Traditionally, Drinking Water Week is an opportunity to remind people about the importance of safe drinking water. But after ourexperience with Hurricane Floyd, no community has a greater appreciation for the importance of this precious natural resource than we do!In September, rapidly rising floodwaters encircled GUC's Water Treatment Plant and challenged our ability to produce an adequate supply ofsafe drinking water. For 10 long days our water customers were under a precautionary boil water notice. Naturally, after an experience likethat, our customers had, and may still have, questions about the long-term effects on their drinking water supply. Here are some of thefrequently-asked questions that we've received along with answers that we hope will address any lingering concerns.Is our drinking water safe?A @ Yes. Water treated at ourtreatment plant meets the strict standardsset by the U.S. Environmental- ProtectionAgency (EPA) and the N.C. Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources(NCDENR). We perform over 100,000tests annually on samples collected atdifferent phases of the treatment process.Samples are collected both at the plantand at hundreds of sites throughout ourdistribution system. We go above andbeyond by sampling more frequently thanregulations require.We test for bacteriological, inorganic and radioactive contaminants; heavy metals;Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) andSynthetic Organic Compounds (SOCs).Analyses of the tests-conducted in ourlaboratory and in commercial laboratoriesindicate that water treated by GUC meetsall federal and state regulations.® What about the pesticides,fuels and dead animals that were inthe floodwaters. How can our drink-ing water be safe after that?A @ It is true that because of theflood, our raw water source, the Tar River,may have had contaminants that are notusually there. But, also because of theflood, those contaminants were substan-tially diluted. As a result, the concentrationlevels did not pose a problem for thetreatment process and all tests indicatethat we removed any harmful contami-nants successfully.When floodwaters receded enough toallow travel, Federal EPA and State- Department of Environment and NaturalResources representatives came to theWater Treatment Plant to provide technicalassistance and review plant operating data.All of these officialsagreed that after the oboil water notice was lifted on. What other kinds of problemsdid GUC Ts water system face during theflood?A @ we pump water from the Tar Riverto the treatment plant, and at one pointpower had to be shut off to those submergedpumps to protect them from long-termdamage. For a time we had to rely on the40 million gallons of raw water stored in ourreservoir. (That Ts only a two-day supply.) Wefaced the ironic situation of not havingenough water to treat " in the middle of a. flood! In addition, we had water main breaksthroughout the distribution system. Repairingbreaks that were submerged in floodwatersposed a challenge for our crews. So at timesmore water was being oconsumed ? than ourhandicapped plant could produce. That wasthe reason many customers lost water pres-_ sure fora brief period, which reduced theirwater to a trickle when they turned on theirtaps. So, not only did we have difficultygetting water to the plant, we also had diffi-culty keeping up with the increased demandbecause of the main breaks., e Several days, even weeks, afterthe floodwaters receded, my water wasdiscolored. It was a yellowish-brown color.Can you explain?A ¢ The discoloration was caused byhigh levels of Manganese, an element that occursnaturally in river water and is even in vitamins.High levels of Manganese do not pose a healthrisk, but it can cause aesthetic problems. It was achallenge to find the right balance of treatmentto correct one problem, without creating another. "The EPA has two types of standards: primary(substances that pose a health risk) and secondary(substances that cause aesthetic problems),Manganese falls under the secondary standard.Did GUC's Water TreatmentPlant ever shut down during theflood?A. No. Our treatment plant nevershut down and it never stopped treatingwater. Our employees put forth a heroiceffort to keep the plant operating. Theyworked long hours in extremely difficultconditions. They were determined to keep' the plant operating. If we had shut down,it would have been several weeks beforethe plant could have been operationalagain. Systems that go odry ? must undergoan extensive series of tests and inspectionsbefore they are allowed to resume normalOperations.e if | still have concerns aboutthe quality and safety of my drinkingwater, how can I have it tested?A @ Please contact us at the WaterTreatment Plant 551-1562 and we will behappy to collect a sample from your home.We will conduct bacteriological tests in ourlab. If you would like additional testsconducted for VOCs, SOCs, heavy metals,etc., we can assist you in obtaining theseanalyses.You may also obtain information on waterquality issues from the following resources:EPA Hotline1-800-426-4791WWW.epa,govNC Department of Environment andNatural Resources (DENR)919-733-2321www.ehnr.state.nc.us/EHNR/M Otiitiesx 752-7166 ° "www.guc,comGreenville "