2005 Annual Report
Bonita Springs Utilities

THE WATER WE DRINK
In 1971, a group of residents formed Bonita Springs Utilities, Inc. (BSU) to provide potable water for a handful of homes. Since then, BSU has grown with Bonita Springs and now provides water service to more than 36,000 customers within its 57-square-mile service area.
This report, required by law, provides data about the quality of the water provided by BSU during 2005. BSU welcomes the opportunity to share this information with you. It’s important that you know where our water comes from, what it contains and the risks that our water treatment is designed to prevent. Informed customers are our best allies in maintaining safe drinking water.
We’re happy to report that our drinking water meets all federal and state requirements. The Board of Directors and staff of Bonita Springs Utilities are pleased to present this report.

WHERE OUR WATER COMES FROM
Bonita Springs’ drinking water production starts with water located deep beneath the ground. Groundwater for the lime-softening process comes from the lower Tamiami aquifer, a thick sequence of porous limestone and clay beneath the earth’s surface. Groundwater for the reverse-osmosis process comes from the lower Hawthorne aquifer, which contains more brackish water.
Bonita Springs Utilities owns and operates two well fields (20 wells) for the lime-softening water process. One well field is located at East Terry Street parallel to I-75, and the other is located east of Bonita Grande. The lime-softening wells have an average depth of 100 feet.
Eight additional wells at a depth of 800 feet supply water for the new reverse-osmosis water process placed into service in March 2004. Bonita Springs Utilities follows the principles and practices recommended by many experts within the utility industry to ensure our members a safe, reliable and efficient
water system. We test and monitor your water to ensure compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements and are committed to your health, safety and welfare.

More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at    1-800-426-4791.
Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immunocompromised persons, such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune-system disorders, some elderly and infants, can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their healthcare providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminates are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

Note: Bonita Springs Utilities is not required to test for the unregulated contaminant Cryptosporidium because our source water is from wells, not surface waters.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
(A) Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations and wildlife.
(B) Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can occur naturally or can result from urban-stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming.
(C) Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, stormwater runoff and residential use.
(D) Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organics, which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and also can come from gas stations, urban-stormwater runoff and septic systems.
(E) Radioactive contaminants, which can occur naturally or result from oil and gas production and mining activities.

IN CONCLUSION
Bonita Springs is one of the fastest growing communities in Southwest Florida. To accommodate continued growth, Bonita Springs Utilities completed and placed into service in 2004 the first phase of a state-of-the-art reverse-osmosis plant with a current capacity of 6 million gallons per day. The construction of the RO plant helps preserve our lime-softening well fields by drawing the source water from a different, deeper aquifer and helps ensure that our present member-customers will continue to enjoy an adequate, safe supply of drinking water. The RO process, together with the lime-softening water process, can provide a total of 14 million gallons of water per day for our customers. As our population continues to grow, demand for water will continue to increase. Our responsibility is to provide quality water to every tap. Everyone, however, must help protect our community’s valuable water resources to maintain them in a usable form for present and future generations.