Posted, July 18, 2024

PUBLIC NOTICE: IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER

The City of West Palm Beach Exceeded Turbidity (Cloudiness) Treatment Requirements

Our water system recently violated a drinking water requirement.  In July, samples collected from our water treatment process exceeded compliance for turbidity (cloudiness) units.  Although this incident is not an emergency, as our customer, you have a right to know what is happening, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation.

What Happened?

The City routinely monitors the drinking water for turbidity. This tells us if we are effectively filtering the water supply.  This year’s extreme dry season and late seasonal rains resulted in elevated turbidity levels within the City’s lake system. The elevated turbidity has challenged the treatment process,  resulting in turbidity levels exceeding the EPA Treatment Technique Standard during July 2024.

Water samples for July show that more than 5 percent of turbidity measurements as of July 8, 2024, were over 0.3 turbidity units – the standard is that no more than 5 percent of samples may exceed 0.3 turbidity units per month.

What should I do?

• There is nothing you need to do. You do not need to boil water or take other corrective action. You would be notified if the water is not safe to drink.
• If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your healthcare providers about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available on the EPA Ground Water and Drinking Water Website at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water.

What does this mean?

This is not an emergency. If it had been, you would have been notified within 24 hours.

Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches.

The City’s disinfection systems (ultraviolet light and chemical disinfection), which are used to treat disease causing organisms, remain fully operational.

What is being done?

The City has adjusted the treatment process and engaged a consulting engineer with expertise in water treatment to evaluate and identify any additional actions to reduce turbidity levels as part of the water treatment process.  Additionally, the City is seeking approval from our regulators to supplement the primary lake water source with lower turbidity alternative sources including use of the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Well,  and the surficial wells.

When do we expect to return to compliance?

Over the next 60 days, the City expects water treatment process adjustments to be effective reducing the likelihood of intermittent turbidity readings exceeding the regulatory threshold.

For more information, contact West Palm Beach Public Utilities Laboratory Manager at (561) 822-2269 (TTY 800-955-8771) or visit our web site at www.wpb.org

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

This notice is sent by the City of West Palm Beach—State Water System ID# 4501559.

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City of West Palm Beach Water Treatment Plant
to Flush Lines with Chlorine starting Friday, July 5, 2024

City of West Palm Beach Department of Public Utilities
401 Clematis Street
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 822-2222; TTY: 800-955-8771

Dear Valued City of West Palm Beach Public Utilities Customer:

To maintain high water quality in the City’s water distribution system, the City of West Palm Beach Public Utilities Department will temporarily modify the disinfection process used to treat our drinking water by introducing Chlorine starting Friday, July 5, 2024, through Friday, July 26, 2024.  Chlorine is an effective and safe disinfectant providing additional protection against contamination to help ensure your drinking water remains safe.  The City will increase hydrant flushing during this time. This is a required preventative maintenance process.

Customers served by the City of West Palm Beach Public Utilities Department may notice a slight chlorine taste or odor in tap water during this period. These temporary conditions will not cause adverse health effects.

If you are especially sensitive to the taste or odor of chlorine, keep an open container of drinking water in your refrigerator for a few hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate.

Users of home dialysis machines, owners of tropical fish, and managers of stores and restaurants with fish and shellfish holding tanks are advised to seek professional advice, as the method for removing chlorine residuals differs from removing chloramine residuals from tap water.

Should you need more information on this temporary change in the water treatment process, please call the City of West Palm Beach Public Utilities Department at (561) 822-2210.

Sincerely,
City of West Palm Beach Public Utilities Department