Town of FALMOUTH, DPW, WATER

416 GIFFORD ST. FALMOUTH, MA 02540

Telephone 508-457-2543 FAX 508-548-1537

October 27,2017

Valued Water Customer,

Enclosed are two notices regarding water quality in the Town of Falmouth.

1. The first is a notice that the Town did not have two forms of disinfection at the Long Pond Pumping Station as required by a regulation known as the Long Term 2 Enhanced Water Treatment Rule. The Town addressed the issue by the design and construction of the Long Pond Water Filtration Facility that commenced operation on October 18, 2017. 2. The second is a notice about lead in drinking water. In July we conducted our regular sampling for lead at 30 individual residences. Four of those samples showed lead concentrations above the regulatory limit. The source water tests clean, however homes with older plumbing can have lead leaching from the plumbing fixtures and the solder used to assembly the piping. The Notice provides useful advice to those homeowners.

DEP public notification obligates the Town to send a notice to all users of the system.

Sincerely,

Stephen Rafferty, Superintendent

NOTICE:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER

Falmouth's Water Did Not Meet Treatment Requirements

Our water system was recently determined by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to have violated a drinking water standard. Although this situation does not require you take immediate action, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we have done to correct this situation.

Specifically, during October 13, 2017 issuance of of the approval to activate the new Treatment Plant at Long Pond the Town was informed by the DEP that the operation of the Long Pond Pumping Station and Disinfection Facility, an unfiltered water supply, failed to comply with the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, 310 CMR 22.20G (13) (d) (aka the LT2 Rule). The LT2 rule states: “Use of Two Disinfectants: Unfiltered systems must meet the combined Cryptosporidium inactivation requirements of 310 CMR 22.20A (3) (a) using a minimum of two Disinfectants, and each of the two disinfectants must separately achieve the total inactivation required for Cryptosporidium, Giardia lambda, or Viruses.”

What should I do?

-You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. However, if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.

-People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426-4791.

What does this mean? This situation does not require that you take immediate action. If it had been, you would have been notified immediately. Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses and parasites which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms, however are not and caused by organisms in drinking water, but also by other factors. If you have experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.

What happened? What is being done?

The filtration Town only had one form of disinfection, chlorination, at the Long two Pond Pumping Station site. There was no filtration at that location. As of October 1, 2012 the LT2 rule required two forms of disinfection for unfiltered water supplies. The Town elected to proceed with the design and construction of a filtration plant. That plant is constructed as O October 18th, 2017 has been placed into operation furnishing filtered and disinfected water that complies with the LT2 regulation. The Town no longer utilizes the Long Pond Pumping Station Site since the inception of the LT2 rule of 2012 were measured daily and met all requirements for bacterial inactivation.

For MA more 02540. information, please contact the Water Department at 508-457-2543 or by mail at 416 Gifford Street, Falmouth, MA 02540.

This notice is being sent to you by the Falmouth Water Department. PWS ID#: 4096000, Date distributed: 10/2017

Contaminated Town Well Expected To Be Back Online In May By CARRIE GENTILE

Dec 30, 2021

www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/contaminated-town-well-expected-to-be-back-online-in-may/article_ba24c3a5-5e5c-54fd-bf07-197d87e224e1.html

The Falmouth Public Works Department is working with US Air Force officials on cleaning up a contaminated well that used to supply the town with drinking water. The Fresh Pond well is expected to be treated and back in use by May, Falmouth Water Superintendent Cathal O'Brien said.

"We're on schedule and are in the process of planning and will be going out to bid soon," he said.

In September the Air Force announced its intention to pay to clean up wells in Mashpee and Falmouth contaminated by polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from military activities on a firefighting training site on Joint Base Cape Cod. Falmouth has been meeting with Air Force officials on implementing a clean-up plan since then.

The bid is for a temporary treatment system to be able to get the well back on line by May, Mr. O'Brien said. A permanent decontamination facility is expected to be in place within five years. While the cost of the final project has not yet been calculated, Mr. O'Brien said the Air Force's involvement will save the town at least $400,000, which is the amount the town has allotted in the DPW budget to treat the water source.

PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals" because they never fully degrade, are a class of manmade chemicals that have been linked to low infant birth weights, suppression of the immune system and cancer.

The use of firefighting foams at Joint Base Cape Cod more than two decades ago is the known source of several plumes of PFAS contamination that have infiltrated numerous wells on the Upper Cape.

The Fresh Pond well was one of Falmouth's sources of drinking water until 2017, when the water department shut it down due to excessive levels of perchlorate. The chemical compound is commonly found in fireworks and other forms of munition. Perchlorate can interfere with the body's ability to absorb iodine into the thyroid gland, which is critical to the production of thyroid hormones. The town investigated but never officially identified the source of the perchlorates found in the protection zone for the municipal well.

Then, in 2018, the town found that the site exceeded state drinking water standards with levels of per­and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Mr. O'Brien said the remediation will also work for treating the perchlorates.

The well was one of the town's six sources of drinking water and is needed for redundancy purposes in the event another source goes offline, Mr. O'Brien said. "It's like we've been driving around without a spare tire and that is not a good practice," he said.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER

Monitoring Requirements Not Met for Falmouth Our water system violated a drinking water standard in 2020. Even though it was not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what we did to correct these situations.

We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not our drinking water meets health standards. During 2020 we did not complete all monitoring or testing for Lead and Copper and therefore cannot be sure of the quality of our drinking water during that time.

What should I do? There is nothing you need to do at this time.

The table below lists the contaminants we did not properly test for during the last year, how often we are supposed to sample for these contaminants and how many samples we are supposed to take, how many samples we took, when samples should have been taken, and the date on which follow-up samples were (or will be) taken.

Contaminant: Lead & Copper

Required Sampling Frequency: 60/yr

Number of samples taken: 50

When all samples should have been taken: 6/1/2020 - 9/30/2020

When samples were or will be taken: 1/10/2021

What happened? What is being done?

Continuous monitoring of the water system, pH specifically, was performed until all the required samples were taken.

For more information, please contact Cathal O'Brien at 508-457-2543 or 416 Gifford Street. Falmouth, MA 02540.

Town of Falmouth DPW Water Division : 4096000, 5/1/22.

Harmful Algae Blooms Have Potential To Impact Marine Life In Falmouth By NOELLE ANNONEN

May 3, 2022

https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/harmful-algae-blooms-have-potential-to-impact-marine-life-in-falmouth/article_a5ceb7d7-9e4d-571a-8dac-fe1ecac376f9.html

Donald Anderson, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, spoke to the Falmouth Water Quality Committee on Monday, May 2, about harmful algal blooms in the New England and Cape Cod region that have the potential to impact Falmouth.

Potential problems arise when algae die in blooms close to shore and bacteria proliferate in the decay. While not all of the microorganisms are toxic, the decay can cause issues that can damage or kill marine life and sometimes humans.

“There are some serious worries out there that are all around you but not necessarily right here in Falmouth,” Dr. Anderson said.

The algae blooms, species known as Mahogany tides or the red tide, cause discoloration in the water, with some patches large enough to be seen from space. Many decaying blooms can consume large quantities of oxygen near shore, killing nearby marine life.

Not all algal blooms are visible. Some can impact marine life, particularly shellfish, without any water discoloration or clear signs of toxins present. State marine centers have closed Buzzards Bay in previous years to prevent people from collecting shellfish that have accumulated toxins from the algae.

Paralytic shellfish poisoning from red tide can come in large blooms in estuaries like those in Falmouth. Paralytic shellfish poison is potentially fatal and, according to Dr. Anderson, common in the region. He said the toxin is usually in shellfish and is present in Buzzards Bay and Massachusetts Bay.

“The threat to Falmouth has not gone away,” Dr. Anderson said.

Amnesic shellfish poisoning causes permanent short-term memory loss and once caused a shutdown of shellfishing in Buzzards Bay.

Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, which explains itself, was seen in Salt Pond in Eastham in such large numbers that the state closed the pond.

But the state does not monitor in Falmouth. Dr. Anderson said that, while there are nearby monitoring stations in Barnstable and Hyannis, Falmouth is not being monitored because state agencies do not believe there is cause for concern.

“What I’m telling you is that there’s still a risk there,” Dr. Anderson said. “They’re not being looked at very carefully.”

Aside from toxins, damaging blooms can cause pungent seaweed clusters that trap jellyfish and crabs that can hurt swimmers. Freshwater blooms can leave toxins in freshwater fish and swimmers.

Dr. Anderson said all blooms are exacerbated by the changing and warming climate. “This is a problem that isn’t going away and is very likely to get worse,” Dr. Anderson said.

Water quality committee member Jordan Mora asked Dr. Anderson how Falmouth can get the state Department of Marine Fisheries to monitor Falmouth for toxins. Dr. Anderson said the state will only come to Falmouth for measurements if there is a large issue that demands attention. “People have to get sick,” Dr. Anderson said. “We need an outbreak.”