Consumer Confidence Report

2023 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

City of Lenoir
Water System Number:   NC 01-14-010

We are pleased to present to you this year's Annual Drinking Water Quality Report.  This report is a snapshot of last year’s water quality.  Included are details about your source of water, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies.  Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. We want you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources.  We are committed to ensuring the high quality of your water and to providing you with this information because informed customers are our best allies.  If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water, please contact Kevin Matheson at 828-757-4460.  We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility.  If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled council meetings.   They are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the City/County chambers, 905 West Ave. NW Lenoir, NC at 6:00 pm.

What EPA Wants You to Know

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

If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children.  Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing.  The City of Lenoir is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components.  When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking.  If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested.   Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.  

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and 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 pick up 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 stormwater 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 stormwater 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 stormwater runoff, and septic systems; and radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

When You Turn on Your Tap, Consider the Source

Your source of drinking water is Lake Rhodhiss, the second reservoir in a chain of lakes created by Duke Energy along the upper Catawba River.

The water provided by the City of Lenoir system is treated at the George L. Bernhardt, Sr. Lake Rhodhiss Water Treatment Plant located at 5474 Waterworks Road, Granite Falls, NC in the Sawmills community. The City of Lenoir is the owner and operator of the facility. The Water Plant has recently completed several major updates that have enhanced our treatment capabilities. We now have 6 mixed media filters with air-scour backwash, a mechanical pretreatment Acti-flo system, a new chemical storage building, an upgraded laboratory, a computerized control and data acquisition system and several new pumps.

Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) Results 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Public Water Supply (PWS) Section, Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) conducted assessments for all drinking water sources across North Carolina.  The purpose of the assessments was to determine the susceptibility of each drinking water source (well or surface water intake) to Potential Contaminant Sources (PCSs).  The results of the assessment are available in SWAP Assessment Reports that include maps, background information and a relative susceptibility rating of Higher, Moderate or Lower.

The relative susceptibility rating of each source for the City of Lenoir was determined by combining the contaminant rating (number and location of PCSs within the assessment area) and the inherent vulnerability rating (i.e., characteristics or existing conditions of the well or watershed and its delineated assessment area). The assessment findings are summarized in the table below:

Susceptibility of Sources to Potential Contaminant Sources (PCSs)

It is important to understand that a susceptibility rating of “Higher” does not imply poor water quality; only the system’s potential to become contaminated by potential sources in the assessment area.

The complete SWAP Assessment report for the City of Lenoir may be viewed on the Web at:  www.ncwater.org/pws/swap, system number 0114010.  Note that because SWAP results and reports are periodically updated by the PWS Section, the results available on this web site may differ from the results that were available at the time this CCR was prepared.   If you are unable to access your SWAP report on the web, you may mail a written request for a printed copy to:   Source Water Assessment Program – Report Request, 1634 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1634, or email requests to swap@ncdenr.gov.  Please indicate your system name, number, and provide your name, mailing address and phone number.  If you have any questions about the SWAP report please contact the Source Water Assessment staff by phone at 919-707-9098.

Help Protect Your Source Water

Protection of drinking water is everyone’s responsibility. You can help protect your community’s drinking water source in several ways: dispose of chemicals and unused medications properly; take used motor oil to a recycling center; reduce lake sedimentation and erosional runoff of disturbed soils by maintaining silt screening and vegetated stream buffers; volunteer in your community to participate in group efforts to protect and keep your drinking water source clean.

Violations that Your Water System Received for the Report Year 2023

We are proud to report that your water met or exceeded all required parameters set by NCDEQ/USEPA with no violations.

Water Quality Data Tables of Detected Contaminants

We routinely monitor for over 150 contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The tables below list all the drinking water contaminants that we detected in the last round of sampling for each particular contaminant group.   The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk.  Unless otherwise noted, the data presented in this table is from testing done January 1 through December 31, 2023.  The EPA and the State of North Carolina allow us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants are not expected to vary significantly from year to year.  Some of the data, though representative of the water quality, is more than a year old. 

Unregulated contaminants are those for which EPA has not established drinking water standards.  The purpose of unregulated contaminant monitoring is to assist EPA in determining the occurrence of unregulated contaminants in drinking water and whether future regulations are warranted. Testing for round 4 of unregulated contaminants (UCMR4) was performed in 2018 and was concluded in 2019. No Cyanotoxins, Microcystins, Bromides, Germanium or Alcohols were present in your source water. 

EPA’s Round 5 of unregulated contaminants monitoring is in process, beginning in August 2023. Through the first three samplings, there have been no Poly- or Per-Fluoridated Organic substances nor Lithium detected in your water.

Your water was tested for regulated contaminants and any detected substances are reported in the following tables of results. All results reported were well below any known level for concern and were present in the source water from Lake Rhodhiss or derived from the disinfection process. No Asbestos, Pesticides, Nitrates, Cyanide, Metals, Volatile Organic Chemicals nor Synthetic Organic Chemicals were detected in your water. 

Important Drinking Water Definitions:    

Not-Applicable (N/A) – Information not applicable/not required for that particular water system or for that particular rule.

Non-Detects (ND) - Laboratory analysis indicates that the contaminant is not present at the level of detection set for the particular methodology used.

Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/L) - One part per million corresponds to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.

Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (ug/L) - One part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000. 

Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) - Nephelometric turbidity unit is a measure of the clarity of water.   Turbidity in excess of 5 NTU is just noticeable to the average person.

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

Treatment Technique (TT) - A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Residual Disinfection Level (MRDL) – The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water.  There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants. 

Maximum Residual Disinfection Level Goal (MRDLG) – The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health.  MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

Locational Running Annual Average (LRAA) – The average of sample analytical results for samples taken at a particular monitoring location during the previous four calendar quarters under the Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule.

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - 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.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - 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.

Tables of Detected Contaminants

Microbiological Contaminants in the Distribution System - For systems that collect less than 40 samples per month)

Turbidity*

* Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness of the water. We monitor it because it is a good indicator of the effectiveness of our filtration system. The turbidity rule requires that 95% or more of the monthly samples must be less than or equal to 0.30 NTU.

Inorganic Contaminants

 Lead and Copper Contaminants

Radioactive Contaminants

Total Organic Carbon (TOC)

Disinfectant Residuals Summary

Stage 2 Disinfection Byproduct Compliance - Based upon Locational Running Annual Average (LRAA)

The PWS Section requires monitoring for other miscellaneous contaminants, some for which the EPA has set national secondary drinking water standards (SMCLs) because they may cause cosmetic effects or aesthetic effects (such as taste, odor, and/or color) in drinking water.  The contaminants with SMCLs normally do not have any health effects and normally do not affect the safety of your water.

Other Miscellaneous Water Characteristics Contaminants 

Cryptosporidium

Our system sampled our raw source water for Cryptosporidium on the fourth Tuesday of every month through September 2018 and detected no oocysts. This concluded the mandated 24 month round of LT2 testing on our raw surface water source with no Cryptosporidium oocysts detected.

Cryptosporidium is a microbial pathogen found in surface water throughout the U.S. Although filtration removes Cryptosporidium, the most commonly-used filtration methods cannot guarantee 100 percent removal. Our monitoring indicates the presence or absence of these organisms in our source water and/or finished water. Current test methods do not allow us to determine if the organisms are dead or if they are capable of causing disease.   Ingestion of Cryptosporidium may cause cryptosporidiosis, an abdominal infection.  Symptoms of infection include nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. Most healthy individuals can overcome the disease within a few weeks. However, immuno-compromised people, infants and small children, and the elderly are at greater risk of developing life-threatening illness. We encourage immuno-compromised individuals to consult their doctor regarding appropriate precautions to take to avoid infection. Cryptosporidium must be ingested to cause disease, and it may be spread through means other than drinking water.