Village of Paw Paw

Consumer Confidence Report for Water

VILLAGE OF PAW PAW
WATER QUALITY REPORTS
2008 Water Quality Report
2007 Water Quality Report

The Village of Paw Paw strives to produce the best quality drinking water possible. The
purpose of this report is to provide you with information about your drinking water. The
report explains to you where your water comes from and the treatment it receives before it
reaches your tap. The report also lists all of the contaminants detected in your water and
an explanation of all violations in the past year.

Your drinking water comes from 3 wells located on the west side of the Village. Well #4
is located on Miller Street and is on stand-by status. It is 110’ deep and pumps 750
gallons per minute. Well #6 and #8 operate daily and are located on Johnson Road. Well
#6 is 178’ deep and Well #8 is 160’ deep. Both Wells pump about 1,500 gallons per
minute. The water is pumped from the ground by the wells, then chlorine and phosphate
are added for disinfection and corrosion control, respectively. The water then goes to a
500,000 gallon water tower located across from the Department of Public Service
Building. We are making efforts to protect our well water supply by completing a
Wellhead Protection Program which was started in 1996.

The State performed an assessment of our source water in 2003 to determine the
susceptibility or the relative potential of contamination. The susceptibility rating is on a
six-tiered scale from “very-low” to “high” based on geologic sensitivity, water chemistry
and contaminant sources. The Susceptibility of Wells #6 and #8 is “Moderate”. The
susceptibility of Well #4 is also “Moderate”. A copy of the full report can be obtained by
contacting John Small, Department of Public Services Director, 110 Harry L. Bush Blvd,
Paw Paw, Michigan, 49079.

The sources of drinking water, both tap water and bottled water, including rivers, lakes,
streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells may contain contaminants. 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.

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 the contaminants and
potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline
at 1-800-426-4791.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general
populations. 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 the infection
by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe
Drinking Water Hotline 1-800-426-4791.

The Paw Paw water supply comes from groundwater. As water travels through the
ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and can pick up substances from the
presence of animals or from human activity. These include:

• Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, livestock, and wildlife.
• Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be natural or may result from storm runoff, wastewater discharges, oil and gas production and farming
• Organic chemicals, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also originate
from gas stations, storm runoff and septic systems.
• Radioactive substances, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
• Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as
agriculture, urban runoff, and residential uses.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in the water
provided by public water systems.

If you would like more information about your water, please call John Small at the Paw
Paw Department of Public Service at 657-3169, located at 110 Harry L. Bush Blvd.
Also, you may contact the Village of Paw Paw Council, which meets the second and
fourth Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 111 West Michigan Avenue.
The table below lists all the drinking water contaminants that were detected. The detected
concentration can be either below or above the state/federal safe drinking water standard
(also known as the Maximum Contaminant Level). If the detected concentration is above
the safe drinking water standard a violation has occurred and a “YES” in bold will be
indicated in the violation column. EPA requires water suppliers to report the most recent
sampling results within a five-year period from 2003 to 2007. The state requires 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.