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Board of Water Supply (Honolulu/Windward/Pearl Harbor) - Honolulu, HI

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Serves 661,004 people - Test data available: 2004-2009

This drinking water quality report shows results of tests conducted by the water utility and provided to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) by the Hawaii Department of Health. It is part of EWG's national database that includes 47,667 drinking water utilities and 20 million test results. Water utilities nationwide detected more than 300 pollutants between 2004 and 2009. More than half of these chemicals are unregulated, legal in any amount. Despite this widespread contamination, the federal government invests few resources to protecting rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater from pollution in the first place. The information below summarizes test results for this utility and lists potential health concerns.

	This Drinking Water System	National Average
Exceed Health GuidelinesTests showing chemicals at concentrations above health guidelines established by federal and state health agencies. These guidelines are typically set at a levels that pose no significant health risk.	4 chemicals	4
Health Standard ExceedencesChemicals detected at concentrations above the legal limit, the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCLs) established by the U.S. EPA. Most MCLs are based on annual averages, so exceeding the MCL for one test does not necessarily indicate that the system is out of compliance.	0 chemicals	0.5
Pollutants FoundThe total number of contaminants detected since 2004, according to data provided by the state water agency.	10 chemicals	8
Tests ConductedThe total number of number of water quality tests conducted by water utilities and recorded in data provided by the state water agency.	20,015 tests	420

Contaminants Exceeding Health Guidelines

Contaminant	Average/ Maximum Result	Health Limit Exceeded	Legal Limit Exceeded	Testing History -Tested      -Detected      -Over Health Guidelines      -Over Legal Limit*
DieldrinDieldrin is a banned insecticide that is persistent and bioaccumulative, and was historically used on corn, cotton and citrus; it also forms in the environment as a breakdown product of the pesticide aldrin.	0.01 ppb 0.04 ppb	Yes <0.01 ppb	Legal at any levelThis is the Federal Limit. State Limits may be lower.
BromoformBromoform is a disinfection byproduct from the trihalomethane (THM) family, and is formed when chlorine, chloramines or other disinfectants react with organic and inorganic matter in water.	0.76 ppb 1.63 ppb	Yes MCLGA non-enforceable health goal that is set at a level at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons occurs and which allows an adequate margin of safety. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.: 0 ppb	No 80 ppb
Heptachlor epoxideHeptachlor epoxide is a beakdown product of heptachlor, a highly toxic and carcinogenic termiticide banned from most applications in the U.S. since 1988.	<0.01 ppb 0.01 ppb	Yes MCLGA non-enforceable health goal that is set at a level at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons occurs and which allows an adequate margin of safety. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.: 0 ppb	No 0.2 ppb
1,2,3-Trichloropropane1,2,3-Trichloropropane is an industrial solvent, degreasing agent, and paint and varnish remover.	<0.01 ppb 0.04 ppb	Yes <0.01 ppb	Legal at any levelThis is the Federal Limit. State Limits may be lower.
NOTE: Each dot in the above graph represents one month. * Water utilities are noted as exceeding the legal limit if any test is above the maximum contaminant level (MCL). Most MCLs are based on annual averages so exceeding the MCL for one test does not necessarily indicate that the system is out of compliance.

Other Detected Contaminants

Contaminant	Average/ Maximum Result	Health Limit Exceeded	Legal Limit Exceeded	Testing History -Tested      -Detected      -Over Health Guidelines      -Over Legal Limit*
NitrateNitrate enters drinking water sources from fertilizer runoff, leaching septic tanks, and erosion of natural deposits; it is also emitted by chemical, petrochemical and metal-finishing industries.	0.32 ppm 1.3 ppm	No 10 ppm	No 10 ppm
Chromium (total)Chromium is a metal that pollutes drinking water due to discharge from steel and pulp mills and erosion of natural deposits.	0.79 ppb 3 ppb	No 100 ppb	No 100 ppb
Barium (total)Barium is a mineral that enters drinking water through drilling and mining waste runoff, discharges from chemical industries and erosion of natural deposits.	1.94 ppb 15 ppb	No 700 ppb	No 2000 ppb
Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs)Total trihalomethanes constitute the sum of four disinfection byproducts: chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform.	0.77 ppb 1.63 ppb	No 9.8 ppb	No 80 ppb
Monobromoacetic acidMonobromoacetic acid is a disinfection byproduct regulated by EPA as one of five haloacetic acids that are formed when chlorine, chloramines or other disinfectants react with organic and inorganic matter in water.	0.02 ppb 0.28 ppb	No	No 60 ppb
Total haloacetic acids (HAAs)Total haloacetic acids refers to the sum of the concentrations of five related disinfection byproducts in a water sample: dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monochloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid.	0.02 ppb 0.28 ppb	No 0.7 ppb	No 60 ppb
NOTE: Each dot in the above graph represents one month. * Water utilities are noted as exceeding the legal limit if any test is above the maximum contaminant level (MCL). Most MCLs are based on annual averages so exceeding the MCL for one test does not necessarily indicate that the system is out of compliance.

Contaminants Not Detected - 80 chemicals

1,1,1-Trichloroethane, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, 1,1-Dichloroethylene, 1,2 Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP), 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene, 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,2-Dichloropropane, 3-Hydroxycarbofuran, Alachlor (Lasso), Alachlor Esa, Aldicarb, Aldicarb sulfone, Aldicarb sulfoxide, Aldrin, Antimony (total), Aroclor 1016, Aroclor 1221, Aroclor 1232, Aroclor 1242, Aroclor 1248, Aroclor 1254, Aroclor 1260, Arsenic (total), Atrazine, Baygon (Propoxur), Benzene, Beryllium (total), Bromide, Bromodichloromethane, Butachlor, Cadmium (total), Carbaryl, Carbofuran, Carbon tetrachloride, Chlordane, Chloroform, cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene, Copper, Cyanide, Dibromoacetic acid, Dibromochloromethane, Dichloroacetic acid, Dichloromethane (methylene chloride), Endrin, Ethylbenzene, Ethylene dibromide (EDB), Glyphosate, Heptachlor, Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), Hexachlorocyclopentadiene, Lead (total), Lindane, m-Xylene, Mercury (total inorganic), Methiocarb, Methomyl, Methoxychlor, Metolachlor, Metribuzin, Monochloroacetic acid, Monochlorobenzene (Chlorobenzene), Nitrite, o-Dichlorobenzene, o-Xylene, Oxamyl (Vydate), p-Dichlorobenzene, p-Xylene, Propachlor, Selenium (total), Simazine, Styrene, Tetrachloroethylene, Thallium (total), Toluene, Toxaphene, trans-1,2-Dichloroethylene, Trichloroacetic acid, Trichloroethylene, Vinyl chloride, Xylenes (total)

Pollution Summary

10	Total Contaminants Detected (2004 - 2009) Barium (total), Chromium (total), Nitrate, Monobromoacetic acid, Total haloacetic acids (HAAs), Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Heptachlor epoxide, Dieldrin, 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, Bromoform
3	Agricultural Pollutants (pesticides, fertilizer, factory farms) Nitrate, Heptachlor epoxide, Dieldrin
1	Sprawl and Urban Pollutants (road runoff, lawn pesticides, human waste) Nitrate
4	Industrial Pollutants Barium (total), Chromium (total), Nitrate, 1,2,3-Trichloropropane
4	Water Treatment and Distribution Byproducts (pipes and fixtures, treatment chemicals and byproducts) Monobromoacetic acid, Total haloacetic acids (HAAs), Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Bromoform
3	Naturally Occurring (naturally present but increased for lands denuded by sprawl, agriculture, or industrial development) Barium (total), Chromium (total), Nitrate
2	Unregulated Contaminants EPA has not established a maximum legal limit in tapwater for these contaminants Dieldrin, 1,2,3-Trichloropropane

EPA Violation Summary

No violations were reported for this system since 2004.

Information on violations is drawn directly from EPA's national violations database in the Agency's Safe Drinking Water Information System. Analyses by others have raised questions about the quality of the information in EPA's database. For the purposes of this investigation, EWG is not showing below or including in our analyses, those violations for individual water suppliers that occurred on days for which the total number of violations assigned by EPA to that water supplier was greater than 20. This criteria was based on common characteristics of incorrect violations data as identified by water utilities, from a review of EPA's violations data by several hundred utilities prior to the release of EWG's investigation.