Meeting Agendas

ISLAND LAKE WATER DEPARTMENT

Annual Water Quality Report for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2004

This report is intended to provide you with important information about your drinking water and the efforts made by the ISLAND LAKE water system to provide safe drinking water. The Village of Island Lake is committed to providing a safe and reliable supply of high quality drinking water 365 days a year. This year, as in years past, your tap water met all United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and state drinking water health standards. This report summarizes the quality of water that we provided last year, including details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. The source of drinking water used by ISLAND LAKE is Ground Water.

For more information regarding this report contact:

Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre el aqua que usted bebe. Tradúzcalo ó hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.

Source of Drinking Water

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and groundwater wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pickup substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations and wildlife.

Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.

Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.

Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also, come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.

Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

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 Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

The Village of Island Lake Water Department uses ground water provided by five shallow wells drilled (less than 150’ deep) into the Illinois Prairie aquifer, one deep well drilled (980’ deep) into the St. Peter sandstone aquifer and another deep well drilled (1,330’ deep) into the Galesville sandstone aquifer. An aquifer is an underground geological formation that contains water.

Wells 5and 6 are shallow wells located in the Westridge Subdivision. Water is pumped from both wells, blended together, and treated at an iron removal plant (this is known as TAP #4). A TAP is defined by the EPA as a treatment application point. This Facility serves the Westridge Subdivision and a small portion of the original section of town.

Wells 4-6 and 4-10 are shallow wells, while wells 8 and 9 are deep wells. These wells are located in the Fox River Shores Subdivision. The water pumped from these wells is blended together and treated at a water softening plant facility (TAP #9). This facility serves the Fox River Shores Subdivision and a large portion of the original section of town. Well number 2, which is located in the original section of town, is used during emergencies only (TAP #7).

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has recently completed a source water assessment for our supply. If you would like a copy of this information, please stop by the Village Hall or call our water operators at 847-526-1954. To determine Island Lake’s susceptibility to groundwater contamination, the following document was reviewed: a “Well Site Survey”, published in 1991 by the EPA. Based on the information obtained in this document, there are a minimum of 10 potential sources of groundwater contamination that could pose a threat to groundwater utilized by Island Lake’s community water supply. In addition, information provided by the Leaking Underground Storage Tank and Remedial Project Management Sections of the Illinois EPA indicated that there are sites with on-going remediation that might be of concern. Based on this information, the Illinois EPA has determined that Island Lake’s community water supply’s source water is susceptible to contamination. The land use within the area around the wells was analyzed as part of this susceptibility determination. This land use includes residential, commercial and agricultural properties. The Illinois EPA is in the process of determining 5-year recharge areas for Island Lake’s wells.

Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.

Action Level Goal (ALG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. ALG's allow for a margin of safety