PWSID#00234

202 South 3^rd Street

Hamilton, MT 59840

City file #2004-9

We’re very pleased to provide you with this year's Annual Water Quality Report. We want to keep you informed about the excellent water and services we have delivered to you over the past year. Our goal is, and always has been, to provide to you a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. Our water source is ground water from 5 wells. We have completed a source water protection plan that provides information such as potential sources of contamination. This plan can be reviewed at City Hall during normal business hours.

We’re pleased to report that our drinking water is safe and meets federal and state requirements.

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water, please contact the Director of Public Works at 363-2131, ext 31. He can also be reached by email at dpw@cityofhamilton.net. If you want to learn more about our water you may also attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings. They are held on the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm at City Hall.

The City of Hamilton routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The following table shows the results of any detects in our monitoring for the period of January 1^st to December 31^st, 2003. For constituents that are not monitored yearly, we have reviewed our records back the last 5 years.

We have monitored for lead and copper. We are in compliance with the requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule.

Sample Date	Parameter	Violation	90^th % value	Action level	Source of Contamination
9/3/03	Copper	N	0.67	1.3 ppm	Corrosion of plumbing
9/3/03	Lead	N	4	15 ppb	Corrosion of plumbing

In the tables above and below you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions:

Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/l) - one part per million corresponds to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.

Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (ug/L)-one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2000 years, or a single pennny in $10,000,000

Action Level - the concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.

Treatment Technique (TT) - (mandatory language) A treatment technique is a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.

Maximum Contaminant Level - (mandatory language) The “Maximum Allowed” (MCL) is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal - (mandatory language) The “Goal”(MCLG) is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.

TEST RESULTS
Contaminant	Violation Y/N	Sample Date	Highest Level Detected	Range	Unit Measurement	MCLG	MCL	Likely Source of Contamination
Inorganic Contaminants
19. Nitrate (as Nitrogen)	N	2/4/03	0.94	0.94-0.66	ppm	10	10	Erosion of natural deposits[W1]

Our system had no violations.

We’re proud that your drinking water meets or exceeds all Federal and State requirements. We have learned through our monitoring and testing that some constituents have been detected. The EPA has determined that your water IS SAFE at these levels.

All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contamination by constituents that are naturally occurring or are manmade. Those constituents can be microbes, organic or inorganic chemicals, or radioactive materials.

All 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 the water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

MCL’s are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink 2 liters of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect.

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).

We ask that all our customers help us protect our water sources, which are the heart of our community, our way of life and our children’s future.

This annual Drinking Water Report will NOT BE MAILED out to individual water customers. A copy of this report can be picked up at the City Hall Annex.

This template is copyrighted with unlimited distribution and reproduction to NRWA member state associations.

This report was generated by Energy Laboratories, Inc – Billings, Montana- May 2004.