08/18/2025
Our 2024 Quality Drinking Water Report is as follows
BLACK HILLS WATER DISTRIBUTION, LLC
2024 Drinking Water Report
Contact us by calling or write us at 19098 Knollwood Lane Belle Fourche
SD 57717
Black Hills Water Distribution, LLC
Drinking Water Report
Water Quality
Secretary’s Award
The Black Hills Water Distribution, LLC has supplied twenty-four consecutive years of safe
drinking water to the public it serves and has been awarded the Secretary’s Award for
Drinking Water Excellence by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural
Resources. This report is a snapshot of the quality of the water that we provided last year.
Included are details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it
compares to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state standards. We are
committed to providing you with information because informed customers are our best
allies.
Water Source
We serve more than 125 customers an average of 9,375 gallons of water per day. Our water is
groundwater that we produce from local wells. The state has performed an assessment of our source water
and they have determined that the relative susceptibility rating for the Black Hills Water Distribution, LLC
public water supply system is low.
For more information about your water and information on opportunities to participate in
public meetings, call and ask for Tammie Brown.
Additional Information
The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds,
reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves
naturally-occurring minerals, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human
activity.
Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
• Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment
plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
• Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from
urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production,
mining, or farming.
• Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban
stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-
products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations,
urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
• Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas
production and mining activities.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain
contaminants in water provided by public water systems. FDA regulations establish limits for contaminants in
bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.
Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of
some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk.
More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-
compromised 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 health
care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium
and other microbial contaminants can be obtained by calling the Environment Protection Agency’s Safe
Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and
young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service
lines and home plumbing. The EPA has requested that all public water systems perform an inventory to
determine those households served by a lead service line. Contact us for more information about the Lead
Service Line Inventory. The Black Hills Water Distribution, LLC public water supply system is responsible for
providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing
components. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead
exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you
are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in
drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe
Drinking Water Hotline or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.
Detected Contaminants
The attached table lists all the drinking water contaminants that we detected during the 2024 calendar year.
The presence of these contaminants in the water does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health
risk. Unless otherwise noted, the data presented in this table is from testing done January 1 – December 31,
2024. The state requires us to monitor for certain contaminants less than once per year because the
concentrations of these contaminants are not expected to vary significantly from year to year. Some of the significantly from year to year. Some of the data, though representative of the water quality, is more than one year
2024 Table of Detected Regulated Contaminants For Black Hills Water Distribution, LLC (EPA ID 2144)
Terms and abbreviations used in this table:
* Maximum Contaminant Level Goal(MCLG): the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
* Maximum Contaminant Level(MCL): the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
* Action Level(AL): the concentration of a contaminant which, when exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow. For Lead and Copper, 90% of the samples must be below the AL.
* Treatment Technique(TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water. For turbidity, 95% of samples must be less than 0.3 NTU
* Running Annual Average(RAA): Compliance is calculated using the running annual average of samples from designated monitoring locations.
Units:
*MFL: million fibers per liter *mrem/year: millirems per year(a measure of radiation absorbed by the body) *NTU: Nephelometric Turbidity Units *pCi/l: picocuries per liter(a measure of radioactivity) *ppm: parts per million, or milligrams per liter(mg/l) *ppb: parts per billion, or micrograms per liter(ug/l) *ppt: parts per trillion, or nanograms per liter
*ppq: parts per quadrillion, or picograms per liter
*pspm: positive samples per month
Substance 90% Level
Test Sites >
Action Level
Date
Tested
Highest Level
Allowed
(AL)
Ideal
Goal Units Major Source of Contaminant
Copper 0.0 0 04/19/22 AL=1.3 0 ppm Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives.
Lead 1 0 04/19/22 AL=15 0 ppb Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits.
Substance
Highest Level
Detected Range
Date
Tested
Highest Level
Allowed
(MCL)
Ideal
Goal
(MCLG) Units Major Source of Contaminant
Alpha emitters 4 ND - 4 04/19/22 15 0 pCi/l Erosion of natural deposits.
Barium 0.0310 0.0310 - 0.0310 04/19/22 2 2 ppm Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits.
Combined Radium 1 ND - 1 04/19/22 5 0 pCi/l Erosion of natural deposits.
Fluoride 0.30 0.30 - 0.30 04/19/22 4
Questions and answers about lead in drinking water -- health effects, EPA regulations etc.
