WEST PALM BEACH, FL (September 27, 2021) – West Palm Beach Public Utilities customers will soon receive a public notice with their next water bill. The public notice is a follow-up to the June 23, 2021 public notice informing of a violation. The repeat notice is a part of the city’s quarterly requirement by regulatory agencies to update the public on the city’s progress in resolving the June violation. The city’s water is safe to drink. There is no emergency.
Back in June, the city issued a public notice on sampling results for disinfectant byproducts that showed annual average levels above the amount set by state and federal regulation. The exceedance was related to the city’s quick response to the May 2021 cyanotoxin event when chlorine levels at the treatment plant were temporarily boosted to effectively remove cyanotoxins. That change in water treatment resulted in levels of disinfection byproducts in the water distribution system in early June that were above the regulatory threshold. The city is required to continue providing quarterly updates on our progress until the annual average drops below the regulatory threshold.
“Now that we’re back to our typical disinfectant treatment, our distribution water quality has returned to normal levels. Because sampling results are averaged across the year, the high levels in early June are influencing our annual test results. We’ll continue providing quarterly updates on our progress until that annual average drops below the regulatory threshold,” Dr. Kalkat explained.
“We want our customers to know the water is safe to drink. This is not an emergency. In our notice (published on our website and sent to all our customers), we share more information,” said Dr. Poonam Kalkat, Director of Public Utilities.
In June, Mayor Keith A. James convened a panel of water quality experts and industry leaders. One of their tasks is to study ways to optimize treatment to balance chlorine oxidation of cyanotoxins and disinfection byproducts formation.
To help keep the community informed, the city recently launched a ‘Protecting Water Quality—Source to Tap’ webpage, which can be found on the city website, wpb.org. Here, community members can learn more about the city’s drinking water quality, sources, and treatment steps. To read the public notice, click here.
