Mandatory Public Reporting of TCEQ Violation regarding Drinking Water Q1 2020 (Extension of Previously Reported Quarters per TCEQ)

TO: Water Customers                                                                                                                               April 22, 2020

       City of San Augustine

The Texas Commission on environmental Quality (TCEQ) has notified CITY OF SAN AUGUSTINE TX2030001 that the drinking water being supplied to customers has exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for total Trihalomethanes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has established the MCL for total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) to be 0.080 milligrams per liter (mg/l) based on locational running annual average (LRAA), and has determined that it is a health concern at levels above the MCL ,Analysis of drinking water in your community for total Trihalomethanes indicates a compliance value in quarter four (Q1) 2020 of 0.082 mg/L for DBP2-01.

TRIHALOMETHANES (TTHM) are a group of volatile organic compounds that are formed when chlorine, added to the water during the treatment process for disinfection, reacts with naturally-occurring organic matter in the water.

Some people that drink water-containing TRIHALOMETHANES in excess of the MCL over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidney, or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE AN ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLY. However, if you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor to get more information about how this can affect you.

We believe we have already corrected this problem. When we wrote the last explanation of the exceedance for our locational running annual average (LRAA) in Q4 of 2019 we were working to make adjustments in sludge removal and chlorine levels by adding auto timers to the removal process which takes place inside the settling chamber within the plant. At the same time many additional key components were replaced in both basins. Work was done over several quarters so we could kep producing to meet production needs for the system. The repairs result in less reaction time for the organics to be in contact with the chlorine to form TTHM.  We have received a new lab test result from sample point DBP2-01 which is 56.4 mg/l, well below the maximum. The other test point BBP2-02 is similarly low at 54.5 mg/l. When the TCEQ publishes the new average figure, we should be well within compliance range as the older high values drop off the average barring unforeseen changes elsewhere in the system. It is never possible to remove all TTHM from a water system. Even on different disinfection treatment such as Chloramines there will still be some byproduct.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink the water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools and business). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

If you have any questions concerning this notice, you may contact Chris Anding at 936-275-2121, At San Augustine City Hall.

City of San Augustine