Fort Walton Beach — 2013 Consumer Water Quality Report — reading text

Important Health Information Community Participation Some people may be more vulnerable to You are welcome to attended Fort Walton Beach contaminants in drinking water than the general regularly scheduled Council meetings held on the second The purpose of this report population. Immuno-compromised persons such as and fourth Tuesday of every month. Contact the City FORT WALTON BEACH is to provide you with information about the quality of persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, Clerk at 833-9511 to confirm day, time and location of water and services we deliver to you every day. We persons who have undergone organ transplants, meeting. ask that all our customers help us protect our water people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system sources, which are the heart of our community, our disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people Substances that might be in drinking water: 2014Annual way of life and our children’s future. The Water The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled Treatment staff works around the clock to meet our should seek advice about drinking water from their water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, goal to provide you with a high quality safe and health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of dependable supply of drinking water. appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally Cryptosporidium and other microbiological occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive During the past year we have taken thousands of contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking material, and can pick up substances resulting from the water samples in order to ensure the quality of your Water Hotline (800-426-4791). presence of animals or from human activity. drinking water. The table attached shows only those contaminants that were detected in the water. The Contaminants That May Be Present In Source Water State has reduced monitoring requirements for certain Include: A Special Note About Lead In Drinking contaminants to less often than once per year (A) Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and because the concentration of these contaminants is Water bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, not expected to vary significantly from year to year. In If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and WATER TESTING PERFORMED IN 2013 PWS ID# 1460144 those cases, the most recent sample data are health problems, especially for pregnant women and wildlife. included along with the year in which the sample was young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from (B) Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, taken. materials and components associated with service lines which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban and home plumbing. The City of Fort Walton Beach is stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater The City of Fort Walton Beach monitors for responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming. contaminants in your drinking water according to cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing (C) Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a Federal and State laws, rules, and regulations. components. When your water has been sitting for variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead runoff, and residential uses. on the results of our monitoring for the period of exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013. Data minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If (D) Organic chemical contaminants, including obtained before January 1, 2013, and presented in you are concerned about lead in your water, you may synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by- this report are from the most recent testing done in wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in products of industrial processes and petroleum accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations. drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take production, and can also come from gas stations, urban to minimize exposure is available from the Safe stormwater runoff, and septic systems. If you have any questions about this report or water Drinking Water Hotline or at quality in the City of Fort Walton Beach, please (E) Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead contact Tim Bolduc, Engineering & Utility Services occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and Director at 833-9599 mining activities. Source Water Assessment In 2013 the Florida Department of Environmental In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA Where Does Our Drinking Water Come Protection performed a Source Water Assessment on prescribes regulations, which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. From And How Is It Purified? our system. The assessment was conducted to provide The City of Fort Walton Beach’s water system information about any potential sources of The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations processed approximately 863 million gallons of water contamination in the vicinity of our wells. There are establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which in 2013. Our water comes from nine deep wells eleven potential sources of contamination identified for must provide the same protection for public health. drawing ground water from the Floridan Aquifer, this system with low to moderate susceptibility levels. Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably which provides a very high quality water source. The assessment results are available on the FDEP be expected to contain at least small amounts of some With the excellent water quality of the Floridan Source Water Assessment and Protection Program contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not Aquifer, the only treatments required to meet Federal website at www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp. necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. and State standards are aeration and chlorination. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800- 426-4791).  In the table you will find many terms 2013 WATER TESTING RESULTS and abbreviations you might