Redstone’s drinking water meets safety standards

The Garrison and Huntsville Utilities drinking water compliance and supply team are committed to providing you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. During 2022, we monitored your drinking water continuously for potential contaminants to ensure it met the stringent requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Based on the 2022 analytical results, we are pleased to inform you that your drinking water met the SDWA standards and the drinking water provided to you on Redstone Arsenal is safe to drink.

Huntsville Utilities treatment facilities provided the majority of drinking water to Redstone during 2022. We purchased approximately 2.3 million gallons of potable water per day from Huntsville Utilities and supplemented this supply by producing approximately 0.4 million gallons per day at water treatment plant 3 on Redstone. Water Treatment Plant 1 on Redstone did not produce potable water during 2022 due to ongoing renovations. Huntsville Utilities used their two surface water plants as the primary sources for the potable water provided to Redstone Arsenal. The Tennessee River serves as the raw water source for these plants as well as both Garrison plants.

Source water assessments that provide baseline data for the quality of our raw water before it is treated are available during regular duty hours for review in the Environmental Management Division office at building 4488, Martin Road, room A-336. These assessments identify the origins of potential contaminant sites and assessed their susceptibility to our raw water supply systems. Based on our assessments, the potential contaminant sites exhibited a low risk to the Redstone Arsenal's raw water supply.

The Garrison can provide detailed tables which present the Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville Utilities drinking water monitoring data for 2022 (or the most recent monitoring periods) as required.

The Garrison is required to monitor your water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not your drinking water meets health standards. From January-March 2022 we did not monitor for disinfectant byproducts during the required timeframe, and therefore cannot be sure of the quality of your drinking water during that time. The 2022 first quarter DBP samples were collected; however, they failed the QA/QC process making them invalid. The samples failed to be properly analyzed due to a positive COVID-19 case at the lab. resulting in a quarantine and also a suspected lab equipment malfunction. Because DBPs from these quarters were used in determining compliance with DBP MCLs in the quarters of April-June 2022, July-August 2022, and October-December 2022 the Garrison incurred monitoring violations for these quarters.

Note that all drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of these contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in the drinking water provided by public drinking water systems. The Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

The maximum contaminant levels for various contaminants are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink two liters of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect. However, some people may be more vulnerable to these contaminants than the general population. People who are immuno-compromised such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly and some infants may be particularly more at risk to infections from these contaminants. People at risk should seek advice from their health care providers about drinking the water from their public water system. The EPA/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

Although there is not a problem with lead in drinking water at Redstone Arsenal; lead, if present in elevated levels, can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead contaminants in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. The Garrison is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. When the water has been sitting in the water lines for several hours (especially over the weekend), you can minimize the potential for elevated lead and iron level exposure by flushing the lines for two to five minutes before using the water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may have your water tested by calling 256-876-2801. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is also available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include the following:

• 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 byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production. They 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.

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 also pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or human activities.

The water supply team at Redstone is committed to providing top quality water to every tap. We ask all of our customers to help protect our water sources, which are the heart of our community, our way of life, and our children's future. We extend our sincere thanks to each of you, our Redstone Arsenal valuable customers, for the opportunity to serve you.

We routinely monitor your drinking water for many constituents in accordance with federal and state safe drinking water laws and regulations. Again, as reflected in the 2022 test results, the drinking water produced by Redstone Arsenal and purchased from Huntsville Utilities is safe to drink and meets federal and state drinking water standards. If you have any questions about this report, or noncompliance, contact the Drinking Water Manager in the Garrison Environmental Management Division at 256-955-8230 or [email protected].

We want you to be informed about your drinking water utility. Share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this posting this in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

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