Massachusetts Water Resources Authority 2003 Report on your Drinking Water - a message from your local water department

TOWN OF WINCHESTER Department of Public Works Public Water Supply # 3344000

Dear Customer, The 2003 Drinking Water Report to Consumers is a report on the quality of drinking water supplied by the Winchester Water Department (WWD) in partnership with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. We are happy to be working with MWRA in this joint communication on the quality of drinking water arriving at your home. This annual report provides detailed information on the Winchester and MWRA’s source water reservoirs and the quality of water determined through federal and state testing guidelines. Go back to MWRA main report Water for the Town of Winchester comes from the MWRA Water System and town-owned reservoirs located in the Middlesex Fells Reservation off of South Border Road. The Winchester water is treated by a filtration plant located at the South Reservoir. The South Reservoir is protected through Sanitary Surveys, Water Quality Testing, Reservoir Patrolling and Watershed Management. Protection of MWRA’s source reservoirs is discussed in the Report. The Winchester water system is made up of three pressure distribution networks; the Westside High System, the Eastside High System and the Middle Low System. The Westside High System receives water from the MWRA on a daily basis. This system serves streets located west of Cambridge Street. The Eastside High System receives its water from the Winchester Water Treatment Plant from October to April, and receives MWRA water from May to September. The Eastside High System serves the area east of Washington Street, east of Main Street to Symmes Corner and the streets east of Grove Street. The Middle Low System receives its water from the Winchester Water Treatment Plant on a daily basis and serves streets west of Washington Street, west of Main Street and west of Grove Street. The Town of Winchester, through the efforts of the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting Members, has taken an aggressive approach in ensuring our drinking water meets the highest standards. The following are some system improvements over the last few years: Construction of a 2 million gallon per day (mgd) water treatment plant Construction of a 1 mgd storage tank Replacement and cleaning & lining of over 23 miles of water mains in the Winchester distribution system Installation of new transmission mains on Arlington Street, Swan Road, Main Street and Washington Street The MWRA installed a 24-inch water line on Forest Street that serves as a back up to Winchester’s water system. Interior and exterior painting of the North Storage Tank. The Town of Winchester and the MWRA analyze water samples on a routine basis to ensure compliance with all state and federal regulatory requirements. Annual systems wide flushing and lead gooseneck replacement of water services were also performed. Listed below are several substances that were tested in Winchester’s sources of drinking water during 2003. The table also shows the results of each contaminant found in the water compared to the highest levels allowed by law (MCL). Not listed are the more than 100 other substances for which we tested that were not detected in our water during 2003. SAMPLES UNITS MCL (mg/l) DETECTED LEVEL VIOLATIONS HOW IT GET IN THE WATER Turbidity NTU 0.5 0.1 NO Soil runoff Fluoride ppm 4 1.1 NO Water additive that promotes strong teeth Sodium ppm NS 17 NO Widely present in reservoirs TTHM ppb 100 35 NO By product of disinfections Haloacetic Acid ppb 60 8 NO By product of disinfection Nitrate ppm 10 *ND NO Naturally present in water Lead ppm 0.015 97% passed NO Present in water system and household plumbing Copper ppm 1.3 100% passed NO Present in water system and household plumbing Chlorine ppm 4.0 .6 NO Disinfection KEY *ND = none detected NTU = Nephelometric Turbidity Unit PPM = Parts per million TTHM = Total Trihalomethanes MCL = Maximum Contaminant Level: The highest allowed level of a contaminant in drinking water. If you would like additional information on your drinking water, call Stephen Swymer at the Winchester Water Department (781) 721-7100 or you can call MWRA or US EPA at the numbers in the Report.