Biddeford and Saco Water Company

Continuing Our Commitment

We proudly present our annual water quality report. This edition covers all testing completed from January through December 2002. We are pleased to tell you that our compliance with all state and federal drinking water laws remains exemplary. As in the past, we are committed to delivering the best quality drinking water. To that end, we remain vigilant in meeting the challenges of source water protection, water conservation, and community education while continuing to serve the needs of all of our water users. For more information about this report, or for any questions relating to your drinking water, please call Norm Lavigne, our Treatment Manager, at (207) 282-9141; or Jerry Mansfield, President of our Company, at (207) 282-1543. Arrangements for public speakers at community meetings may be made by calling (207) 282-9141.

Water Source

The Saco River is our sole source of water. It begins as a small stream high in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and flows through about 124 miles of New Hampshire and Maine forest and farmland before reaching our treatment plant. The Saco River Watershed covers an area of roughly 1,700 square miles in central New Hampshire and southwestern Maine. We are fortunate that the Saco River is one of the cleanest major rivers in Maine and New England, due in part to the lack of any substantial industrial development along the Saco River shoreline. In fact, the majority of the Saco River in Maine has been given the cleanest rating possible for water. Demand is great for high quality drinking water. We provide an average of over five million gallons of water every day to a population of between 45,000 and 200,000 people (depending on the time of year). To learn more about our watershed on the Internet, go to EPA's Locate Your Watershed at http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=01060002. Additional information on the Saco River Watershed and land use regulations in place for the watershed can also be obtained through the Saco River Corridor Commission's Internet site at www.srcc-maine.org, or by visiting our office.

Source Water Assessment Program

A national source water assessment program was mandated by the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. When completed, the assessments will provide an overview of all public water supply sources nationwide. In the state of Maine, the Drinking Water Program (DWP) is coordinating the completion of the assessment program. The DWP expects to complete the process soon and will make the results available later this year.

How Your Water is Treated and Purified

The treatment process consists of a series of steps. First, raw water is drawn from the Saco River and pumped directly to a mixing tank at our treatment facility where alum, lime, and polymer are added. The addition of these chemicals causes small particles to adhere to one another making them heavy enough to settle into a basin from which sediment is removed. After settling, chlorine and polymer are added for disinfection and turbidity removal, respectively (turbidity is a common measure of the clarity of water). The water is then filtered through layers of fine coal and silicate sand. As smaller, suspended particles are removed, turbidity disappears and clear water emerges. Chlorine is added again at this point as a precaution against any bacteria that may still be present. (We carefully monitor the amount of chlorine, adding the lowest quantity necessary to protect the safety of your water without compromising taste.) Finally, lime (used to adjust the final pH of the water), fluoride (used to prevent tooth decay), a corrosion inhibitor (used to protect distribution system pipes), and ammonia (used to reduce the formation of THMs, a common by-product of disinfection) are added before the water is pumped to sanitized reservoirs and watertowers, and into your home or business.

Our Saco River treatment facility has been awarded the Director's Certificate by the Partnership for Safe Water in recognition of our exceptional water quality and facility operations. We submit our facility to annual peer review under this program. Our treatment facility is among an elite group of only 20 facilities nationwide to have been awarded the Director's Certificate for five consecutive years!

Special Health Information

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immunocompromised people 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 may be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. U.S. EPA/CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Information on the Internet

The EPA Office of Water (www.epa.gov/watrhome) and the CDC (www.cdc.gov) Web sites provide a substantial amount of information on many issues relating to water resources, water conservation, and public health. Also, the Maine Drinking Water Program has a Web site (www.state.me.us/dhs/eng/water) that provides complete and current information on water issues in our own state. Finally, you can visit our Web site (www.biddefordsacowater.com) where you can learn more about current operations and the history of our company. If you do not have Internet access at home, remember that all public libraries in our area offer free Internet access.

Substances Expected to be in Drinking Water

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals, possibly including radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from human or animal activity.

Substances that may be present in source water include microbes such as viruses and bacteria, inorganic salts and metals, pesticides and herbicides, and radioactive contaminants. Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some of these substances. The presence of these substances does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) protects the public health by setting national limits for hundreds of these substances in public drinking water supplies. Similarly, United States Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for these same substances in bottled water to provide the same protection for public health. For more information about possible water contaminants and their potential health effects, call the U.S. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Help from the State and Federal Government

When Congress amended the federal Safe Drinking Water Act in 1996, it authorized the U.S. EPA to set up a program to help fund improvements to the nation's drinking water systems to facilitate increased compliance with drinking water regulations. In Maine, the federal funds available from this program have been supplemented with state funds (on a five federal to one state basis) to establish a revolving loan fund. Monies from the revolving loan fund are made available to water utilities throughout the state for improvement projects on a priority ranking that is based on a scoring system developed by the state. Loans under this program are very advantageous to borrowers because interest rates are 2% below rates otherwise available from the Maine Municipal Bond Bank. We are pleased to report that three of our planned projects were selected for funding under the program. This was very good news, and will dramatically lower financing costs. These three projects involve upgrading the filters at the Saco River treatment plant, installing a standby electrical generator at the treatment plant, and upgrading the existing water main crossings of the Maine Turnpike to accommodate construction of the third travel lane. Design work for all three projects began immediately, and construction of each was essentially completed during 2002.

Water Conservation Tips

Water conservation measures are an important first step in protecting our water supply. Such measures not only save the supply of our source water, but can also save you money by reducing your water and sewer bills. Here are a few suggestions.
Conservation measures you can use inside your home include:

• Fix leaking faucets, pipes, toilets, etc.
• Replace old fixtures and install water-saving devices in faucets, toilets, and appliances.
• Wash only full loads of laundry.
• Do not use the toilet for trash disposal.
• Take shorter showers.
• Do not let the water run while shaving or brushing your teeth.
• Soak dishes before washing.
• Run the dishwasher only when full.

You can conserve outdoors as well:

• Water the lawn and garden in the early morning or evening.
• Use mulch around plants and shrubs.
• Repair leaks in faucets and hoses.
• Use water-saving nozzles.
• Use water from a bucket to wash your car, and save the hose for rinsing.

Information on other ways that you can help conserve water can be found at www.epa.gov/safewater/publicoutreach/index.html.

Water Rate Increase Likely

The rates we charge for water service have not changed since May 1994. We know that nobody likes to see rates increase. We do what we can to hold the line, and have kept our rates far below the average rates of other water utilities in Maine for similar services. Recently, though, we have seen large increases in the prices we pay for some essential services. Not surprisingly, the biggest increases are primarily energy-related, such as the costs of electricity, heating oil, propane, and gas. These increased costs, along with normal inflationary increases in the cost of almost everything else needed for operations, and the economic drain on our operations caused by the poor performance of the stock market, make it likely that we will soon apply for a rate increase. We will keep you informed of any decisions regarding rates. Be assured that we will limit the rate increase to the minimum necessary to maintain quality service. It is unlikely that any increase will take effect until sometime late this year or early in 2004 (which would be 10 years after our last increase).

What's In My Water?

We are pleased to report that during the past year, the water delivered to your home or business complied with, or did better than, all state and federal drinking water requirements. Each year we analyze over 70,000 water samples for bacteria, turbidity, inorganic contaminants, lead and copper, nitrate, volatile organic contaminants, total trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, and synthetic organic contaminants. For your information, we have compiled a list in the tables below showing which substances were detected in our drinking water during 2002. Although all of the substances listed are under the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) set by the U.S. EPA, we feel it is important that you know exactly what was detected and how much of the substance was present in the water. None of the 120 other substances regulated by EPA were detected in our water.

REGULATED SUBSTANCES

Tap water samples were collected for lead and copper analyses from 30 homes throughout the service area

UNREGULATED SUBSTANCES