Sparta Township: Lake Mohawk Water System Public Notification

Press release from Sparta Township:

April 28, 2021

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER

Public Education and Reporting Requirements Not Met for Sparta Township Water Utility – Lake Mohawk

Our water system violated two drinking water regulations by 1) failing to meet all public education requirements and 2) failing to submit an optimal corrosion control treatment (OCCT) recommendation prior to the December 31, 2020 deadline. Even though this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what we are doing to correct the situation.

What happened?

We routinely sample water at consumers’ taps for lead and copper. Eight (8) out of 63 samples taken in June 2020 showed lead levels in the water above the action level of 15 parts per billion. When an action level exceedance occurs (more than 10% of the samples exceed the action level), we are required to conduct initial and ongoing public education to inform consumers about the situation, steps they can take to reduce their exposure to lead and how we plan to reduce exposure to lead through corrosion control activities (if necessary). We failed to provide all the required initial public education materials to our customers by August 30, 2020 and were unable to include all the required language in our quarterly water bill.

In addition, the lead action level exceedance required Sparta Water Utility to submit an OCCT recommendation to the NJ Division of Water Supply & Geoscience. The recommendation should have been completed and submitted by December 31, 2020.

Even though this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have the right to know what happened and what we are doing to correct this situation.

What is being done? This is not an emergency, if it had been you would have been contacted

immediately. We are issuing the following public education alert as required,

“SOME HOMES IN THIS COMMUNITY HAVE ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS IN THEIR DRINKING

WATER. LEAD CAN POSE A SIGNIFICANT RISK TO YOUR HEALTH. FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE SPARTA WATER UTILITY AT 973-729-7133 OR

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SPARTANJ.ORG TO REVIEW ADDITIONAL PUBLIC

EDUCATION MATERIAL.”

Lead is a common metal found in the environment. The main sources of lead exposure are lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust or soil, and some plumbing materials. Lead can cause serious health problems if too much enters your body from drinking water or other sources. It can cause damage to the brain and kidneys and can interfere with the production of red blood cells that carry oxygen to all parts of your body. The greatest risk of lead exposure is to infants, young children and pregnant women.

The OCCT recommendation will be submitted to the NJ Division of Water Supply & Geoscience by the extension date of April 30, 2021.

What should I do? Listed below are some steps you can take to reduce your exposure:

• Run water for 15-30 seconds or until it becomes cold or reaches a steady temperature before using to for drinking or cooking, if it hasn’t been used for several hours.
• Use cold water for cooking and preparing baby formula.
• Do not boil the water to remove lead and copper.
• Use alternate sources or treatment of water. You may want to consider using bottled water for drinking and cooking or a water filter designed to remove Lead and/or Copper. Read the package to be sure the filter is approved to reduce Lead and/or Copper or contact NSF International at 800-NSF-8010 or nsf.org for information on performance of standards for water filters. Be sure to maintain and replace a filter device in accordance with the manufacturer’s standards to ensure water quality.
• Get your child tested. Contact your local health department or healthcare provider to find out how you can get your child tested for Lead if you are concerned about Lead exposure.

*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 notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.*

For more information, please contact the Sparta Water Utility at (973) 729-7133 or by mail at 65 Main

Street, Sparta, NJ 07871

This notice is being sent to you by Sparta Township Water Utility

Lake Mohawk Water System (PWSID# 1918004)

Date of Distribution: 4/15/21

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This press release was produced by Sparta Township. The views expressed here are the author’s own.