June 26, 2008
Contact: Suzanne Grendahl, Water Quality Director, (480) 312-8719
Tests of Scottsdale water detect only one pharmaceutical compound - miniscule trace of caffeine
Water supplied to customers by the city of Scottsdale contained detectable levels of only one pharmaceutical compound – an infinitesimal trace of caffeine -- according to testing conducted in May.
Water was tested for 14 compounds at two treatment sites in Scottsdale – the Chaparral Water Treatment Plant located at McDonald Drive and Hayden Road and the Central Arizona Project Water Treatment Plant located at Pima Road and Union Hills Drive.
The only positive detection was for caffeine at the CAP Water Treatment Plant. The test found water there contained 3.6 ng/l (nanograms per liter) of caffeine. At that level, a person would have to drink 5.6 million gallons of water to ingest the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee. That volume of water would equal more than eight Olympic-size swimming pools.
All traces of caffeine in Scottsdale water are expected to be removed later this year when enhanced treatment is installed at the CAP plant. The Chaparral Water Treatment Plant is already using the enhanced treatment known as granular activated carbon (GAC).
Scottsdale tested its water in response to reports that pharmaceuticals were appearing in some municipal supplies across the country. Here is a list of the substances tested. Other Valley cities have conducted similar tests for the same chemicals:
Acetaminophen
Caffeine
Trimethoprim
Carbamazepine
Sulfamethoxazole
Fluoxetine
Estradiol
Estrone
Ethynylestradiol
Testosterone
Progesterone
Gemfibrozil
Ibuprofen
Triclosan
For more information on Scottsdale water quality, go to http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/water/quality.asp.