The City of Highland Park presents its annual Drinking Water
Quality Report! Every year, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ) require us to report to you the quality of
your drinking water. While a statutory requirement, Highland Park
considers it a priority to inform you, our customers,
about the safety of the water you drink and the importance of
protecting our water supply. We are excited to bring this report
to you and feel that the information we are providing you is
important.
Is my water SAFE?
Last year, as in years past, your tap water met all EPA and state
drinking
water health standards. Highland Park vigilantly safeguards its
water supplies and we are proud to report that our
system has never violated a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or any
other water quality standard.
The City of Highland Park draws water from Lake St. Clair at an
intake station shared with the City of Grosse
Pointe Farms. The raw water is pumped back to the City of
Highland Park's treatment plant located at Dequindre
Street and the North Davison Access Drive in Detroit. At the
treatment plant, a variety of treatment processes occur. For
example, organic and non-organic particles in the raw
water are settled and removed, the partially treated water is
filtered for any remaining impurities, and chlorine is added to
disinfect the water before it reaches your tap. Other
chemicals also are added that control contaminants such as lead
and copper.
Do I need to take special precautions?
Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking
water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons
such as
persons with cancer and 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 and Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on appropriate means to
lessen the risk of infection by
Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available
from the Safe Water Drinking Hotline (800-426-4791).
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON YOUR WATER, CONTACT THE WATER DEPARTMENT
By Phone:
313-252-0050 x204 Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
By Mail:
12050 Woodward Avenue, Highland Park, MI 48203
In Person:
Water Window hours are Monday thru Thursday, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
and Friday, 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
Monitoring Requirements Were Met for
HIGHLAND PARK, WSSN 03140
What
Happened? No EPA or DEQ
monitoring or water quality violations occurred in 2003.
What is
being done? The
facility continues to collect and process all samples required by
the US EPA and MDEQ. For more information or our water quality
testing program, please contact:
Steve Egan,
Interim Public Works Director, at 313-250-0050, extension 201
Water Plant
Operators at 313-883-4479
Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality at 734-953-1472
To take a
tour of our water plant, please call Mr. Egan or the Water Plant
Operators.
What
should I do? There is nothing you need to do at this time. There is no emergency.
You do not need to boil water or use an alternative source of
water at this time. Please share this information with all other
people who drink this water, especially those who may not have
received this notice directly.
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PRESORTED
STANDARD
U.S.POSTAGE
DETROIT MI 48226
PERMIT 1405
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City of Highland
Park
Water
Department
12050
Woodward
Highland Park,
MI 48203
Why are there
contaminants in my drinking water?
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
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
(800-426-4791).
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 pick up substances resulting from
the presence of animals or from human activity as indicated below:
·
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 stormwater runoff,
industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas
production, mining, or farming.
·
Pesticides and herbicides,
which may come from a variety of
urban stormwater
runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater
discharges, oil and gas
production, mining, or farming.
·
Organic Chemical contaminants,
including synthetic and
volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial
processes and petroleum production, and can also come from
gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
·
Radioactive contaminants,
which can be naturally-occurring
or be the result of oil and gas production and mining
activities.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes
regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water
provided by public water systems. U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled
water,
which must provide the same protection for public health.
What Contaminants
are in my water?
The Water Quality Data Table that follows lists all of the drinking
water contaminants that we detected during the most recent
laboratory
analysis. The presence of contaminants in the water does not
necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. The
following is a
brief explanation of how some contaminants can affect your water:
·
Some people who drink water containing fluoride in excess of the
Maximum Contaminate Level (MCL) over many years could get bone
disease, including pain and
tenderness of the bones. Children may get mottled teeth.
·
Infants and young children are typically more vulnerable to lead in
drinking water than the general population. It is possible that
lead
levels at your home may be higher than at other homes in the
community as a result of materials used in your home's plumbing. If
you
are concerned about elevated lead levels in your home's water, you
may wish to have your water tested and flush your tap for 30 seconds
to 2 minutes before using tap water. Additional information is
available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
·
While Highland Park's water is below the action level, if infants
and children drink water containing lead in excess of the action
level,
they could experience delays in their physical or mental
development. Children could show slight deficits in attention span
and learning
abilities. Adults who drink this water over many years could develop
kidney problems or high blood pressure.
·
Copper is an essential nutrient, but some people who drink water
containing copper in excess of the action level over a relatively
short amount of time could experience gastrointestinal distress.
Some people who drink water containing copper in excess of the
action level over many years could suffer liver or kidney damage.
People with Wilson's Disease should consult their personal doctor.
Zebra Mussels Try To Muscle Their Way In
A common concern for water systems drawing water from the Great
Lakes is the predatory zebra mussel. These freshwater organisms
attach themselves to smooth surfaces such as piers, bottoms of
boats, and buoys. Problems occur when they attach to wet surfaces
in the treatment plant such as piping and walls of storage tanks.
They not only clog intake pipes, but they can ruin
pumping equipment by excessive wear of the impellers and other
moving parts. This is not only a nuisance but a costly expense to
the City and to you. In order to combat these fast reproducing
zebra mussels, the City and Grosse Pointe Farms jointly implemented
in 1992 the
addition of chlorine in the raw water intake line in Lake St.
Clair. Chlorine is added when the water temperature is above 50° F
and
then once per week to produce zebra mussel free water.
 
Unless otherwise noted, the data presented in this table is from
testing done in the calendar year of the report. The EPA or the
State requires
us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year
because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change
frequently.
Some of the data, though representative of the water quality, may be
more than one year old.
*Range is not applicable unless multiple samples taken.
Terms And
Abbreviations Used Above:
AL:
Action Level - The concentration of a contaminant which if exceeded,
triggers
treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
MCLG:
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal - 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.
MCL:
Maximum Contaminant Level: 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.
NTU:
Nephelometric Turbidity Units
ND:
Contaminant Was Not Detected
NA:
Not Applicable Or Not Available
NR:
Not Regulated
ppm:
Parts Per Million Or Milligrams Per Liter (mg/l)
ppb:
Parts Per Billion Or Micrograms Per Liter (ug/l)
pCi/L:
Picocuries Per Liter
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