2009
20th Annual Water Quality Report

Download 2009 Roslyn Water AWQR

The Roslyn Water District is marking two milestones: The twentieth consecutive year of providing the District Water Consumers with a detailed report on the quality of water delivered and the District’s 100th Anniversary of quality water delivery to the District.

Every Water District is required to provide its customers with an annual, comprehensive report on the quality of water delivered. The Roslyn Water District began publishing this annual report several years prior to it becoming a requirement.

For your protection the Roslyn Water District monitors drinking water on a regular basis. Each well is tested before distribution and all test results are reviewed by the Department of Health, and must be within State and County limits. If the water does not meet these limits it cannot be distributed.

While only a small percentage of household water is used for drinking or cooking, all water delivered by the District must meet these high standards of water quality.

The District is pleased to report that that the water supplied to the community meets all the standards required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the New York Department of Health and the Nassau County Department of Health.

Water Supply System Information
This document is prepared by the Roslyn Water District (PWS ID NO. 2902851) as prescribed by Part 5-1.72 of the New York State Sanitary Code (10NYCRR) and by the Federal Consumer Confidence Report Regulation (40 CFR part 141, subpart U). This report contains important information about your drinking water. Included are details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to State standards. We are proud to report that during 2009 our system did not violate a maximum contaminant level or any other water quality standard.

The Roslyn Water District is a municipal corporation having its offices at 24 West Shore Road, Roslyn, N.Y. 11576. The District has 5,788 service connections and supplies drinking water to a population estimated at 17,000 people. It is managed by a Board of Commissioners consisting of three commissioners each elected to a separate three year term. The person in charge of operating the water supply system is the Superintendent of the District, Richard J. Passariello, who can be reached by telephone at (516) 621-7770 to answer questions about this report.

The Board of Commissioners have regular scheduled meetings open to the public held at the District office on the first, second, third and fifth Thursdays of the month at 9:00 A.M. Consumers within the Roslyn Water District are given the opportunity to participate in decisions affecting drinking water quality at these public meetings.

Nassau County Department of Health has jurisdiction over the water system of the District. The Department of Health is located at 106 Charles Lindbergh Boulevard, Uniondale, New York 11553 and representatives can be reached by telephone at (516) 227-9692.

Water Supply Sources and Treatment
Our source of drinking water is groundwater drawn from seven individual wells drilled into the Magothy aquifer at depths ranging from 431 feet to 530 feet and from one well field containing eight wells connected to a common suction pump. The seven individual wells are located throughout the District and on separate sites consisting of approximately one acre each. Two wells are in the Inc. Village of Roslyn Estates and five are located in the Inc. Village of East Hills.

Water is pumped directly from these wells into our distribution system at a rate for each well of between 1,000 and 1,200 gallons per minute. The distribution system includes three (3) storage tanks ranging in size from 1 million gallons in capacity to 3 million gallons with a total storage capacity of 6 million gallons.

Eight common suction wells ranging in depths from 260 feet to 555 feet are located on a well field in the Inc. Village of Roslyn. These wells consist of flowing artesian wells, seven of which are in the Magothy aquifer and one in the Lloyd aquifer. All eight wells are connected to a single turbine pump, which delivers the water directly into the distribution system at a rate of 1,100 gallon per minute.

Water is treated at each well site before entering distribution as follows: sodium hydroxide to adjust the naturally occurring acidity in groundwater this helps prevent corrosion; calcium hypochlorite is added as a precaution for disinfection.

One well located in the Inc. Village of Roslyn Estates, in addition to treatment for pH adjustment and disinfection, is treated by granular activated carbon for adsorption of organic contaminants 1,2-Dibromoethane (EDB), 1,1-Dichloroethane, Tetrachloroethene, Trichloroethene, 1,1,1-Trichloroethane, 1,1 Dichloroethene, Dacthal (DCPA) and Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). These contaminants are generally removed to below the detection level before the water enters the distribution system.

Source Water Assessment
The New York State Department of Health, with assistance from the local health department and the CDM consulting firm, has completed a source water assessment for this system, based on available information. Possible and actual threats to this drinking water source were evaluated. The source water assessment includes a susceptibility rating based on the risk posed by each potential source of contamination and how rapidly contaminants can move through the subsurface to the wells. The susceptibility of a water supply well to contamination is dependent upon both the presence of potential sources of contamination within the well’s contributing area and the likelihood that the contaminant can travel through the environment to reach the well. The susceptibility rating is an estimate of the potential for contamination of the source water, it does not mean that the water delivered to consumers is, or will become contaminated. See section “What Did We Find In Your Drinking Water” for a list of the contaminants that have been detected (if any). The source water assessments provide resource managers with additional information for protecting source waters into the future.

Drinking water is derived from 8 wells. The source water assessment has rated some of the wells as having a very high susceptibility to industrial solvents and most of the wells as having a high to very high susceptibility to nitrates. The elevated susceptibility to industrial solvents is due primarily to point sources of contamination related to commercial/industrial facilities and related activities in the assessment area. The elevated susceptibility to nitrates is due to unsewered residential land use and related practices, such as fertilizing lawns, in the assessment area.

A copy of the assessment, including a map of the assessment area, can be obtained by contacting us, as noted below.

What Did We Find In Your Drinking Water?
In accordance with State and County regulations, we routinely monitor your drinking water for numerous contaminants. We test your drinking water for coliform bacteria, physical and inorganic constituents like lead, copper and nitrate; principal organic contaminants, total trihalomethanes, radiological, and specific organic contaminants/ pesticides. The following table depicts only those contaminants, which were detected in your drinking water during 2009.

It should be noted that any drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably 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 (EPA’s) Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800) 426-4791 or the Nassau County Health Department at (516) 227-9692.

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