2021 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report  

Town of Atkinson 

Water System Number: NC 70-710-54 

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(s) 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 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 the Town of Atkinson at (910)-283-7341.  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 meetings. They are held at Atkinson Town Library on the 1st Thursday of each month at 7:00pm.  

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 Town of  Atkinson 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 amounts 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  

The water that is used by the Town of Atkinson is pumped from two deep wells which are located in the Town. 

2021 Annual CCR  

Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) Results  

The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), 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 Town of Atkinson 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)  

The complete SWAP Assessment report for the Town of Atkinson may be viewed on the Web at: 

https://www.ncwater.org/SWAP_Reports/NC7071054_SWAP_Report-20200909.pdf. 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.  

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 PCSs in the assessment area.  

Help Protect Your Source Water  

Protection of drinking water is everyone’s responsibility. We have implemented the following source water protection actions:  Wellhead Protection Plan. You can help protect your community’s drinking water source(s) in several ways: (examples: dispose  of chemicals properly; take used motor oil to a recycling center, volunteer in your community to participate in group efforts to  protect your source, etc.).  

Violations that Your Water System Received for the Report Year  

We are pleased to report that there were no violations during the 2021 compliance period.  

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, 2021. The EPA and the State 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 one 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. 

2021 Annual CCR  

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.  

Parts per trillion (ppt) or Nanograms per liter (nanograms/L) - One part per trillion corresponds to one minute in 2,000,000  years, or a single penny in $10,000,000,000.  

Parts per quadrillion (ppq) or Picograms per liter (picograms/L) - One part per quadrillion corresponds to one minute in  2,000,000,000 years or one penny in $10,000,000,000,000.  

Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) - Picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.  

Million Fibers per Liter (MFL) - Million fibers per liter is a measure of the presence of asbestos fibers that are longer than 10  micrometers.  

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.  

Level 1 Assessment - A Level 1 assessment is a study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if  possible) why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system.  

Level 2 Assessment - A Level 2 assessment is a very detailed study of the water system to identify potential problems and  determine (if possible) why an E. coli MCL violation has occurred and/or why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water  system on multiple occasions.  

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. 

2021 Annual CCR  

Tables of Detected Contaminants 

Inorganic Contaminants  

Lead and Copper Contaminants  

Disinfectant Residuals:  

• Monitoring for chlorine  

• System size: 301 people  

• Samples: 1 time per month  

• Chlorine MRDL: 4 ppm  

• MRDL in CCR units: 4 ppm  

2021 Results:  

Disinfectant Residuals Summary 

Radiological Contaminants 

2021 Annual CCR  

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

2021 Annual CCR