Water Advisory Notice – Manganese
Every Foley resident is receiving a letter to notify users of a consumption advisory regarding the municipal water supply. This notice affects approximately 900 residences and business owners who receive their water from the city municipal water system. This notice is also being sent to private well owners in the city limits who may want to further research their private well system.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) conducted additional testing in 2021 as part of a study of unregulated contaminants. This testing showed that some of our wells have manganese levels above MDH’s recommended health guidelines. This notice is an advisory of an unregulated standard.
Manganese is unregulated and does not have an enforceable standard. However, the MDH recommended health guidelines are:
- If you have an infant who drinks tap water or drinks formula made with tap water, a safe level of manganese in your water is 100 parts per billion (ppb) or
- If you have an infant who never drinks tap water or formula made with tap water, a safe level of manganese in your water is 300 ppb or
- If everyone is more than one year old, a safe level of manganese in your water is 300 ppb or less.
The City requested testing from MDH to better understand manganese levels for all City wells. The most recent results are as follows
- Well #5 156.5 ppb
- Well #4 141.5 ppb
- Well #3 705.0 ppb
The City’s municipal water supply is primarily pumped from Well #5 with Well #4 intermittently for backup. Well #3 is rarely used.
The City is dedicated to providing clean and safe drinking water to residents. Testing by the Minnesota Department of Health shows the City’s municipal water supply continues to meet all Safe Drinking Water Act standards. Again, this notice is an advisory of an unregulated standard.