Site Survey, published in 2012 by the Illinois EPA, was reviewed. During the survey of Mill Creek PWD's source water protection area, Illinois EPA staff recorded potential sources, routes, or possible problem sites within the 400 foot minimum setback zones, the 1,000 foot Phase I Wellhead Protection Area (WHPA), and the Phase II WHPA for Wells #1, #2, #3 and #4. The Phase II WHPA, also referred to as the recharge area, is the geographic area surrounding a well or a well field providing potable water to a community water supply as modeled using computer software to determine a five-year time of travel. Fourteen potential sources of groundwater contamination are present that could pose a hazard to groundwater pumped by the Mill Creek PWD community water supply wells. These include a pile of material, a quarrying of material, a mining other than sand/gravel or stone, a below ground fuel storage, a manufacturing process, a septic tank, an electrical generator/substation, a fertilizer warehouse, an exterminator, two lagoons, a well, an above ground fuel storage, and a pesticide/fertilizer commercial

application or warehouse. Approximately 60% (110 acres) of the Phase I and Phase II WHPAs is considered €œcultivated crops€�, with the remaining percentage consisting of €œurban development€� and €œdeciduous forest€� (Figure 2). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes this Land Resource Region as the Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region. Further, USDA classifies this Major Land Resource Area as the Central Mississippi Valley Wood Slopes, Northern Part. The Cl/Br vs. Cl ratio indicates non-point source agriculture fertilizer, as a possible source of nitrate in the area of the wells. As noted in previous sections, the nitrate concentrations for well #3 ranged from 5.58 - 9.0 mg/L. The sample data is from samples collected bi-monthly starting in November 2014 through November 2016. Figure 3 shows the overall chloride and nitrate concentration during the sample period. The Illinois EPA considers the source water of this system to be susceptible to contamination. This determination is based on a number of criteria including: the land-use activities in the recharge area of the wells, the available hydrogeological data, monitoring conducted at the wells, and monitoring conducted at the entry point to the distribution system. As noted above, the regional and local land use is primarily agriculture with some business, and the area around the wells is considered to have a €œvery high to moderately high€� potential for aquifer recharge. All public water supplies using groundwater are required to sample their wells monthly for bacterial contaminants. Sampling performed to assess for pathogenic contamination (e.g., virus, total coliform, e-coli) has also demonstrated that the source water is not susceptible to these types of contaminants.

 

Source of Water: Quincy, Illinois, EPA considers all surface water sources of community water supply to be susceptible to potential pollution problems, hence, the reason for mandatory treatment for all surface water supplies in Illinois. Mandatory treatment includes coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection. Within the Illinois portion of the Mississippi River Watershed, which is illustrated in Figure 3, many commodities, including manufactured goods, petrochemicals, and pesticides are transported along the river system. The production, storage, and transportation of these commodities are a major concern, especially when occurring near surface water intakes. In addition, agricultural runoff within the Illinois portion of the Mississippi River Basin contributes to the susceptibility of the Quincy intakes. With high flow rates and long distances of travel on the Mississippi River, critical areas can be extensive. The critical area for the Quincy intake was determined using data from a joint U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/U.S. Geological Survey project. This project used a computer modeling program (SPARROW) to determine travel times on major rivers in the United States. Accidental spills of hazardous materials into navigable waterways are a major concern because of their frequency in the United States in recent years. Illinois has access to 1,116 miles of inland waterway that can handle commercial barge traffic. These include the Upper Mississippi River, Illinois River Waterway, and the Ohio River. Along these waterways are numerous facilities that load and unload hazardous materials. Analysis of reported spills indicates that between 1974 and 1989, 794 accidental spills of hazardous materials occurred along Illinois waterways. Approximately 92% of these spills occurred along the Mississippi and/or the Illinois River. Figure 2 shows the critical area of concern (Zone 1) for the Quincy surface water intake. Spills occurring in this critical area will travel to the intake in five hours or less, making contingency planning and

spill reporting a major concern in this watershed. Further information concerning spill response planning on the Mississippi River may be found in U.S.

EPA's website at www.epa.gov/region5/oil and at U.S. Geological Survey's website ftp://ftp.umesc.er.usgs.gov/pub/gis_data/oil_spill.

 

 

 

 

2021 Regulated Contaminants Detected

Here are a few definitions and scientific terms which will help you understand the information in the contaminant detection tables.

 

Action Level Goal (ALG) : The level of a containment in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health.  ALGs allow for a margin of safety.

 

 

	Level 1 Assessment: A Level 1 assessment is a study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system. Level 2 Assessment: A Level 2 assessment is a very detailed study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why an E. coli MCL violation has occurred and/or why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system on multiple occasions.