WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii - Every year since 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has required public water suppliers to provide Consumer Confidence Reports to their water users.
These reports provide information on the origin of the drinking water, sources of potential contamination and contaminant data for the previous year.
Four 2009 CCRs for U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii - which cover Aliamanu Military Reservation, Fort Shafter, Schofield Barracks and Tripler Army Medical Center - can be found online at <a href="http://www.garrison.hawaii.army.mil/sites/hazard/safedrinkingwater.asp">www.garrison.hawaii.army.mil/sites/hazard/safedrinkingwater.asp</a>.
The Aliamanu report covers both the Aliamanu and the Red Hill housing areas, while the Schofield Barracks report covers Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield, and Helemano Military Reservation areas.
The CCRs are mentioned in the May/June issue of the Army Hawaii Family Housing newsletter, which is e-mailed to installation residents.
In Hawaii, the primary drinking water supply for all Garrison installations comes from underground aquifers fed by rainfall.
As water passes over the earth's surface and percolates into the ground, it may dissolve naturally occurring minerals, radioactive material and substances resulting from the presence of animal or human activity. Therefore, drinking water may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.
The EPA sets limits on the amount of a contaminant present in drinking water. A violation occurs when the contaminant level exceeds the highest allowable level, known as the maximum contaminant level, or MCL.
The Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Division, is pleased to report that no violations occurred for Aliamanu and Schofield Barracks during 2009.
Fort Shafter and Tripler did exceed the MCL for total coliform bacteria in January and February 2009, respectively. The excesses were not an emergency or something residents or workers should be alarmed about.
Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment. They are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present.
Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed, which was a warning of potential problems.
Whenever DPW detects coliform bacteria in any sample, DPW does follow-up testing to see if E.coli bacteria, which are of greater concern, are present.
DPW did not find E.coli bacteria in samples collected in January or February at Fort Shafter and Tripler.
DPW flushed the water system, and no further total coliform bacteria samples were positive at Fort Shafter or Tripler in 2009.
DPW encourages residents and workers to take some time to look at the report for the installation where they live and/or work. DPW works hard to provide installation residents and workers with the highest quality water possible.
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