City of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin

Gateway to the St. Croix Valley

2003 Annual Drinking Water Report

Cit of St. Croix Falls Water Department

We're very pleased to provide you with this year's Annual Quality Water Report. We want to keep you informed about the excellent water and services we have delivered to you over the past year. Our goal is and always has been, to provide to you a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. Our water source is a combination of glacial drift, overlying Cambrian sedimentary rocks (sandstone) and Precambrian basalt (trap rock). The water system at the City of St. Croix Falls consists of 18 1/2 miles of distribution water mains, 5 wells pumping from 50 gallons per minute to 200 gallons per minute with well depths from 136'to 275'. The City of St. Croix Falls, with the terrain consisting of hills and river valley, has 4 different zones with 5 water towers with a total capacity of 615,000 gallons. The system also consists of 3 elevation valves/check valves and two booster pumps to pump water to different zones. The elevation check valves also help for fire protection with the downtown area having 565,000 gallons of water available for fire protection.

In 2003, the City of St. Croix Falls’ five municipal wells pumped a total of 102,457,000 gallons of water to City customers,

During the year, water personnel tested 730 Fluoride samples and 398 Chlorine in‑house samples with an annual average residual of 1.08 mg/l for Fluoride and .19 mg/1 for Chlorine.

Also in 2003, water personnel sampled and sent 31 State Bacterial samples, 4 Raw Well samples, 16 State Fluoride samples, 1 nitrate.

All samples complied with the DNR limits and time.

If you have any questions about this report or your water utility, please contact Bonita Leggitt at 483‑3929 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. She will notify a member of the staff to contact you. If you would like to learn more, please feel free to attend any of the City Council meetings, which are held the Second and Last Monday of every month at City Hall, 710 Highway 35 South, St. Croix Falls, at 7:00 p.m.

The City of St. Croix Falls routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water, according to Federal and State laws. This table shows the results of our monitoring for the period 1/ 1/1999 to 12/31/2003. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some constituents. It is important to remember that the presence of these constituents does not necessarily pose a health risk. We are pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets Federal and State requirements.

“All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contamination by constituents that are naturally occurring or is man make. Those constituents can be microbes, organic or inorganic chemicals, or radioactive materials.”

All 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 the 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 at 1-800-426-4791.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer 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/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidiym and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

In our continuing efforts to maintain a safe and dependable water supply, it may be necessary to make improvements in your water system. With the low capacity wells and aquifer that depends on runoff water to maintain sufficient levels, we ask our customers to be especially careful in personal water usage and also of possible contaminants on the ground surface. We at the City of St. Croix Falls Water Department work diligently to provide you with safe dependable water. We ask that all our customers help us to protect our water sources, which are the heart of the community, our way of life and our children's future.

Thank You

Source(s) of Water
Source id Source Depth (in feet)
3 Groundwater 220
7 Groundwater 171
8 Groundwater 171
9 Groundwater 275
10 Groundwater 136

Number of Contaminants Required to be Tested

This table displays the number of contaminants that were required to be tested in the last five years. The CCR may contain up to five years worth of water quality results. If a water system tests annually, of more frequently, the results from the most recent year are shown on the CCR. If testing is done less frequently, the results shown on the CCR are from the past five years.

Contaminant Group # of Contaminants
Inorganic Contaminants 16
Microbiological Contaminants 2
Radioactive Contaminants 1
Synthetic Organic Contaminants including Pesticides and Herbicides 28
Unregulated Contaminants 33
Volatile Organic Contaminants 20

Inorganic Contaminants

Contaminant (units) MCL MCLG Level Found Range Sample Date (if prior to 2003) Violation Typical Source of Contaminant
BARIUM (ppm) 2 2 .017 .003- .017 05/23/2002 NO Discharge of drilling wastes; Discharge from metal refineries; Erosion of natural deposits
COPPER (ppm) AL=1.3 1.3 291 .291 06/27/2002 NO Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits; Leaching from wood preservatives
FLUORIDE (ppm) 4 4 1.1 (average) 1.0- 1.1 NO Erosion of natural deposits; Water additive which promotes strong teeth; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories
LEAD (ppb) AL=15 0 4 4 06/26/2002 NO Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits
NITRATE (N03-N) (ppm) 10 10 2.40 (average) 1.10- 3.50 NO Runoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits
test test test test test test test test
SODIUM (ppm) n/a n/a 5.93 3.65- 5.93 05/23/2002 NO n/a

Radioactive Contaminants

Contaminant (units) MCL MCLG Level Found Range Sample Date (if prior to 2003) Violation Typical Source of Contaminant
GROSS ALPHA, EXCL. R & U (pCi/l) 15 0 2.0 .0- 2.0 03/20/2002 NO Erosion of natural deposits

Unregulated Contaminants

Contaminant (units) MCL MCLG Level Found Range Sample Date (if prior to 2003) Violation Typical Source of Contaminant
SULFATE (ppm) n/a n/a 13.00 10.00- 13.00 10/12/1999 NO n/a

Definition of Terms

Term Definition
AL Action Level: The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
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.
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.
MFL Million fibers per liter
mrem/year Millirems per year (a measure of radiation absorbed by the body)
NTU Nephelometric Turbidity Units
pCi/l Picocuries per liter (a measure of radioactivity)
ppm Parts per million, or milligrams per liter (mg/l)
ppb Parts per billion, or micrograms per liter (ug/l)
ppt Parts per trillion, or nanograms per liter
ppq Parts per quadrillion, or picograms per liter
TCR Total Coliform Rule
TT Treatment Technique: A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.