Lead and Copper

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER SERVICE LINES

Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua potable. Tradúzcalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.

As required by U.S. EPA, Apple Valley Heights County Water District has identified that your water service connection is considered a lead status unknown service line.

The Apple Valley Heights County Water District recently conducted an inventory of all water service lines, which is the pipe that connects your home to the water main. The purpose of the inventory is to identify the material of these service lines and fittings, including the customer-owned side of the water service line.

The pipe that connects your home to the water main was identified as an “unknown material”. Lead service lines or certain galvanized pipe can potentially place you at risk for exposure to lead; therefore, this line may need to be replaced.

The Apple Valley Heights County Water District routinely monitors for lead in the distribution system and the most recent water sample results received on 7/02/2022, 7/12/2022, 7/14/2022, 7/16/2022, 7/18/2022, and 7/28/2022 showed that the 90th percentile of all lead levels measured in the distribution system was Not-Detected (ND). The action level for lead in drinking water is 0.015 milligrams per liter (mg/L) or 15 micrograms per liter (µg/L).

The most recent water sample results do not exceed the action level of 0.015 mg/L for lead.

Is my water affected?

*if you received a separate notice instructing you to not drink, boil, or avoid drinking water, then please continue following those instructions until you are instructed to do otherwise.

If you did not receive any separate notice:

This is not an emergency
Your water is safe to drink and meets federal and state safe drinking water standards
You do not need to use an alternative water supply (e.g., bottled water).

What about my service line?

If your service line is categorized as a lead status unknown composition, you can help your public water system identify your service line material.
- EPA has developed an online step-by-step guide to help people identify lead pipes in their homes called Protect Your Tap: A Quick Check for Lead. (https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/protect-your- tap-quick-check-lead)
- Other organizations have also provided tools to identify service line material, such as the LSLR Collaborative (https://www.lslr- collaborative.org/identifying-service-line-material.html)
Inform us immediately if you plan to alter or replace your service line because we may be required to replace the system portion.
Please contact us immediately if you feel that we have incorrectly categorized the service line material.

Contact Apple Valley Heights County Water District at 760-247-7330 or dsmith.avhcwd@gmail.com to inform us if your service line has been incorrectly categorized to share any information you may find about your service line, or to inform us of your plans to alter or replace your service line.

What happens next? Apple Valley Heights County Water District plans on Reviewing previous material evaluations, installation records, installation date after the lead ban of 1986, service line repair or replacement record, field inspections, both mechanical excavation at multiple points and at the meter pit.

We anticipate replacing your service line by October 16, 2034. This may be expedited if you plan to alter or replace the water service line on your property at an earlier time because we may be required to replace the system portion.

Lead Related Health Information

Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups. Infants and children can have decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposure can cause new learning and behavior problems or exacerbate existing learning and behavior problems. The children of women who are exposed to lead before or during pregnancy can have increased risk of these adverse health effects. Adults can have increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney or nervous system problems

If you have concerns about your water quality, the State Water Board’s Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program has a map of laboratories that can test your water at the consumer’s expense, which can be found at: https:// www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/labs/

If you still have health concerns from potential lead exposure in your drinking water, there are point-of-use (POU) devices that can be used on your drinking water taps to provide an additional barrier of protection. A list of these residential treatment devices can be found at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/device/watertreatmentdevices.html

If you have other health issues concerning the consumption of this water, you may wish to consult your health care provider.

Additional Resources

To replace lead or galvanized requiring replacement service lines, to verify the material of an unknown service line, for information on financial programs to assist with service line replacements or for any other information, contact Apple Valley Heights County Water District at 760-247-7330 or dsmith.avhcwd@gmail.com and/or visit www.avhwater.org.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this public notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

This notice is being sent to you by Apple Valley Heights County Water District

State Water System Number: CA3600009

Date distributed: November 12, 2024

Suggested Directions for Homeowner Tap Sample Collection Procedures

These samples are being collected to determine the lead and copper levels in your tap water. This sampling effort is required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and your State under the Lead and Copper Rule, and is being accomplished through a collaboration between the public water system and their consumers (e.g. residents).

Collect samples from a tap that has not been used for at least 6 hours. To ensure the water has not been used for at least 6 hours, the best time to collect samples is either early in the morning or in the evening upon returning from work. Be sure to use a kitchen or bathroom cold water tap that has been used for drinking water consumption in the past few weeks. The collection procedure is described below.

Prior arrangements will be made with you, the customer, to coordinate the sample collection. Dates will be set for sample kit delivery and pick-up by water system staff.
There must be a minimum of 6 hours during which there is no water used from the tap where the sample will be collected and any taps adjacent or close to that tap. Either early mornings or evenings upon returning home are the best sampling times to ensure that the necessary stagnant water conditions exist. Do not intentionally flush the water line before the start of the 6 hours.
Use a kitchen or bathroom cold-water faucet for sampling. If you have water softeners on your kitchen taps, collect your sample from the bathroom tap that is not attached to a water softener, or a point of use filter, if possible. Do not remove the aerator before sampling. Place the opened sample bottle below the faucet and open the cold water tap as you would do to fill a glass of water. Fill the sample bottle to the line marked “1000-mL” and turn off the water.
Tightly cap the sample bottle and place it in the sample kit provided. Please review the sample kit label at this time to ensure that all information contained on the label is correct.
If any plumbing repairs or replacement has been done in the home since the previous sampling event, note this information on the label as provided. Also if your sample was collected from a tap with a water softener, note this as well.
Place the sample kit in the same location where the kit was delivered so that water system staff may pick up the sample kit.
Results from this monitoring effort and information about lead will be provided to you as soon as practical but no later than 30 days after the system learns of the tap monitoring results. However, if excessive lead and/or copper levels are found, immediate notification will be provided (usually 1-2 working days after the system learns of the tap monitoring results).