BOARD OF DIRECTORS Corinne Loskot, President Glen Acosta, Vice President Matt Disston, Director Mike Safranski, Director Jim Haselton, Director GENERAL MANAGER Don Chadd

ON TAP

The ABCs of Bottled Water

What to Know About H2O
Put bottled water to the test. Is it really worth the 22 billion dollars people spend on it each year? Can you really tell the difference between bottled and tap water?

TCWD’s Bottled Water
Because of the abundant rainfall in 2005, TCWD’s wells produced for an extended period of time which provided the District with a rare opportunity to bottle the well water from the Rose Canyon Well which is located adjacent to Trabuco Creek in Trabuco Canyon. This water is extremely pure and free from contaminants due to its rural location and the lack of any upstream development.

TCWD contracted with a bottling company to bottle a tanker truck full of this pristine well water. Coordinating with an independent laboratory and the water treatment supervisor of the bottling company, TCWD’s water department and engineering staff determined the wonderful taste of this well water would be preserved with a treatment process of filtration through granular activated carbon, followed by ultra violet light disinfection, fine media filtration, and finished water ozone disinfection.

As a community service, TCWD provides its high-quality bottled water without cost to non-profit, non-religious organizations for events within cities and the unincorporated area of Trabuco Canyon served by TCWD only.

Quantities are limited, and requests are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. A formal request must be made by submitting a completed application to TCWD. And, if you happen to be in the neighborhood, drop by and enjoy a bottle of TCWD’s water – “Taste the Best.”

What’s in the “Other” Bottled Water?
Americans spend $10,000 per minute on bottled water, but is it worth it?

• Water that is bottled or sold in vending machines or water stores costs up to a thousand times more per gallon than tap water. It is not necessarily any safer to drink. Every source of water, whether it is tap water or some type of bottled water, has to meet very strict health requirements.
• Tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Only 30 percent of bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, but its guidelines require the source of bottled water to be identified.
• Some bottled water is just processed tap water.

The Best Tasting Water

• Water gets its taste from minerals and trace elements.
• Water tastes best at 55 degrees in a clear, clean glass.
• Water tastes better in clear, hard plastic than in opaque plastic.

Tap Water and Municipal Water Supplies

• Utilities must provide an annual water quality report, called a Consumer Confidence Report.
• Chlorine is used to treat water in swimming pools and public reservoirs. Chlorine is a naturally existing element that has been used to disinfect water supplies in America for most of the 20th Century.
• Chlorine disinfection has been extremely effective in protecting drinking water resources from bacterial and viral contamination. It has virtually wiped out instances of water-borne diseases like typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery in America and other developed countries.
• The chlorine taste in municipal tap water will dissipate after 20 minutes of refrigeration.
• Copper pipes will not contaminate your drinking water.

TCWD’s Commitment
Providing our customers with safe, high quality drinking water is the main priority of Trabuco Canyon Water District. The drinking water provided by TCWD is safe and meets or exceeds all quality standards set by both the state and federal government.

Conservation Encouragement Rate Program
As the demand for water increases with the growth in Southern California, wise use of water is essential. The Conservation Encouragement Rate Program (CERP) was approved by the Board of Directors. The CERP is designed to reward wise water users and may possibly result in a rate reduction, while excessive water users will experience an adjustment to their rate similar to that of neighboring water districts.

Within the next few months, the District will have a CERP water calculator on its website (tcwd.ca.gov) to enable customers to calculate what their water costs will be when the CERP is put in place in January of 2007.

The Regular Board Meeting is held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the District Office located at 32003 Dove Canyon Drive, Trabuco Canyon. The public is encouraged to attend.

Board Highlights

• February 4, 2006 – Considered and denied a claim against the District.
• Conducted Closed Sessions.
• February 15, 2006 – The Regular Board Meeting was not held due to a lack of quorum of the Board.