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141 WATER Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) Supply Did Not Meet Certain Monitoring and Treatment Requirements Our water system recently received a notice of violation regarding drinking water requirements. Although this was not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what we are doing to correct this situation. What should I do? There is nothing you need to do. You do not need to boil your water or take other actions. We do not know of any contamination, and none of our testing has shown disease -causing organisms in the drinking water. What happened? What is being done? Lead and Copper Monitoring We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not your drinking water meets health standards. During the most recent compliance period, we did not complete all monitoring or testing for Lead and Copper and therefore cannot be sure of the quality of your drinking water during that time related to lead and copper. During this time SPRWS collected 50 lead and copper samples as required however, of these samples 22 were from lead service lines when 25 was required. Based on this, SPRWS will collect 100 samples in 2023 and ensure that 50 are from lead service lines. This issue will be addressed by resampling at appropriate sites, along with a review of sites used prior to sampling. The public will be notified of system results through our annual consumer confidence report. Results for individual properties will be provided to those customers that participate in sampling. Water Quality Parameters At our water treatment plant, we continuously monitor water quality to ensure public health and safety. We also routinely monitor water quality parameters in the distribution system at 10 locations. In 1998, SPRWS worked with the Minnesota Department of Health to develop target water quality pH ranges. During each 6-month operating period from January 2020 to June 2022, SPRWS had more than 9 days during each operating period when pH ranges were outside of the range designated in the 1998 standard, which is a Treatment Technique Violation. Research conducted over the past 25 years has provided additional insights into optimal pH ranges and SPRWS believes that the 1998 standard no longer reflects optimal treatment. SPRWS will work with Minnesota Department of Health to re-evaluate treatment methodology and associated water quality parameters. When pH is outside of optimal ranges, it may cause corrosion in the distribution system. It is not evident if operation outside the designated pH range had an impact on the system. Turbidity Monitoring We continuously monitor your water for turbidity (cloudiness), which is an indicator of whether we are effectively filtering the water supply. Turbidity results on April 15, 2022 (for 30 minutes) and on April 20, 2022 (for 45 minutes) showed abnormal turbidity measurements for individual filters. These readings were the result of routine maintenance on the turbidity meters and were not reflective of actual water being treated at the time. In both instances, turbidity values of the treated water were excellent both immediately prior to the maintenance work and immediately following the maintenance work when the turbidity meters were returned to normal operation. By filtering water during preventative maintenance and not obtaining additional results, continuous monitoring was not conducted and actual turbidity values during these maintenance procedures were not recorded. Maintenance practices are being updated to ensure representative samples are obtained during preventative maintenance. Page 42 of 76