Cumberland Utility District Violates Federal Drinking Water Standards

Recently, Cumberland Utility District, located in Harriman, sent out a letter to all customers notifying them of recently failing federal drinking water standards in 3 of their 4 test sites. Although they go on to state that it would take a lifetime of drinking the water at those levels just to see any issues. Below is the entire letter sent to customers.

Cumberland Utility District recently violated a Federal drinking water standard. Although this situation does not require that you take immediate action, you as a customer have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what was done to correct this situation.

During the compliance period ending December 31, 2022, our locational running annual average (LRAA) for Total Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) was 0.2665 mg/l Our locational running annual average (LRAA) for Haloacetic Acids (HAAS’s) was 0.07415 mg/I. These values exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Levels of 0.080 mg/I TTHM’s and
0.060 mg/I HAA5’s set for these parameters. The Cumberland Utility District samples four sites for TTHM & HAA5’s. Three of these sites were out of compliance.

We will be making operational changes to minimize disinfection by-product formation in our finished water and we will continue to make every effort to minimizing the detention time of the water in our distribution system through
flushing to help maintain future compliance for disinfection byproducts.

Some people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess of the MCL over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink 2 liters of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to have a one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect.

You do not need to boil your water or take other actions. However, if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.

TTHMs are disinfection byproducts resulting from our chlorination of the water to minimize risk of microbial life in the drinking water. The EPA considers microbial contaminants as the greatest risk to the public. We are evaluating
the results of the required disinfection and will continue making an effort to reduce the disinfection byproducts without increasing the microbial risks.

For more information, please contact Cumberland Utility District at 865-285-9677.

Please share this information with everyone who may drink this water, including those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

This notice is being sent to you by Cumberland Utility District. PWSID# TN-0000531.

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