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The Official City Newsletter for Arden Hills Residents April 2016 Our drinking water: how safe is it? Here in Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes, there has been a lot of discussion recently about water quality. Flint, Michigan’s toxic water sup- ply has been in the national news. On Feb- ruary 27, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency held a Governor’s Water Summit to focus attention on the challenges facing Minnesota’s water supply for the future. And the question has arisen, what about our drinking water here in Arden Hills? First, where does our water come from? Arden Hills purchases treated water from the St. Paul Regional Water Services via the city of Roseville. This is water pumped from the Mississippi River into a chain of lakes north of the Twin Cities and from wells in the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aqui- fer. It goes to the Regional Water Services treatment plant by underground pipe, where it is filtered and disinfected. The City provides an average of 4.8 mil- lion gallons per day to residences and busi- nesses, increasing to 7.1 million gallons during the summer months. The EPA’s role The Environmental Protection Agency sets regulations determining water safety standards. Because the system is supplied by surface water, the main risk is biological contaminants found in rivers and lakes or picked up by the water traveling over and through the land. These may be microbial, such as viruses and bacteria; inorganic, such as salts and metals from urban storm water runoff, industry, mining and farming; and pesticides and herbicides. The testing systems The good news is that by the time wa- ter comes out of your faucet, it has been checked in St. Paul, Roseville, and Arden Hills. St. Paul is vigilant in monitoring its treatment and distribution processes. This includes hourly bacteriological checks on water leaving the plant. Arden Hills issues an annual report on the results of testing for the previous year. In 2014, the last year for which results are available so far, no contaminants were found in City water at levels that violated federal drinking water standards. Trace amounts of some contami- nants were detected. These include: • fluoride, which the state of Minnesota re- quires municipalities to add to their water systems • haloacetic acid, a by-product of drinking water disinfection • nitrates, due to run-off from fertilizer, leaching from septic tanks, natural erosion (This was an important topic of discussion at the Governor’s Water summit.) • coliform bacteria, although follow-up sampling showed none. The entire report may be viewed online at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/water/swp/ swa. Arden Hills tests monthly for the presence of coliform bacteria at ten sites. Every three months, the City tests for Trihalomethanes (THMs), which are environmental pollut- ants, at two sites at the far reaches of the supply system. An important precaution is testing for lead in our drinking water. Levels are checked in St. Paul monthly or every two months and double checked by Arden Hills every three years. If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primar- ily from materials and components associ- ated with service lines and home plumb- ing. Factors that contribute to erosion of lead pipes, such as acidity, are tested by machines at the Water Services plant 24 hours a day. What you can do The City of Arden Hills is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, by Susan Cathey If you’d like updates about construction as these projects progress, check these resources: • www.cityofardenhills.org • www.dot.state.mn.us It’s coming: Road construction season is upon us! It’s starting soon, and again this year there are a number of road and bridge construction projects in our area. continued on page 5