Naturally Occurring Elements

What are Iron & Manganese?

Iron and manganese are minerals that occur naturally in groundwater. These minerals can discolor water and affect its taste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a Health Advisory Level (HAL) of 0.3 mg/L for manganese. However, manganese remains unregulated as a primary contaminant.

Aqua installs filters or additional treatment on our wells where iron and manganese cause discolored water. Our operators also flush the distribution systems in these communities to clear out the pipes where these minerals might have settled over time.

Water from your tap might be clear, but when exposed to air or chlorine, iron and manganese might oxidize and change from a colorless, dissolved (soluble) form to a colored, solid (insoluble) form. Exposure to heat might also cause the iron and manganese to change from a colorless, dissolved form to a colored, solid form.

At certain concentrations, iron has the potential to stain laundry, porcelain, dishes, utensils and even glassware a reddish brown. At elevated concentrations, manganese causes a brownish-black stain. Soaps and detergents don’t remove these stains, and chlorine bleach and some laundry detergents can intensify stains.

What Customers Can Do to Help Reduce the Effects of Iron and Manganese:

• Products such as Iron Out or other bleach-free detergents might help remove stains caused by iron and manganese.
• Most manufacturers recommend flushing water heaters at least once a year to help reduce the buildup of sediment and mineral deposits.
• Washing laundry in cold water may reduce the staining of laundry caused by iron and manganese.
• When Aqua schedules a flush for the distribution system in your area, it’s important that you limit use of the water for that period of time. In most cases, Aqua will notify you before any planned flushing.
• If you notice discolored water following a flushing event, always go to your outdoor spigots and run the water for a short period of time. If this does not clear your water, please call Aqua at 877.987.2782 to schedule a technician to visit your home, sample the water, and perform additional flushing of the water main if determined necessary.

What is chromium?

Chromium is a naturally occurring element in the Earth’s crust and can be found in plants, soil, air, food and water, such as rivers, lakes, streams and wells. It is very common.

Chromium has two chemical forms

• Chromium-3 (trivalent) is a required nutrient added to vitamins
• Chromium-6 (hexavalent) has associated toxicity at certain levels and has been linked to cancer
• Total chromium measures both chromium-3 and chromium-6

What safeguards are there to protect the public from the toxic form of chromium in drinking water?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a standard on how much chromium can be
present in drinking water to help people avoid ingesting unhealthy levels of chromium.

The federal drinking water standard for total chromium (combination of chromium-3 and chromium-6) is 100 parts per billion (ppb). Public drinking water systems must test for chromium and report any violations in their annual water quality reports, also known as consumer confidence reports.

What are Aqua’s most recent test results for total chromium and chromium-6?

Aqua’s water complies with EPA regulations that require total chromium to be below 100 ppb. Our test results are published in our annual water quality reports and can be found on our website.

What is radium?

Radium in groundwater is naturally occurring. Groundwater moves slowly through pores and cracks in layers of rock beneath the ground called aquifers. As water moves through those rocks, minerals and elements, such as radium, can be dissolved out and enter the groundwater.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has concluded that long term exposure to elevated levels may result in an increased risk of certain cancers, specifically bone cancer.  When establishing the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for drinking water, the NAS considered the exposure risk from other sources of radiation, such as food and air. This analysis is what determined the MCL of 5 pico-Curies per Liter for combined radium.

All compliance sample results are provided annually on your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) to all customers. Your CCR can also be found here: www.aquawater.com/service-alerts.

When Aqua sampling detects elevated levels of radium in a public water system, the following actions are taken:

• Additional sampling. This helps us determine if this is anomaly or a change in hydro-geologic conditions.
• Filtration, as required, based on sampling results.