We're pleased to present to you our 2003 annual Water Quality Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality of water and services we deliver to you every day. Our goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. We want you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources.

We are a surface water system. Our water is drawn from the town reservoir, which is located on land that is leased from the Park Service. The water is treated at the Town of Blowing Rock Water Treatment Facility.

The Town of Blowing Rock routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water. We are pleased to report that for the calendar year of 2003, the water delivered to your homes complied with all State and Federal requirements. Blowing Rock wants its citizens to know that your drinking water is safe to drink.

The following constituents were detected in our drinking water as analyzed between January 1^st and December 31^st of 2003 and the last test results that were not due to be tested in 2003. The EPA has determined that your water is SAFE at these levels.

Secondary Contaminants, required by the NC Public Water Supply Section, are substances that affect the taste, odor and/or color of drinking water. These aesthetic contaminants normally do not have any health effects and normally do not affect the safety of your water.

water system must follow.

All sources of drinking water are subject to potential contamination by substances that are naturally occurring or man made. As water travels over the land or underground it can pick up substances or contaminants such as microbes, inorganic and organic chemicals, and radioactive substances. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which 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. All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. Maximum Contaminant Levels (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 more than a half gallon 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 1-800-426-4791.

The Town of Blowing Rock works continuously to provide quality water to every tap. We ask that all our citizens help us protect our water sources, so that we can retain an abundant and safe supply of water. If you have any questions about this report, please contact Tom McRary at (828) 295-5225. Our regularly scheduled Council meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall.