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

ON TAP

Information About Fluoridation

Recently there has been a great deal of information provided about fluoridation of water in southern California. This is due to the fact that Metropolitan Water District (MET) will begin adding fluoride to the water at all of its water treatment facilities in November of 2007. MET’s water comes from two main sources: the Colorado River and State Water Project obtained from northern California and delivered through the California Aqueduct System.

It is anticipated that the introduction of fluoride to the MET system water will begin in November of 2007. The dosage of fluoridation will be 0.7 to 0.8 milligrams per liter (approximately 0.7 to 0.8 parts per million).

Trabuco Canyon Water District (TCWD) is unique in south Orange County in that it owns and operates its own water treatment facility. This facility can provide almost 4 million gallons of water a day. For much of the year, this volume of water is more than adequate to meet the water demand of the TCWD customers.

Because this water does not come from the MET treatment facilities, it will not have any fluoride added to it as part of the treatment process.

Does this mean that there is no fluoride in any of the water delivered in the TCWD system? No. And there are several reasons why.

First, most of the water that TCWD treats and delivers in its water system is taken from the Colorado River. Colorado River water has a minimal level of fluoride that occurs naturally as a result of the region of the United States that the river travels. This fluoride level is generally considered to be 0.3 to 0.4 milligrams per liter (or parts per million). This water is processed through the TCWD treatment system and still has the naturally occurring fluoride after treatment as it is not removed from the water during the TCWD treatment process. For more information concerning the amount of fluoride in the water provided in the TCWD water system, you may wish to reference the annual TCWD Water Quality Report; this report can be found on the TCWD’s website under Water Quality.

Second, there are some areas of the District that receive water from a different source. In the Portola Hills development, the water is delivered from the Irvine Ranch Water District system. The source of water for the IRWD system may change during the year.

At times, it may be water processed through a MET treatment facility and at other times, it may be water that comes from the Orange County Ground Water Basin.

TCWD owns and maintains capacity in alternate supply source known as the Allen McCulloh Pipeline which delivers water from a MET owned treatment facility through the Santa Margarita Water District system. During periods of high water demand (summer, lots of hot weather), TCWD will take water from this source if demand exceeds the TCWD’s treatment facility supply capacity. If the District uses this alternate source of water, fluoride will be present in the water at a higher level than it is currently, but at a lower level than surrounding districts which use MET treated water. This is due to the fact it will be blended with water from the District’s treated water.

Information about the water quality is provided to customers in the Annual Water Quality Report. This report can be found on the each District’s website under Water Quality: (www.tcwd.ca.gov), (www.smwd.com), (www.irwd.ocm). For more information about fluoridation, the District has provided enclosures in this mailing for your convenience. Also, you may wish to review the District’s website under Fluoridation.

DO YOU OWN A POOL?

The District occasionally receives requests for a “discount rate” or “free water” from customers who are filling a new pool. Sometimes this request comes from individuals who have drained their pool for a thorough cleaning.

The District does not have any program in place for discounted water used for filling swimming pools. Historically, the position the District has maintained is the cost of water for the pool should be part of the household budget, much the same as the cost of electricity for running the pool equipment.

It may help to understand what the cost of filling a small to medium size pool (15,000 gallons) might be. If the average home consumption of water was 20 billing units (748 gallons per BU), then the water charge would be approximately $39 that month. The added cost of 15,000 gallons of water (which is also 20 BUs) would be an additional charge of approximately $60; the increased amount for the second set of 20 billing units is due to the tiered billing rate structure. All things considered, the cost of filling a pool is not expensive if the amount is amortized over the period of months the pool remains full of water.

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

• September 19, 2007 – Authorized the purchase of a telecommunications system.
• Authorized participation in the Orange County WateReuse Association.
• Ratified the Interim Agricultural Water Program Reduction Plan
• Received information relating to the Dry Season Water Recovery Project.
• Received a status update relating to the Rose Canyon and Lang Wells Upgrades to Treatment Facilities.
• Approved change orders relating to Robinson Ranch Road Recycled Water Distribution System Expansion and approved the Notice of Completion.
• Provided direction relating to the special tax levies in RD No. 5, Series 2001.