Annual water report shows no violations
By Melinda L. Lucas
Albany water customers should receive a “2021 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report” in the next few days showing that locally treated water meets or exceeds all federal drinking water requirements.
“All the numbers looked as good or better than last year,” said Albany water superintendent Michael Graham.
Report Summary
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality require that all community public water suppliers deliver to their customers annual drinking water quality reports, telling consumers what contaminants have been detected in their drinking water, how these detection levels compare to drinking water standards, and where their water comes from.
The local detailed report provides consumers with information about all aspects of Albany’s water treatment, as well as a summary of the regular water sampling.
“Most of the by-products are tested every year,” said Graham. “Some things, like lead and copper, are only tested every three years.”
If something wasn’t tested this year, it will show on the report the last year it was tested.
The levels of all inorganic materials tested were well within the EPA guidelines for this year.
The raw water pH averaged 7.8, which is good, according to Graham. He said that when the pH is close to 7.5 there is less scaling and corrosion to pipes and equipment, but when it is higher, there is less leaching of lead and copper from pipes.
Graham added that local water quality, as in any system, always depends on the quality of water from the source.
Albany currently obtains water from Hubbard Creek Reservoir and has not used any water from Lake McCarty in more than 20 years.
Graham added that any homeowners who still have lead plumbing should allow their hot water to run for a minute or two before using it for drinking or cooking.
“It’s always a good idea to run hot water through any lead plumbing for a short time just to help flush out the pipes from any lead or copper that has leached into the standing water,” Graham explained.
Confusing Report
According to Graham, the mandatory water quality report is confusing for most people.
“We’re required to tell customers that small amounts of some contaminants may increase health risks for people with certain conditions, and if you really start reading the report, it can look pretty scary, just like all those warnings on medications,” Graham said. “You would have to drink a lot for it to be a health hazard though.”
The bottom line is that the city is in compliance with everything that was sampled.
Anyone who did not receive a quality report can contact City Hall at 325-762-3133.
