Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

Introduction

2021 Annual City of Jacksonville Drinking Water Quality Report
PWS ID# NC0467010 Report Issued March 2022
2021 Full Report (PDF)

We are pleased to present the Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. This report is a snapshot of your water quality in 2021. It includes details about from where your water comes, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. Our 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. If you have any questions about the report or your City water, please contact the Jacksonville Water Plant at 910 938-5234. We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you want to learn more, please attend any regularly scheduled meeting of the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee held monthly at City Hall.

When You Turn On Your Tap, Consider The Source

The City of Jacksonville draws its water from aquifers located deep underground. The City’s water is obtained from two groundwater sources. The first source is comprised of two well fields, one located off Gum Branch Road, and the other off Highway 258. Both well fields are located near Richlands, North Carolina.

The 15 wells draw their water from the Upper and Middle Cretaceous Sand Aquifers. This ground water requires no treatment other than the addition of chlorine for disinfection. It contains natural fluoride, essential for dental health, and is naturally soft. The second source consists of 20 wells in the Castle Hayne aquifer. This is a shallower aquifer that produces good quality water, and is treated at the City’s Nano-filtration plant.

What The EPA Wants You To Know

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 microbiological 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 Jacksonville is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components beyond our delivery point to your home (this is normally the meter.) 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 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 storm water 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 storm water 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 storm water runoff, and septic systems; and radiological 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.