Consumer Confidence Report

B.M.R.P.O.A. Water Quality Report

West Brookwood Water Department

For the Year 2002, Results from the Year 2001

PWSID No. 1904001

We are 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. Our water source is supplied from three groundwater wells, Well # 1 on River Road, Well # 2 on Chestnut Street, and Well # 3 on River Road. Well #1 draws groundwater from the Kittatinny Aquifer, Well # 2 draws groundwater from the Gneiss Aquifer, and Well # 3 draws groundwater from the Gneiss Aquifer.

To date the Bureau of Safe Drinking Water has not completed an assessment for our sources of drinking water. Source water assessments will be completed for all sources of public drinking water by May 2003

We are pleased to report that our drinking water meets all federal and state safety requirements.

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).

TEST RESULTS
Contaminant	Violation Y/N	Level Detected	Units of Measurement	MCLG	MCL	Likely Source of Contamination
Microbiological Contaminants
Total coliform Bacteria	N	One positive sample		0	Presence of coliform bacteria in 5% of monthly samples	Naturally present in the environment
Radioactive Contaminants
Alpha emitters	N	3.1 Detected 1997	pCi/1		15	Erosion of natural deposits
Inorganic Contaminants:
Barium	N	Avg = 0.016 Range = 0.012 - 0.019	ppm	2	2	Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits
Beryllium	N	Avg = 0.002 Range = 0.001 – 0.003	ppb	4	4	Discharge from metal refineries and coal-burning factories; discharge from electrical, aerospace, and defense industries
*Copper	N	Avg = 0.10 Range = 0.04 – 0.22	ppm	1.3	AL=1.3	Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives
Cyanide	N	Avg = 0.003 Range = 0.002 – 0.005	ppb	200	200	Discharge from steel/metal factories; discharge from plastic and fertilizer factories
*Lead	N	Avg = 0.001 Range = 0.001 – 0.001	ppb	0	AL=15	Corrosion of household plumbing systems, erosion of natural deposits
Nitrate (as Nitrogen)	N	Avg = 3.33 Range = 1.0 – 6.70	ppm	10	10	Runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks, sewage; erosion of natural deposits
Sodium	N	Avg = 3.39 Range = 0.58 – 5.36	ppm	0	50	Erosion of natural deposits
Sulfate	N	Avg = 11.0 Range = 5.0 – 23.0	ppm	0	250	Erosion of natural deposits
Iron	N	Avg = 0.01 Range = 0.01 – 0.01	ppm	0	N/A	Erosion of natural deposits
Volatile Organic Contaminants
Bromoform	N	Avg = 1.0 Range = 0.5 – 2.0	ppb	0	N/A	Byproduct of water Chlorination

* 3 year cycle, sample date August 14, 2000

We have learned through our monitoring and testing that some contaminants have been detected. As you can see by the table, our system had no violations. We are proud that your drinking water meets or exceeds all Federal and State safety requirements.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact our Office Manager, Barbara De Marco at (973) 347-1040. 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 Association meetings at Byram Township Town Hall, located at 10 Mansfield Drive,

Stanhope, New Jersey 07874. Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm.

The B.M.R.P.O.A. Water Department routinely 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 1^st to December 31^st, 2001.

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, 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, 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 projection, 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 byproducts 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.

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. Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

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 the 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 at 1-800-426-4791.

DEFINITIONS

In the following 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:

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.

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

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

Maximum Contaminant Level - The "Maximum Allowed" (MCL) is 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.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal -The "Goal"(MCLG) is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.

To ensure the continued quality of our water we treat it in the following manner:

Raw water is injected with sodium hypochlorite at each well, at the point of entry to the distribution system. The Safe Drinking Water Act regulations allow monitoring waivers to reduce or eliminate the monitoring requirements for asbestos, volatile organic chemicals and synthetic organic chemicals. Our system has not received any waivers.

The state allows us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Some of our data, though representative, are more than one year old.

Microbiological Contaminants:

(1) Total Coliform. Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

Nitrate in drinking water at levels above 10 ppm is a health risk for infants of less than six months of age. High nitrate levels in drinking water can cause blue baby syndrome. Nitrate levels may rise quickly for short periods of time because of rainfall or agricultural activity. If you are caring for an infant you should ask advice from your health care provider.

We constantly monitor the water supply for various contaminants. We have detected no cryptosporidium in the source water. We believe it is important for you to know that cryptosporidum may cause serious illness in 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. These people should seek advice from their health care providers.

We at B.M.R.P.O.A. work hard 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. Please call our office if you have questions.