Community Systems Water Quality
The majority of New Mexicans are provided high quality drinking water by community water systems.
Community water system is a type of public water system that supplies water for human consumption
to at least 15 service connections and more than 25 people year round. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) sets regulations for monitoring and treating drinking water delivered
by these systems. There are water quality standards and monitoring requirements for over 90 constituents.
Drinking water contaminants, even at very low concentrations, may affect the health
of many people. Since contamination in a single drinking water system can affect many
people at once, drinking water quality is an important public health issue.
People can be exposed to contaminants in water not only by drinking the water,
but also by eating foods prepared with the water, eating produce or meats that
were grown or raised on the contaminated water, breathing chemicals that have
vaporized from the water (when showering, bathing, or flushing toilets), or
absorbing them through direct contact with skin while showering or bathing.
Community water systems are required to provide drinking water that meets
standards established under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) sets drinking water standards for individual contaminants
and groups of contaminants. Typically, these standards protect public health by
limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water. For public water systems
including community water systems), the federal government has established legally
enforceable regulatory limits - National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR)
- for over 90 chemical, radioactive, and microbial contaminants in drinking water.
These regulatory limits originate from the Safe Drinking Water Act and govern public
water systems. New Mexico has adopted the federal standards.
Every year, community water suppliers send customers a "Consumer Confidence Report"
that contains information about the quality of water. It includes information on where
the water comes from, how it is treated, a list of the chemicals they test for, and the
highest concentration of each chemical that they found in the past year. If you did
not receive a "Consumer Confidence Report" you can obtain one by contacting your water
supplier.
When a water system has a problem that might pose a risk to public health, they are required to notify their customers. The most common problems are contaminant levels that exceed health standards (water quality violation) or problems with the water treatment system (treatment technique violation). If it is a serious situation, they must notify the public within 24 hours; for less serious problems they must notify the public within 30 days. In some circumstances water systems must work with the state drinking water program to prevent a more serious problem, even if there has not been a violation.
If your community water system has notified you that there has been a problem you should carefully follow the advice given by the water system and the local public health officials. If you think there is a problem with your drinking water you should call your water provider or the New Mexico Environment Department Drinking Water Bureau. Call the Drinking Water Bureau Toll Free at 1-877-654-8720.
When a water system has a problem that might pose a risk to public health, they are required to notify their customers. The most common problems are contaminant levels that exceed health standards (water quality violation) or problems with the water treatment system (treatment technique violation). If it is a serious situation, they must notify the public within 24 hours; for less serious problems they must notify the public within 30 days. In some circumstances water systems must work with the state drinking water program to prevent a more serious problem, even if there has not been a violation.
If your community water system has notified you that there has been a problem you should carefully follow the advice given by the water system and the local public health officials. If you think there is a problem with your drinking water you should call your water provider or the New Mexico Environment Department Drinking Water Bureau. Call the Drinking Water Bureau Toll Free at 1-877-654-8720.
If you are a consumer of water from a community water system, you should read the
"Consumer Confidence Report" for your system, published yearly by community water
suppliers. Public water suppliers are required to monitor the quality of the water
they supply, and consumers must be notified if a primary drinking water standard is
exceeded. There are two types of EPA standards:
Primary drinking water standards (Maximum Contaminant Levels or MCL) are health-based
and enforceable. Secondary drinking water standards (Secondary Maximum Contaminant
Levels or SMCL) are based on aesthetics such as color, odor, and taste of the water.
They are guidelines, not enforceable limits.
- Arsenic Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Arsenic Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Maximum Arsenic Concentration
- Arsenic Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Arsenic Concentration
- Atrazine Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Atrazine Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Atrazine Concentration
- Atrazine Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Atrazine Concentration
- Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max DEHP Concentration
- Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max DEHP Concentration
- Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max HAA5 Concentration
- Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max HAA5 Concentration
- Nitrate Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Nitrate Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Nitrate Concentration
- Nitrate Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Nitrate Concentration
- Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max PCE Concentration
- Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max PCE Concentration
- Trichloroethylene (TCE) Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Trichloroethylene (TCE) Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max TCE Concentration
- Trichloroethylene (TCE) Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max TCE Concentration
- Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max TTHM Concentration
- Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max TTHM Concentration
- Radium Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Radium Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Radium Concentration
- Radium Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Radium Concentration
- Uranium Concentration in New Mexico Community Water Systems
- Uranium Concentration: Number of People Served by Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Uranium Concentration
- Uranium Concentration: Number of Community Water Systems by Mean and Max Uranium Concentration
New Mexico Community Drinking Water People Served and Number of Systems
- Number of Persons Served by New Mexico Community water Systems
- Number of New Mexico Community water Systems
New Mexico Community Drinking Water System Quality
- Arsenic Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Arsenic Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Atrazine Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Atrazine Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Nitrate Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Nitrate Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Radium Mean Concentration (pCi/L)
- Radium Max Concentration (pCi/L)
- Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Trichlorethylene (TCE) Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Trichlorethylene (TCE) Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Max Concentration (mcg/L)
- Uranium Mean Concentration (mcg/L)
- Uranium Max Concentration (mcg/L)