Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) and Water Quality

1. What is the source of your drinking water? Where does your water ORIGINATE? (It is treated at a water treatment plant, but what watershed or aquifer is the sources of the water?)

The source of my drinking water comes from a variety of sources including treated surface water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and/or Lake Del Valle via the South Bay Aqueduct, purchased water from SF that is surface water originating from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir or locally in the Calaveras or San Antonio Reservoirs in the Alameda Creek watershed. The other two sources include blended water from the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin, runoff from the Alameda Creek watershed, blended water from the Peralta/Tyson and Mowry Wellfield Water Blending Facility and from desalted or desalinated water produced at the Newark Desalination Facility from brackish local groundwater. Water in my community originates from local ground water, blending facilities, desalination facilities, aquifers and watersheds.

2· What chemicals were found in your water that were higher than expected? Fluoride, Trihalomethanes, Bromate, Disinfectant Residual (as Cl2), and 5 Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) were found to have higher than expected levels in my water.

3. What chemicals did you NOT expect to find in your water?
I was really surprised and concerned to find radium-226 and disinfectant residual in my water.

4. Are there associated health risks with the chemicals found in your water? (sources for this last question include the EPA, CDC, ATSDR and the National Library of Medicine's ToxNet program.
According to ToxNet, fluoride, trihalomethanes, bromate disinfectant residual and 5 haloacetic acids can potentially impact pregnant women and fetuses. These chemicals are associated with spontaneous abortion, birth defects, Down Syndrome and smaller than average neonates.

Water Quality

1. Where does your water come from? The source! Track it from the source to your tap. 

My water comes primarily from a Alameda County Water District's blending facility that blends purchased San Francisco water and local groundwater that comes from the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin which underlies the Tri-City area and is replenished through infiltration from local rainwater, runoff from the Alameda Creek watershed, and water from the South Bay Aqueduct.

2. What did you discover about your water quality? 

I discovered that ACWD works to inform the public of Public Health Goals (PHGs) or Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs), despite that PHGs are non-enforceable goals and are based solely on public health risk considerations.

3. Do you use a filter for your water?
I currently use a Brita filter.

4. What are you trying to filter out? 

I use a Brita filter to filter out chlorine taste, odor, zinc, copper, cadmium, and mercury.

5· Do you drink bottled water? How does this square with what you learned when you watched the Story of Bottled Water? 

I occasionally drink from bottled water, but I'm pretty good at bringing my own reusable BPA-free water bottle. The Story of Bottled Water really emphasizes how quickly plastic water bottles are clogging our landfills and adding to pollution levels. I've learned a lot about the negative impact of bottled water and it goes in line with the video on the Story of Bottled Water.