H2O supply receives high marks Published June 30, 2011 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Hill Air Force Base's water supply got high marks in a soon-to-be published Consumer Confidence Report a yearly "report card" that discusses the quality of the base's drinking water system. The 75th Aerospace Medicine Squadron's Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight (BEF) will publish the CCR for Hill AFB by July 1. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires all drinking water system managers write a report like this each year. "Our drinking water meets or exceeds both state and federal drinking water standards for water quality," said 2nd Lt Phillip Lopez, a bioenvironmental engineer with the 75th BEF. The flight routinely samples Hill AFB's water to ensure it meets state and federal standards for drinking water. This sampling occurs at least monthly on the base and is done under the direction of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. Several contaminants tested for include: microbial contaminants; inorganics (metals and salts); volatile organic chemicals (pesticides, herbicides and solvents); synthetic organic chemicals (industrial solvents, paints and dyes); physical contaminants (turbidity); and radioactive contaminants. "We are held to strict drinking water standards set forth by the EPA and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality," said Staff Sgt. Korrin Wagar, bioenvironmental engineering water program manager with the 75th BEF. Drinking water sources can include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. To ensure safe tap water, the EPA limits the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The drinking water might contain small amounts of some contaminants, though the mere presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. According to the report, the Hill AFB public water system received no violations during 2010. Hill AFB serves a population of approximately 21,000 people and receives most of its drinking water from deep wells located on the base. "When demand increases in the summer, we may potentially use water from the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District," Lopez said. Weber Basin gets its water from deep wells located several hundred feet below the ground surface, the Weber River and several creeks along the Wasatch Front. A copy of Hill AFB's report and Weber Basin's Water Quality Report are available for viewing at the base library (Building 440) and at Building 249. For more information, contact 75th BEF at (801) 777-4551.