The western portion of the Township, from Folly Road to Upper State Road, and the Bradford Greene development along County Line Road, is served water that the Township purchases directly from the North Wales Water Authority (NWWA). This portion of the Township is underlain by the Lockatong geological formation, which does not support the development of large production groundwater wells. The water purchased from NWWA is a surface water supply that comes from the Forest Park Water Treatment Plant located in Chalfont. The Forest Park Water Treatment Plant is a state of the art facility that treats water delivered from the Point Pleasant pump sta¬tion located on the Delaware River. The treatment process at Forest Park consists of flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, with pre and post ozone disinfection.

The eastern portion of the Township, from Valley Road to Elbow Lane, is served water from nine wells drilled 300 to 760 feet deep into the Stockton geological formation. The wells are generally lo¬cated along the Route 611 corridor that bisects the eastern part of the Township. The well water from four of the wells is treated using air strippers to remove organic contaminants. Chlorine is added to all of the wells for disinfection prior water entering the system.

The Township’s eastern and western water systems are intercon-nected. The interconnection is controlled by a valve that allows wa¬ter into the eastern end in the event of a fire or other emergency. The interconnection is also used as a supplemental source of supply during times of drought, or when the well supplies are out of service for maintenance reasons. Because of this, eastern end customers can expect to occasionally receive a commingling of water from the western surface supply and eastern groundwater supply.

Why We Monitor Your Drinking Water

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be ex-pected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioac¬tive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the pres¬ence of animals or from human activity.

Contaminants that may be present in source water before it is treated include:

• Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricul¬tural livestock operations and wildlife.
• Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban runoff, industrial or do¬mestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming.
• Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agricultural and residential uses.
• Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and vola¬tile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and production, and can also come from gas stations, urban runoff, and septic systems.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA and PADEP prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. We treat and monitor our water according to their regulations.

Our 2007 Water Monitoring Results 

During 2007, Warrington Township conducted over 300 tests for 86 possible drinking water contaminants. Similar testing was also completed by NWWA and the Forest Park Treatment Plant. This arrangement results in duplication of testing, but also provides more quality control.