Eastland Drinking Water Meets or Exceeds Federal Standards

The Annual Drinking Water Quality Report is a somewhat intimidating looking document filled with jargon and many five or six syllable technical terms. It also contains many reporting "advisories" and details. The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) actually mandates the report format.

"In fact, The City receives the report template from TCEQ and we are required to simply fill in a few blanks such as when the City Commission meets and our phone number. Then, using city funds to do so, we are then required to print it and mail it. Though one naturally assumes it is a report from The City since we send it out, in reality, it is a report from TCEQ even though we have to go to the expense and bother to send it", according to Leslie Zander, Eastland's Financial Officer.

The requirement for issuing the report stems from an act of Congress - the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The federal Environmental Protection Agency passes this reporting requirement along to the states to implement and for the State of Texas, the Commission on Environmental Quality passes it along to local governments and other entities that supply drinking water.

"If the report raises questions, folks can give us a call and we will do our best to answer them", Holliday added.