Is Mentor Tap Water Safe to Drink?

Lake Shore Division – Lake County 2020 Water Quality Report*

PWSID # OH4301511

Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua de beber.

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A Message to Our Valued Customers

As the new President of Aqua Ohio, I’m taking this opportunity to introduce myself and share with you important information about the quality of water we deliver to you and nearby homes and businesses. I also want to thank you for taking a few minutes to review our 2020 Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).

With more than 35 years in the industry, starting as plant operator and working to become the Utility Director of several Ohio municipalities including, most recently, for the City of Cleveland, I’ve worked with many water and wastewater professionals. I can say, with confidence, that Aqua Ohio is impressively focused on investing in the systems that serve our customers and is committed to the core values of integrity, respect and the pursuit of excellence. These are qualities you, the customer, may not witness every day but I hope you appreciate our employees' commitment to providing you with safe, reliable water.

This year, as we begin to lift COVID-19 restrictions and return to a more normal life in our communities, health and safety remain Aqua’s focus. Every day, our EPA-certified technicians conduct hundreds of tests and treat water to protect you from harmful bacteria, viruses and other contaminants, all for about a penny a gallon.

State and Federal regulations require immediate public notification about critical events or contaminants in water systems. This CCR, produced annually for the previous year, serves as a summary of the characteristics of the water we supply to your tap. The results herein are evidence of our dedication to Aqua’s core values.

Pursuing excellence isn’t limited to the areas of quality and safety; we’re also dedicated to providing reliable service. That reliability requires ongoing investment in our treatment and delivery systems including pumps, pipes and valves that need continual maintenance and occasional replacement. We continually evaluate each system’s performance, and invest in areas with the greatest need. In fact, since 2012 AND 2020, Aqua invested nearly $287 million in Ohio water systems to maintain reliability, ensure regulatory compliance and replace aging infrastructure.

We hope that this level of investment helps build understanding when it comes to our commitment to bringing you safe, reliable water. The water quality results summarized in this report, combined with our system investments should give you confidence that we’re striving every day to deliver reliable water service that meets all EPA requirements for health and safety at a reasonable price.

For more information or for additional copies of this report, please contact our customer service center at 877.987.2782. You can also view an electronic version of this report on our website.

Sincerely,

Robert “Bob” Davis, President

OH4301511

About Your Drinking Water -- Aqua Ohio, Inc. (Aqua) is pleased to provide you with its 2020 Consumer Confidence Report for the Lake Shore Division – Lake County water system (public water supply ID-OH4301511), which contains important information about your drinking water. The report summarizes the quality of water Aqua provided in 2020 - including details about water sources, what the water at your tap contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. We have a current, unconditional license to operate our water system. Although the report lists only those regulated substances that were detected in your water, we test for more than what is reported. This report is only a summary of our activities during 2020. If you have any questions about the information in this report, please call 877.987.2782 or visit our website at AquaAmerica.com.

Aqua Ohio does not hold regular public meetings on consumers’ drinking water quality. However, you can call Aqua Ohio (877.987.2782); the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (800.686.7826) or the Office of Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (877.742.5622) if you have a concern or inquiry about your drinking water quality.

Sources of Supply -- Water for the Lake Shore Division – Lake County comes from Lake Erie. For the purpose of source water assessments, in Ohio, all surface waters are considered to be susceptible to contamination. By their nature, surface waters are accessible and can be readily contaminated by chemicals and pathogens with relatively short travel times from source to intake. Although Aqua’s surface water intake is located offshore in Lake Erie, the proximity of several onshore sources increases the susceptibility of the source water to contamination. The Lake Shore Division – Lake County system’s drinking water source protection area is susceptible to contamination from municipal wastewater treatment discharges, runoff from residential, agricultural and urban areas, oil and gas production and transportation and accidents, releases and spills from vehicular traffic as well as from commercial shipping operations and recreational boating. Aqua treats the water to meet drinking water quality standards, but no single treatment technique can address all potential contaminants. The potential for water quality impacts can be further decreased by implementing measures to protect Lake Erie. More detailed information is provided in Aqua’s Lake Shore Division – Lake County water system Drinking Water Assessment report, which can be obtained by calling Aqua at 877.987.2782.

The sources of drinking water (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 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 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, stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organics, are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
• Radioactive 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 that 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.

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800.426.4791.

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 microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800.426.4791.

Our water systems are designed and operated to deliver water to our customers’ plumbing systems that complies with state and federal drinking water standards. This water is disinfected using chlorine, but it is not necessarily sterile. Customers’ plumbing, including treatment devices, might remove, introduce or increase contaminants in tap water. All customers, and in particular operators of facilities like hotels and institutions serving susceptible populations (like hospitals and nursing homes), should properly operate and maintain the plumbing systems in these facilities. You can obtain additional information from the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800.426.4791.

OH4301511

Lake Shore Division – Lake County: PWSID # OH4301511

The following table lists contaminants that were detected during 2020 (unless otherwise noted) in your water system. The table provides the level found and the range of detections of regulated contaminants.

Disinfection Byproducts- For Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) and Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) the level found is the highest locational running annual average of the quarterly averages. Range of Results is the range of all test results (lowest to highest) at individual sampling sites.

1. Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness of the water and is an indication of the effectiveness of the filtration process. The turbidity limit set by EPA is 0.3 NTU in 95% of the daily samples and shall not exceed 1 NTU at any time
2. The value reported under "Level Found" is the lowest ratio between percentage of TOC actually removed to the percentage of TOC required to be removed. A value greater than or equal to 1.0 indicates that the water system is in compliance with TOC removal requirements. A value of less than 1.0 indicates a violation of TOC requirements.

Notes (Cont’d):

Total Organic Carbon: The level reported under “Level Found” for Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is the lowest ratio between percentage of TOC actually removed to the percentage of TOC required to be removed. A value greater than one indicates that the water system is in compliance with the TOC removal requirements. A value of less than one indicates a Treatment Technique violation of the TOC removal requirements.

Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Turbidity: A measure of the cloudiness of water and is an indication of the effectiveness of our filtration system.

• This consumer confidence report contains regulatorily required or recommended language, and nothing herein is, is intended as, nor should be construed as, a promise of or contract for payment or reimbursement of expenses incurred for any action you take on account of this consumer confidence report.