When will Expert Panel recommendations be known?

In August 2021, the Expert Panel presented recommended near-term actions to the Mayor, Commission, and city staff to help address potential water quality risks from cyanotoxins. The Panel is now completing additional technical analysis and working to identify potential long-term source-to-tap strategies. This work will wrap up with recommendations in early 2022 that are best-suited to the city’s drinking water supply and system.

What came out of the Expert Panel’s near-term process? 

Based on initial data analysis and study of the city’s source water, treatment infrastructure, and operations, the Expert Panel recommended near-term actions that focus on optimizing available tools to help the city address water quality risks from cyanotoxins.

What near-term Expert Panel actions are underway?

To support the Panel’s recommendations, several actions are already underway for source water and treatment, including:

Source Water: 

• Collaborative effort between the Panel and the city’s Water Evaluation and Planning Model team to evaluate water quantity, quality, and source management strategies. 
• A Clear Lake source water study to improve our understanding of water quality and develop operational strategies that will assist in the best water quality entering the treatment plant. 

Treatment: 

• Looking at plant operations to maximize effectiveness of existing treatment steps—powdered activated carbon and chlorine treatment. Early results show good potential to remove cyanotoxins. 

• A water treatability study to identify the best-suited type of powdered activated carbon to optimize treatment performance. 

What’s next for the Expert Panel? 

With many near-term actions underway, the Panel is now taking a thorough look at available treatment science and water quality data and considering source-to-tap strategies to get the best possible water quality for the city. Any potential solutions will be fully vetted before drawing conclusions. This deeper dive will be conducted over the next 5 months. Throughout, the city will continue to provide updates to the community and share information with the Town of Palm Beach and Town of South Palm Beach.

What will Expert Panel recommendations look like?

The Panel is taking a holistic look at potential source water management strategies, treatment technologies, and operational adjustments to improve water treatment performance and protect distribution system water quality. The Panel’s recommendations will focus on maximizing available tools and strategies to optimize  source water quantity, quality, and reliability, and may include identifying a selection of source water management strategies and advanced treatment technologies for further testing and evaluation.