Municipal Utilities Authority
Our Mission Statement: To protect and enhance public health and the natural environment, we provide Monroe Township with the safe management of quality water and wastewater facilities through the efficient use of human and physical resources and an open dialogue with our customers.
Public Notice
Monroe Township Municipal Utilities Authority
Monroe Township Municipal Utilities Authority announces that sampling of the drinking water for Radionuclides at our well supplies during the first and second quarter of 2007 indicated that 2 out of 7 of our wells slightly exceeded the maximum contaminant levels for Radium.
The (MCL) maximum contaminant level for combined Radium activity is set at an annual average of 5 pci/L. The level in our well 17/19 site is 5.62 pci/L.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets drinking water standards and has determined that Radium poses a health concern at certain levels of exposure. The EPA has estimated that the additional lifetime risk associated with drinking water that contains the MCL level Radium is about 1 in 10,000. This means that if 10,000 people were to consume two liters of this water per day for 70 years, we would expect to see one additional cancer in the 10,000 people exposed. Increased risk of bone cancers and cancers of the head sinuses has been associated with ingestion of Radium. Man has always been exposed to natural radiation from water, food, and air, and the quantity of radiation a person is exposed to varies with the background radioactivity. Water of high radioactivity is unusual; nevertheless, it is known to exist in certain areas from natural sources.
The EPA has set an enforceable drinking water standard for Radium to reduce the risk of these adverse health effects. The MTMUA is committed to addressing this problem and is in the process of applying treatment to our wells which exceed the MCL. Meanwhile, we have placed the above mentioned wells at the end of our operation sequence, so that they do not come on unless absolutely necessary to meet water demands.
For more information, please contact us at 732-521-1700 or 609-655-1050 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.