Every year the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) arrives in your mailbox at the beginning of July; Las Cruces Utilities (LCU) hopes you will take a few minutes to read it – it explains where our water comes from and gives details about the quality of water that is delivered to your home and business.
LCU delivers approximately 7 billion gallons of high quality water to customers every year. It is pumped from 29 wells drilled into the Mesilla and Jornada Bolsons. You can be assured that our water complies with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and meets or exceeds all state and federal regulations.
It may surprise you to know the water we drink comes with a list of ingredients. Anything in drinking water that is not H2O, is considered to be a “contaminant,” whether or not it is harmful. Testing of our water by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) monitors up to 121 potential contaminants; the regulated contaminants are listed in the 2016 CCR and you will see LCU has no violations in monitoring or reporting of data.
Contaminants are listed in terms of parts per million (ppm) and parts per billion (ppb). A simple analogy to explain a ppm is picturing one inch out of 16 miles; to understand a ppb, you might think of one second out of 32 years.
This year LCU produced six different versions of the CCR; the version you received reflects the water that is delivered to your address. That’s because this past year LCU purchased the Jornada Water Company’s water system, which is really five separate systems, serving approximately 3,500 customer hookups in Mesilla, Mesilla Park, Hacienda Pecan Acres-University Estates, Las Alturas, and San Andres Estates.
In short, you can be confident that LCU and the deep groundwater resources of the Mesilla and Jornada Bolsons continue to provide our community with safe drinking water that fully complies with all SDWA standards.
Copies of the CCRs are available in Customer Service at City Hall, the Branigan Library, NMED, and New Mexico Department of Health Offices. All six versions of the report issued this year (and from all prior years) are available immediately by accessing the City website at www.las-cruces.org under “Hot Topics” on the front page of the website.
You can reach Las Cruces Utilities at 528-3500 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Las Cruces Utilities provides GAS – WATER – WASTEWATER – SOLID WASTE services to approximately 100,000 Las Cruces area residents and businesses.
Suzanne Michaels provides this content on behalf of Las Cruces Utilities