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In 2017, Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) conducted a Source Water Assessment on our system to evaluate potential contamination risks near our wells. The assessment identified 57 potential contamination sources with susceptibility levels ranging from low to high. You can access these results through the FDEP Source Water Assessment & Protection Program website: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp/.

Municipal water comes from various natural sources including rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over land or through soil, it dissolves minerals (sometimes including radioactive materials) and can pick up substances from animal or human activities. Potential contaminants include:

• Microbial contaminants: Viruses and bacteria from sewage treatment facilities, septic systems, agricultural operations, and wildlife
• Inorganic contaminants: Salts and metals occurring naturally or resulting from urban runoff, industrial/domestic wastewater, oil/gas production, mining, or farming
• Pesticides and herbicides: From agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential usage
• Organic chemical contaminants: Synthetic and volatile organic compounds from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, urban runoff, and septic systems
• Radioactive contaminants: Naturally occurring or resulting from oil/gas production and mining

The EPA sets regulations limiting contaminant levels in public water systems to ensure safety, while the FDA establishes similar limits for bottled water. All drinking water, including bottled varieties, may reasonably contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. Their presence doesn't necessarily indicate a health risk. For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, contact the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline: 1-800-426-4791.

Maximum Contaminant Levels are established at very stringent levels. To understand the potential health effects: a person would need to drink two liters of water daily for a lifetime at the MCL level to have a one-in-a-million chance of experiencing the described health effect.

Some individuals may be more vulnerable to water contaminants than the general population. Those with compromised immune systems (cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, HIV/AIDS patients, elderly persons, and infants) should consult their healthcare providers about drinking water safety. EPA/CDC guidelines on reducing infection risks from Cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available through the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

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