Mandatory Public Reporting of TCEQ Violation regarding Drinking Water Q4 2019 (Extension of Q3 Previously Reported per TCEQ)

TO: Water Customers                                                                                                                       February 19, 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 (Q4) 2019 of 0.081 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 are working to correct the problem. Since the notice at the end of 2019 for Q3, the values have come to within 0.002mg/mcl of compliance at one sample point while TTHM levels at the other sample point are now under the threshold. We are continuing to work with City Engineers and TCEQ to improve our system. Specifically, we are 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. This will allow less reaction time for the organics to be in contact with the chlorine to form TTHM. This notice is actually a continuation of the issue previously published at the end of 2019. Work is underway on the first Treatment Basin at the time this notice was drafted. Depending on the organic loading in City Lake, we are just barely over limits during the year, so we only need a small improvement to be in compliance. We are doing the work during the winter months of low consumption since we have to shut down half of our production capacity while working inside the plant basins.

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