The City of Athens distributed the following information regarding their water quality:

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has notified the CITY OF ATHENS TX1070005 that the drinking water being supplied to customers had exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for haloacetic acids. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has established the MCL for haloacetic acids to be 0.060 milligrams per liter (mg/L) based on locational running annual average (LRAA), and has determined that it is a health concern at levels above the MCL. Analysis of drinking water in your community for haloacetic acids indicates a compliance value in quarter two 2016 of 0.067 mg/L for DBP2-01 and 0.068 mg/L for DBP2-04.

Haloacetic acids are a group of volatile organic compounds that are formed when chlorine, added to the water during the treatment process for disinfection, reacts with naturally-occurring organic matter in the water.

Some people who drink water containing HAAS in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.

You do not need to use an alternative water supply. However, if you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor to get more information about how this may affect you.

We are taking the following actions to address this issue:

• We are systematically rehabilitating our Elevated Storage Tanks, Ground Storage Tanks, and distribution piping to ensure that we meet TCEQ and AWWA requirements. In the long term, rehabilitating the infrastructure will help the City provide better quality water for its citizens upon the remediation's completion. In the short term, it may increase the levels of disinfection byproducts as sections of the distribution system are isolated for rehabilitation which may create longer reaction times and higher water age. This is only temporary; however and will not be an ongoing issue.
• We are developing strategic replacement plans for all of our current water infrastructure, and we are planning for the City's future water infrastructure by working with engineering consultants who specialize in water treatment and distribution.
• We are hiring new Water Treatment Staff and training our current staff to help them better navigate water treatment techniques and water distribution procedures.
• We expect full compliance to begin the first quarter of 2017.

Please share this information with all people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (i.e., 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.

If you have questions regarding this matter, you may contact Lawrence Cutrone with the City of Athens at 903-677-1735.