IN5206008
Jamestown Municipal Water Works
2007 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
Jamestown, Indiana

Jamestown Municipal Water Works is very pleased to provide you with this year's Annual Quality Water Report. We want to keep you informed about the water and services we have delivered to you over the past year. Our goal is and always has been, to provide to you a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. We are pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets federal and state requirements.
Our water source is groundwater produced from four wells at two separate well fields. One is in the East end of Jamestown with well # 2 located at 406 East Main St. and Well # 3 located North of the Railroad in back of 706 East Main St. both wells are completed in sand and gravel Aquifers. The second Well field is located West of Jamestown about one and one half miles on County road 1025 W. Well # 4 is located North of the Railroad tracks and on the West side of 1025 W. Well # 5 is located South of the Railroad tracks on the East side of 1025 W. Both of these Wells are also Sand and Gravel Aquifers. We have a source water protection plan (Well Head Protection Plan) available from our office that provides more information such as potential sources of contamination.
If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Mr. Wayne Henry or Linda Isenhower at (765)676-6331. We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled Town Council meetings. They are held on the first Tuesday of each month.
Jamestown Municipal Water Works routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2007. As water travels over the land or underground, it can pick up substances or contaminants such as microbes, inorganic and organic chemicals, and radioactive substances. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents. It's important to remember that the presence of these constituents does not necessarily pose a health risk.
Jamestown has implemented a Wellhead Protection Plan. Hear some tips to protect your dirking water.
Reduce the amount of fertilizers, pesticides, or other hazardous, chemicals that you use. Buy only what you need so that you don’t have to dispose of leftovers. Read all the labels and follow directions.
Recycle use oil, automotive fluids, batteries, and other products. Do not dispose of hazardous products or wastes (automotive fluids, adhesives, cleaning agents, etc.) in toilets, storm drains, wastewater systems, creeks, or the ground. This pollutes the water supply.
Clean up your property and properly dispose of out dated or unused household chemicals stored in your basement, garage or barn.
Properly plug all oil, natural gas and water wells, which are not in use. Contact your local water utility for more information on plugging abandoned wells.
In this table you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions:
Non-Detects (ND) - laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present.
Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/l) - one part per million corresponds to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.
Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter - one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.
Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.
Action Level (AL) - the concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
Treatment Technique (TT) - A treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The “Maximum Allowed” (MCL) is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - The “Goal”(MCLG) is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) - The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG) - The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

Arsenic. Some people who drink water containing arsenic in excess of the MCL over many years could experience skin damage or problems with their circulatory system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
*Arsenic Violation
The table shows that our system uncovered some problems this year. The duration of the violation was 1/1/2007 to 9/5/2007 the potential adverse health effects are Arsenic. Some people who drink water containing arsenic in excess of the MCL over many years could experience skin damage or problems with their circulatory system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
What Happened?
On January 1, 2007 new drinking water standards for Arsenic became effective changing from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion and only our well No. 2 is above the standard with an average of 14 parts per billion. Note This well has not been in production in 15 years, but has only been on manual stand by and only would have been pumped if there had been an emergency and as a result this well was only pumped for testing purposes. And was taken out of service September 5, 2007
What is being done?
In January, 2007 we valved off this well, so it can not be accidentally turned on until all the final testing was done. Well No. 2 was taken out of service September 5, 2007 and we have received a letter from Indiana Department of Environmental Management of Inactivation.
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 land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
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 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, storm water runoff, and residential uses.
Organic chemicals, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.
Radioactive materials, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
In order to ensure tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.
All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contamination by substances that are naturally occurring or man made. These substances can be microbes, inorganic or organic chemicals and radioactive substances. All drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
MCL’s are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink 2 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.
Thank you for allowing us to continue providing your family with clean, quality water this year. In order to maintain a safe and dependable water supply we sometimes need to make improvements that will benefit all of our customers. These improvements are sometimes reflected as rate structure adjustments. Thank you for understanding.
Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

We at Jamestown Municipal Water Works, work diligently to provide top quality water to every tap. We ask that all our customers help us protect our water sources, which are the heart of our community, our way of life and our children’s future. Please call our office if you have questions 765-676-6331.