John McPherson, General Manager

September 13, 2018

Under the rules of the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the District is required every three years to undertake special testing of our drinking water. Such testing took place this year for lead and copper, and for many other possible contaminants. The District has also continued its quarterly testing for disinfectant byproducts. I am happy to report that the results from all these tests show the District’s drinking water to be well within the limits established under the Clean Drinking Water Act.

The lead and copper testing is carried out at 10 different homes within the District that are likely to have older pipes and fittings containing lead and/or copper. For each of the 10 homes, the levels for both lead and copper were below detectible limits. The detectible limit for lead is 1.4 parts per billion, so that is the number reported to the homeowners. The action level for lead is 15 ppb.

In separate testing, a large number of possible contaminants are tested for. The types of contaminants tested for are grouped as follows: inorganics, volatile organics, radionuclides, and secondary contaminants. A total of 53 different contaminants are tested for. All of the contaminants tested were below the allowable Maximum Contaminant Levels.

Finally, the District has continued making improvements at the water treatment plant aimed at lowering the levels of disinfectant byproducts (DBPs) in the treated water. District customers have been receiving notices about DBPs due to elevated levels experienced during 2017. The District’s efforts to lower these levels have been effective, so that the most recent quarterly testing for DBPs shows levels far below the maximums for this contaminant. With the improvements made, we expect these levels to stay low in the future.

If you have any questions about your water service or drinking water quality, please do not hesitate to call the District at 543-5285.