Does this affect all Goodyear residents?

No. This notice applies to city of Goodyear water service area customers south of the I-10 only. 

Some Goodyear residents receive water service from other providers. If you are unsure who provides your water service, please check your utility bill or contact Water Services for help confirming your provider.

 

Why did I receive this water quality notice?

You received this notice, because recent required water quality testing showed that Total Trihalomethanes, or TTHMs, in the city of Goodyear water system slightly exceeded the federal drinking water standard.

This notice applies to city of Goodyear water service area customers only. If you are unsure who provides your water service, please check your utility bill or contact Water Services for assistance.

The city is required to notify customers when this type of water quality standard is exceeded, even when the situation is not an emergency.

 

Is my drinking water safe to use?

Yes. This is not an emergency, and your water remains safe to drink and use as normal. If the water is ever unsafe to drink for any reason, the city would notify customers within 24 hours. No immediate corrective action is required by customers.

 

Do I need to boil my water, buy bottled water or install a filtration system?

No. This is not a boil-water notice, and customers do not need to boil water, buy bottled water or install a filtration system because of this notice.

 Some residents may choose to use bottled water or filtration systems based on personal preference, but the city is not requiring any corrective action by customers. While you do not have to install filtration systems, if you do have a filter on your refrigerator or reverse osmosis for your drinking water, they will remove TTHMs.

 

Is the water safe for showering, bathing and other household use?

Yes. The water remains safe to use as normal, including for showering, bathing, handwashing, laundry and other household uses. This notice is not a boil-water notice, and no special precautions are required for normal household use.

 

Is the water safe for pets?

Yes. No corrective action is required for customers, and the water remains safe to use as normal.

 

Why am I learning about this now?

TTHM compliance is based on a running annual average of required quarterly testing results, not a single daily test result. The city tests its water quarterly. When the most recent annual average showed a slight exceedance of the federal drinking water standard at one testing location, the city was required to notify affected customers within 30 days.

This is the first time the city has had to issue this type of notice.

 

What is the city doing to address the issue?

What is the city doing to address the issue? The city has taken several steps to reduce TTHM levels and expects the equipment associated with the issue to be repaired by June 9. To resolve the issue on an ongoing basis, additional actions include lowering chlorine residuals, verifying that systems are working properly, conducting additional system flushing, completing additional testing and continuing to monitor water quality.

 

Is additional testing being done to make sure the water remains safe?

Yes. The city is proactively conducting additional testing and continues to monitor water quality.

Customers do not need to conduct their own testing because of this notice. Residents can view the latest annual water quality report at goodyearaz.gov/waterreport.

 

What are Total Trihalomethanes, or TTHMs?

TTHMs are compounds that can form when chlorine, which is used to disinfect drinking water, reacts with naturally occurring organic materials in the water. Chlorine is used because disinfecting drinking water is an important public health step. It helps eliminate harmful bacteria and viruses that can cause illness.

 

What are the possible health effects of TTHM exposure?

This situation is not an emergency and does not require customers to take corrective action.

Health risks related to TTHMs are generally associated with long-term exposure over many years, not short-term consumption. Individuals with specific health concerns, including those with compromised immune systems, should contact their healthcare provider.

 

Is this notice related to water rates or data centers?

No. This notice is related to required drinking water quality testing for Total Trihalomethanes, or TTHMs. The notice was triggered by the annual average of quarterly water quality testing results. It is not related to water rates or data centers.

 

How can I ask questions or stay informed?

The city will continue to update its website with water quality report information to keep residents informed. Residents with questions may contact Water Services by phone at 623-932-3010, Option 3, or by email: Mark Ortiz, Environmental Programs Manager, Mark.Ortiz@goodyearaz.gov.

Residents can also view the latest annual water quality report at goodyearaz.gov/waterreport.

 

Visit the Water Quality page for the city's current and past water quality reports.

Chlorine is added to potable water supplies to ensure that the water delivered to our customers is safe from bacterial contamination. Although bacterial contamination in deep wells is nearly nonexistent, water regulations require all domestic water systems to be disinfected. Chlorine is the most popular disinfectant used in the United States. One technique customers close to a chlorination point may use to reduce or eliminate chlorine's bothersome taste or odor is to let the water stand 20 minutes before drinking. Doing so will allow excess chlorine to vaporize away. Another technique to help reduce the chlorine taste or smell is to chill tap water in a pitcher or bottle in the refrigerator.

Customers can report chlorine taste complaints on the city's Goodyear311 portal. The city's Water Quality team will investigate any reported concerns.

Air bubbles usually cause cloudiness. To illustrate using an example, consider a bottle of soda pop and how it forms bubbles when opening. These bubbles form because the pressure in the bottle is higher than the atmospheric pressure. A similar thing occurs when water is pumped from over 40 feet underground. The pressure is much higher underground than on the surface. Since our water system is pressurized, this phenomenon usually occurs at the tap, resulting in cloudy water or ice cubes.

Cloudy or milky water is a prevalent issue to explain. Still, there is no health concern with drinking cloudy or milky water from your tap or RO (reverse osmosis) system. You will notice the cloudiness (formed by tiny bubbles) dissipate by allowing your water to settle.

This is a very common occurrence in the summer months in the Desert Southwest.  Water pipes acclimate (or adjust) to the temperature around them.  As temperatures get higher in the summer, the water pipes absorb heat from the ground around them, and the temperature of the water in the pipes also increases.  Heat also transfers to pipes located in walls and ceilings of homes and commercial structures.  This exposure to additional constant high temperature further increases water temperatures at the tap.  The water will never be "cold" in the summertime because of the consistently high temperatures in the summer months.

For cooler drinking water, fill a container and place it in the refrigerator for a short period of time.  Utilizing a refrigerator with a water spout in the door is another way to serve cooler water year round.

Throwing prescription drugs in the trash or down the sink presents a hazard to the community. If not properly disposed of, these drugs are at risk of being found and misused, and they can pollute the environment.

To properly and safely dispose of expired, unused, or unwanted medications, use the secure Prescription Drug Disposal Box located at the Goodyear Police Operations Building located at 11 N. 145th, Goodyear.

Tap Into Quality - Water Hardness 

What is hard water? 

When water is referred to as hard, it contains more minerals than soft water, especially calcium and magnesium. These minerals are present in the rock surrounding the aquifer and become naturally absorbed by the water. Magnesium and calcium are positively charged ions. In their presence, other positively charged ions, such as soap and detergent, do not dissolve as easily.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes standards for drinking water, which fall into two categories: Primary Standards and Secondary Standards. Primary Standards are based on health considerations, while Secondary Standards address aesthetic factors such as taste, odor, color, and corrosivity. There is no Primary or Secondary Standard for water hardness. Water softeners can help eliminate or reduce hardness, but they have limitations and cannot address all issues.

What is the water hardness in my area?

Water hardness varies throughout the city. Setting up your water softener requires that you know the grains per gallon (gpg) or parts per million (ppm) in your area's water supply. A properly functioning water softener can remove unwanted minerals from the water supply, but if it is not correctly set or not adequately maintained, excessive salt or backwash discharge can damage or reduce the life of the softener.

Goodyear Water customers may contact the Water Services Department at 623-932-3010 and request to speak with a Water Quality Technician for more assistance.

If you receive service from a water purveyor other than Goodyear Water Services, please refer to your latest utility bill for contact information or use the Water and Sewer Service Area Lookup for additional assistance.

What is water softening?

Water softening is a technique that serves as a way to remove the calcium and magnesium ions that are making the water hard. 

Hard water contains a significant amount of calcium and magnesium. It is known to leave a residue and reduce the ability of soap and detergent to dissolve in water. It's also possible to remove iron ions during softening. The best way to soften water is to connect the water softener unit directly to the water supply.

Water softener maintenance. How important is it?

If your home has a water softener, maintenance is essential. It is a good idea to perform maintenance on your water softener after 15,000-to-20,000 gallons of water have run through your system. That might be about every six months or so for the average household. Every home uses different amounts of water. It is recommended to homeowners to refer to the owner's manual for specific recommendations on how often to perform regular maintenance.

Although the city does not deal directly with and is not responsible for home water heaters, they are a common cause of water quality complaints. Heating water naturally makes water more aggressive or corrosive. Customers can eliminate or avoid many water quality problems by maintaining water heaters once a year.

To flush a water heater, turn off the heating (or pilot) system by turning off the gas or electricity and letting the unit stand for 20 minutes or more, allowing the elements time to cool down.

After cooling the heating element, please follow your manufacturer's instructions to flush your water heater. If instructions are not available, you can use the following steps:

 1. Attach a garden hose to the spigot located near the bottom of the tank 
 2. Open the spigot and drain the tank to an open drain area
 3. Close the drain valve after drainage is complete
 4. Allow the water heater to fill before starting the heating system

A no cost Pool Drain Authorization is required to drain a pool. Avoid pool filling during January, February, and March to avoid year-round high sewer charges. Sewer charges are based on the first quarter's water use.

The City of Goodyear requires that all pool and spa water discharges be kept on the owner's property or discharged to a sanitary sewer clean-out on private property. Allowing water to run to other people's property, public rights-of-way, or open space is illegal. (City Code 11-1-16 and 14-5-7)

View this informational page for detailed instructions for using the sewer clean-out for legal draining procedures.

Customers are not required to notify the city's water or billing departments when refilling a pool. However, water billing customers should be aware of the resulting increase in their monthly utility bills due to the large water consumption. See the Sewer Appeals page for more information.

For questions, please contact our Utilities Customer Service team at 623-882-7887 or by email. Please contact your utility provider if you are not in the City of Goodyear water or sewer service area.

 

Most of the area north of I-10 is served by Liberty Utilities. See information below for south of the freeway:

• Goodyear utilizes both groundwater and surface water. Wells throughout the city pump water from underneath the ground, while surface water is delivered from the Colorado River to the Water Treatment Facility. Both are treated and delivered it to customers through a vast network of pipes and infrastructure.

Water waste is water that is running outside the basin or object where it is to be used AND onto adjoining property, streets, rights-of-way, drains, or ditches. Wasting water is prohibited by City code 14-7-8.  Whether the source is a leak, a pool being drained, or irrigation that is running too long, it is considered waste if it leaves your property. Report water waste on our Goodyear 311 / Report a Problem portal.

City staff will issue an educational notice when they see violations of restrictions while out on city streets and when responding to reports of violations. If the conditions are not corrected in a timely fashion (proportional to violation and severity of shortage), staff may issue a warning notice and/or a citation or misdemeanor charges. Water Waste and Water Theft ordinances continue to be enforced as well.

Report a violation on our Report a Problem portal if it is not corrected when you bring it to the attention of the resident or business.

For water related emergencies, call 623-932-3010, option 3 for 24/7 assistance.

Visit our Water Conservation page to find information and resources for saving water.

Any natural or human-caused events that bring our demand for water very close to our supply may trigger the need to curtail (reduce) our water use until supplies are increased or conditions that make it hard to deliver water are corrected. For example, monsoon storms and power outages, earthquakes or other events that break mains, failure of several pumps, contamination of water supplies, or a sudden increase in demand while repairs are underway might bring demand close to available supplies.

When conditions improve enough, the City Manager will declare that the curtailment is ending. The city will publish this information by posting it on its website.

Yes, the following vital uses and non-potable water sources are exempt.

Exemptions:

• Uses to maintain the health, welfare, and safety of Goodyear water customers
• Hospitals, medical offices, and clinics
• Immediate fire, hazardous waste, or sanitation hazards
• Construction of projects essential to maintain the health, safety, and welfare of the public
• Goodyear Sports Complex may be exempted until Stage 3
• Goodyear Ballpark may be exempted until Stage 4

Users of reclaimed, remediated, or other non-potable sources of water are required to post that these are the sources of water.