November 16, 2007
Contact: Pat Dodds, Public Affairs Officer, 480-312-2336
Reports on water quality readings involve private
water company, not Scottsdale’s municipal system
Some media reports this morning questioned the safety of Scottsdale water based on statements made Thursday at a community meeting hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency concerning the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund site.
The issue is related to a water treatment facility operated by the Arizona American Water Company, a private utility that provides water to customers in Paradise Valley and a portion of the city of Scottsdale with roughly 1,500 customers.
The Arizona American water system is separate from the City of Scottsdale's municipal water system and is operated independently of the City's water system. The issue involves levels of trichloroethylene, or TCE, a chemical that is being removed from drinking water at an Arizona American facility.
Scottsdale also has a facility that removes TCE from drinking water supplies to meet EPA standards. The Scottsdale system and the Arizona American System are not connected.
More information on the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund site is available on Scottsdale’s Web site at http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/water/superfund.asp.
Scottsdale’s water is safe. The system operated by the city of Scottsdale and serving roughly 88,000 customers continues to meet all state and federal standards for water quality.
Scottsdale has asked the EPA and state and county agencies to update the city on information related to the Arizona American facility. We urge customers of Arizona American to contact the company for information.
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A statement issued today by the Arizona American Water Company follows:
WATER QUALITY MEETS OR SURPASSES STANDARDS
“Arizona American Water wants to assure our Paradise Valley Water District customers that the drinking water delivered to our customers continues to meet or surpass all water quality standards and is in compliance with National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.
“On November 8, 2007 Arizona American Water was notified by the North Indian Bend Wash Participating Companies that samples from the Miller Road Treatment Facility (MRTF) collected on October 15, 2007 showed levels of Trichloroethylene (TCE) at 9.2 parts per billion (ppb). Although this water was not treated to the clean up standard set by the EPA, the water that was delivered to our Paradise Valley Water District customers was below the TCE water quality standard of 5 ppb.
“For clarification, treated water from the MRTF is pumped to the Arizona American Water arsenic removal facility where it is blended with four additional sources of water containing no TCE. Once this blended water enters the arsenic treatment facility it is treated chemically, filtered and then chlorinated before it is delivered to our customers.
“On October 15, 2007, the blend going into the arsenic removal facility was approximately 8.9 million gallons from unaffected sources and 3.2 million gallons from the MRTF, or nearly a 3 to 1 ratio respectively.
“Compliance with the drinking water TCE standard is calculated on a running annual average of quarterly samples and the average must be below 5 ppb to meet water quality standards. The current running annual average for the Paradise Valley Water system is 0.63 ppb, well below the compliance standard and in compliance.
“To ensure water being discharged into the Arizona American Water Paradise Valley water system does not exceed any public health thresholds, the MRTF and the arsenic removal facility have multiple layers of redundancy and barriers. These barriers and redundancies include weekly monitoring of the MRTF treated water, the presence of three treatment Towers to allow immediate removal of any treatment Tower experiencing operational difficulties, blending of the MRTF treated water with water from other unaffected sources, and additional treatment including filtration and chlorination. These barriers and redundancies worked to ensure no water exceeding any public health threshold entered the Arizona American Water Paradise Valley water system at anytime during this event.
“Arizona American Water has been in close consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, and the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department regarding this issue.
“Arizona American Water is committed to providing high-quality and reliable water services to our customers throughout the State of Arizona."
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