PUBLIC NOTICES:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
Town of Poncha Springs
Failure to Test Backflow Prevention Devices
Our water system recently violated a drinking water requirement. Although this situation is not an emergency, as our customers you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation.
As of 2020, the state drinking water program requires that all public drinking water systems test 90% of backflow prevention devices annually. We received a violation because we had only tested 87% of devices for the year of 2021. Backflow prevention devices are tested by a third party coordinated by business owners. The town unexpectedly lost our main backflow assembly tester and struggled to find another tester to keep in compliance.
What is being done?
The town has since acquired a new backflow prevention assembly tester and has achieved the compliance ratio for the year of 2022.
What does this mean? What should I do?
It is not necessary to switch to an alternative drinking water supply.
Uncontrolled cross connections can lead to a back pressure or siphonage event that may allow contaminants or disease-causing organisms to enter the drinking water, which can cause diarrhea, nausea, cramps, and associated headaches.
If you have an infant, severely compromised immune system, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your doctor about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by bacteria and other disease-causing organisms are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
All problems were resolved by 1/1/2023. For more information, please contact Sean Kelly at publicworks@ponchasprings.us or 719.851.0578, or PO Box 190.
*Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, 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.*
This notice is being sent to you by: Town of Poncha Springs, - CO-0108650
Date distributed: 1/6/2023
Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua potable. Tradúzcalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.
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