Winthrop Community Letter 2021

The Winthrop Department of Public Works is pleased to provide this annual water quality report to keep you informed about our water distribution system. Winthrop purchases all of its water directly from the MWRA. We are happy to have a partnership with the MWRA in our mission to supply some of the best quality water in the country. This water is delivered through a master meter and the pressure is
regulated at the town’s pressure reducing station before being conveyed through the network of buried water main and ultimately to your home or business.

Meter Replacement Program: In an effort to enhance meter reading productivity and customer service, Winthrop has converted to a radio read system and continues to work on a town-wide meter replacement project which is approximately 85% complete. This initiative will help reduce unaccounted for water and enhance customer support capabilities.

Leak Detection and Hydrant Flushing: Winthrop conducts an annual leak detection survey to help locate leaks and to reduce unaccounted for water. The survey was completed in October and identified 5 service leaks and 1 valve leak. All leaks were promptly repaired. We continued our 15-phase unidirectional flushing program, that helps maintain water quality by removing naturally occurring sediments in the water mains that can cause taste, odor, and turbidity problems. This program also exercises gate valves and inspects and tests hydrants to assure adequate fire protection. Two phases of this program were completed in 2021.

Water System Maintenance: The DPW Water Division is responsible for operating and maintaining the Pressure Reducing Station, 46 miles of buried water main, a 1 Million gallon capacity stand-pipe, 500 fire hydrants and 4,500 service connections. In 2021 the Water Division repaired 8 water main breaks and 108 lead services were relayed with copper, 25 by in-house staff and 83 as part of an MWRA funded project. The division also replaced 7 fire hydrants and repaired 4 more. The Town has also completed the water main replacement phase of a major infrastructure replacement project in the Center Business District that included the replacement and upgrade of all water mains, valves, and services in that area. This full project, including street and sidewalk restoration affected by the utility work is scheduled to be completed in June of 2022. Winthrop continues to enforce the DEP mandated cross connection control and prevention program to prevent contamination from entering our distribution system. In 2021, the department conducted 100 backflow prevention device tests.
Lead in your water: The Department of Public Works is committed to reducing lead in our water distribution system and is actively monitoring for lead and copper in compliance with the MassDEP Lead and Copper Rule. The Action Level for lead is 15 ppb. During the September 2021 sampling round, Winthrop exceeded the lead action level with a 90th percentile result of 27.6 ppb. The 90th percentile for copper was 189 ppb, below the Action Level of 1300 ppb. We care about lead because children who drink water containing lead in excess of the action level could experience delays in their physical or mental development. Children could show slight deficits in attention span and learning abilities. Adults who drink this water over many years could develop kidney problems or high blood pressure. As a result, Winthrop will be required to sample two times in 2022, in March and September. Winthrop DPW has taken the following steps to address lead and copper: 1) Completely identified the remaining lead services; 2) Continued our program to remove 7% of the Town owned portion of the remaining lead services; and 3) Committed to making lead line replacement a priority in planning future water main replacement projects. In the Spring of 2022, Winthrop was required to carry out an additional round of lead sampling. The 90th percentile was 11.5 ppb, well below the lead Action Level.

Property owners with existing lead services, who wish to participate in the lead removal program, or want further details, are encouraged to call the DPW at 617-846-1341 or email scalla@town.winthrop.ma.us. We urge owners of older homes and buildings to inspect their plumbing and, if possible, replace fittings that have lead joints or lead solder. We also encourage you to review the information contained in this report to take practical steps to reduce exposure to lead and other common contaminants.

Total Coliform Tests in Community Pipes: The Winthrop Water Department tests 12 samples twice per month for total coliform bacteria to monitor the distribution system. The EPA requires that no more than 5% of the samples in a month may be positive. Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially harmful, waterborne pathogens may be present or that a potential pathway exists through which contamination may enter the drinking water distribution system. We found coliforms indicating the need to look for potential problems in water treatment or distribution. Winthrop exceeded this requirement 4 times from July to December of 2021 at multiple sample sites, which resulted in Level 2 Assessments for each occurrence. A Level 2 Assessment is a study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system. All assessments were completed and submitted to DEP. We reported to DEP that the cause of the exceedances was suspected to be temperature related in conjunction with poor turn-over of the water within the stand-pipe which was resulting in the depletion of adequate chlorine residual in the tank and in several areas throughout the distribution system. As a result, the tank was completely drained, cleaned, inspected, and re-chlorinated prior to re-activation. We also did a town-wide flushing program to eliminate aged water situations and replenish adequate chlorine residuals.

We truly hope you find this report useful and informative. If you would like more info regarding public meetings, feel free to contact the Winthrop DPW, the MWRA, or other contacts such as the DEP or EPA as listed herein.

Sincerely, Steven R. Calla

Public Works Director / Water Superintendent