Page 6 - Desert Lightning News So. AZ Edition, July 2019
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6 July 2019                                                                                                                                    Desert Lightning News
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U.S. AIR FORCE in action

                                                                                                                  Master Sgt. Joshua Allmaras                                                                                                                     Senior Airman Kristen Heller

An A-10 Thunderbolt II taxis June 9 after being armed during exercise Green Flag-                                                              U.S. Army Soldiers locate targets June 10 during a simulated close-air support mis-
West 19-8 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The Idaho Air Guard is supporting the                                                              sion during exercise Red Flag-Alaska 19-2 at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. Red
116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team during their National Training Center rotation                                                               Flag-Alaska exercises provide unique opportunities to integrate various forces in a
on Fort Irwin, California.                                                                                                                     realistic threat environment.

D-M water safe, according to annual water report

   The 2018 Annual Water Quality Report (Consumer              feel free to contact the Davis-Monthan Drinking Water                             locations were sampled during the correct time frame
Confidence Report) as required by the Safe Drinking            team members and we will be happy to assist you in any                            and were within compliance. Nitrate sampling for the
Water Act (SDWA) has been released. This report is in-         way we can.                                                                       one missed location was conducted in March of 2019, the
tended to provide a detailed look at the Davis-Monthan                                                                                           results were below the MCL established by the EPA, and
Air Force Base drinking water program, Public Water               Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight—520-228-5369                               the results will be reported in the 2019 CCR.
System ID# AZ0420549, and what the Davis-Monthan                  Civil Engineer Customer Service—520-228-3171
AFB drinking water team does for you every day to pro-            Soaring Heights—520-748-3339                                                      Were there any contaminants detected in my
vide safe drinking water.                                         Why are there contaminants in my drinking                                      drinking water?
                                                               water?
   Where does my water come from?                                 As water travels across the surface of the land and                               All sources of drinking water contain some naturally
   Davis-Monthan AFB supplies drinking water to around         seeps through the ground, it picks up naturally occurring                         occurring contaminants. In order to ensure that tap
20,300 customers/base residents each day. This water is        minerals and, in some cases, naturally occurring radioac-                         water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations
pulled directly from the Fort Lowell Aquifer via eight         tive materials. Additionally, it can pick up any number                           which limit the amount of contaminants allowed in water
groundwater wells located throughout the base and is           of substances resulting from the presence of animals or                           provided by public water systems. At low levels, these
monitored by personnel from the Bioenvironmental En-           human activity. These range from viruses or bacteria                              substances are generally not harmful in our drinking
gineering Flight, 355th Aerospace Medicine Squadron,           found in water treatment plants and septic systems,                               water. Removing all contaminants would be extremely
355th Medical Group, 355th Wing.                               inorganic and organic compounds, either naturally occur-                          expensive, and in most cases, would not provide increased
   Source water assessment and its availability                ring or occurring as a result of industrial operations, and                       protection of public health. The EPA or the State requires
   All drinking water is chlorinated for disinfection pur-     chemical contaminants such as pesticides and herbicides                           us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per
poses. Disinfection involves the addition of chlorine to kill  from farms.                                                                       year because the concentrations of these contaminants
bacteria and microorganisms that may be in the water.             The EPA sets safety limits on these contaminants in                            do not change frequently.
On a monthly basis, the Bioenvironmental Engineer-             public water systems in order to ensure safe drinking
ing Flight monitors the base drinking water to ensure          water is provided to the customer. Drinking water, includ-                           Is there PFOS/PFOA in my drinking water?
chlorination and acidity levels fall within an acceptable      ing bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain                             No, there have been no instances where the contami-
range and bacteriological contamination is non-existent.       at least small amounts of some contaminants; however,                             nants known as PFOS/PFOA (perfluorooctane sulfonate
Additional sampling is performed on a periodic basis           this does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a                         and perfluorooctanoic acid respectively, both members
for other contaminants to ensure our drinking water            health risk. More information about contaminants and                              of the perfluorinated compounds (PFC’s) family) were
remains compliant with safety regulations set by the           potential health effects can be obtained by calling the                           detected in the drinking water at Davis-Monthan AFB.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).                         Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water                             Monitoring of the drinking water for these contaminants
   Based on the information currently available on the         Hotline 800-426-4791.                                                             was accomplished in 2016 and the results showed no
hydrogeological settings and the adjacent land uses               Do I need to take special precautions?                                         detectable levels. No tests conducted by Davis-Monthan
that are in the specified proximity of the drinking water         Some people may be more vulnerable to contami-                                 AFB or the surrounding area that Tucson Water is re-
source(s) of this public water system, the Arizona Depart-     nants in drinking water than the general population.                              sponsible for have found PFCs in the ground water at
ment of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has given a high          Immuno-compromised persons such as individuals with                               the depth that Davis-Monthan AFB’s drinking water
risk designation for the degree to which this public water     cancer undergoing chemotherapy, individuals who have                              wells pull water from (660 feet or deeper). The Air Force
system drinking water source(s) are protected. A designa-      undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or                              continues to play an active role in groundwater testing
tion of high risk indicates there may be additional source     other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants                          and we are working closely with our partners at Tucson
water protection measures which can be implemented on          can be particularly at risk from infections. These people                         Water and the Arizona Department of Environmental
the local level. This does not imply that the source water     should seek advice about drinking water from their                                Quality. An initial site survey report conducted in 2017
is contaminated nor does it mean that contamination is         health care providers.                                                            recommended an expanded site survey at the deeper
imminent. Rather, it simply states that land use activi-          Were there any monitoring failures or violations?                              aquifer monitoring wells located down-gradient of the
ties or hydrogeological conditions exist that make the            The Davis-Monthan AFB water system did experience                              Stormwater Outfall Canal, on the north side of installa-
source water susceptible to possible future contamina-         one monitoring failure during 2018.                                               tion property. To conduct the expanded site inspection,
tion. Further source water assessment documentation               Monitoring and reporting of compliance data                                    two wells were installed in that area this past spring. This
can be obtained by contacting ADEQ.                            violations.                                                                       expanded site inspection is currently ongoing. Results
   How can I get involved?                                        The Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight was unable                             from the expanded site inspection will be published to
   We would like you to understand the efforts we make         to conduct water sampling for Nitrates at one of the five                         the Air Force Civilian Engineer Center’s Administrative
to continually improve the water treatment process and         locations where this contaminant is sampled for. This                             Record website http://afcec.publicadmin-record.us.af.mil/
protect our water resources. If you would like additional      occurred because the sample location was inoperable                               when available.
information concerning this report, or if you have any         during the three month sample period. This resulted                                  To see the entire report, go to www.dm.af.mil.
questions about our drinking water program, please             in a violation for our drinking water system. All other
                                                                                                                                                                     Courtesy of 355th Aerospace Medicine Squadron

                                                                                                                                                                                               Bioenvironmental Engineering
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