Is Port Orange Tap Water Safe to Drink?

Aerial Photo of Garnsey Water Plant

This report will be mailed to customers only upon request and is also available at the City of Port Orange Website, City Hall and Library.

The City of Port Orange is pleased to present to you this year's Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. This report is designed to inform you about the quality water and services we deliver to you every day. Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. We want you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources. We are committed to ensuring the quality of your water.

Our water source is ground water, which the City of Port Orange draws from the Floridan aquifer through 40 deep water wells.

Ground water from the Floridan aquifer is pumped to the Garnsey Water Plant where subsequent treatment includes aeration, water softening, 4-log disinfection using sodium hypochlorite and liquid ammonia sulfate to form a chloramine residual, pH stabilization using carbon dioxide, fluoridation for dental protection, and filtration to further clarify the water.

In 2020 the Florida Department of Environmental Protection performed a Source Water Assessment on our system. The assessment was conducted to provide information about any potential sources of contamination in the vicinity of our wells. There are 9 potential sources of contamination identified for this system with low to moderate susceptibility levels. The assessment results are available on the FDEP Source Water Assessment and Protection Program website at https://fldep.dep.state.fl.us/swapp or they can be obtained from the Garnsey Water Plant staff by calling (386) 506-5770.

SWAPP Results 2020:

https://fldep.dep.state.fl.us/swapp/DisplayPWS.asp?pws_id=3641044&odate=01-OCT-20

We are pleased to report that our drinking water meets all federal and state requirements. If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact our Water Production Manager, Ms. Christina Potts at (386) 506-5770. Additionally, City Council meetings that are regularly held are available for the public to attend and participate in decisions that may affect water quality. The City Council meets at 1000 City Center Circle, Port Orange FL 32129 in the council chambers. City council meetings are normally held on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm. The schedule of City Council meetings that are open to the public can be viewed at https://www.port-orange.org/meetings/. The EPA also offers additional information at their Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800) 426-4791.

The City of Port Orange Garnsey Water Plant routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws, rules, and regulations. Except where indicated otherwise, this report is

Disinfectants and Disinfection By-Products

Unregulated Contaminants (UCMR4)

The City of Port Orange Garnsey Water Plant has been monitoring for UC as part of a study to help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determine the occurrence in drinking water of UC and whether or not these contaminants need to be regulated. At present, no health standards (for example, maximum contaminant levels) have been established for UC. However, we are required to publish the analytical results of our UC monitoring in our annual water quality report. If you would like more information on the EPA’s Unregulated Contaminants Monitoring Rule (UCMR), please call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Lead and Copper (Tap Water)

If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. (insert name of utility) is responsible for providing high quality drinking water but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

1. Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

(B) Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.

3. Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
4. Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
5. Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or

be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

To ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations, which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno- compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

We at The City of Port Orange Garnsey Water Plant would like you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources. The City of Port Orange Garnsey Water Plant has been the recipient of numerous regional and state awards demonstrating that our system is recognized as one of the best in the State of Florida in meeting and exceeding regulatory requirements. We are committed to ensuring the quality of your water. If you have any questions or concerns about the information provided, please feel free to call any of the numbers listed.

Garnsey Water Plant: 386-506-5770

Christina Potts (Plant Manager): 386-506-5773

Customer Service: 386-506-5720

Lab Operations: 386-506-5790

Everything we use, buy, sell, and eat takes water to make!

The water footprint measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use. It can be measured for a single process, such as growing rice; for a product, such as a pair of jeans; for the fuel we put in our car; or for an entire multi-national company.

The water footprint can also tell us how much water is being consumed on a global scale down to a specific river basin or the aquifer.

According to the US EPA, the average American uses about 100 gallons of water daily.

Our aquifer, the Floridan Aquifer, is a valuable and finite source. Water conservation helps to keep our water sources plentiful and delays the need to implement of a more expensive alternative water source in the future.

The City of Port Orange strives to be leaders in our community for conserving our natural resources.

How do we do this?

We have 40 wells that go down to the Floridan Aquifer to provide water to the City of Port Orange, Ponce Inlet, and the Shores. The Garnsey Water Plant rotates which wells they use so that they are not drawing water from the same few wells.

All drains in your home or business flow into the same sewer pipe and are labeled as wastewater. All the wastewater comes to our Water Reclamation Facility where it goes through several biological processes. This water then becomes reuse (reclaimed) water.

We are leaders in creating a 100% reuse system. In efforts to help restore the Halifax River, the City of Port Orange avoids discharging to the Halifax River unless this discharge is completely unavoidable.

Reuse water is then sent to you, the customers, to use for irrigation. This means less people are pulling water from ground sources and conserving aquifer water.

Do not flush or put down the drain things like cotton swabs, makeup pads, tampons and their applicators, maxi pads and wrappers, kitty litter, band aids, whitening strips,

diapers, dental floss, plastics and food wrappers, hair, prescription medications, OTC medications, baby wipes, facial wipes, and even flushable wipes!

Flushing these items can cause backups in your home and throughout the sewer system, sometimes resulting in sewer overflows, can complicate water treatment processes and can ultimately contaminate the environment.

The City of Port Orange has a used cooking oil collection container located at the Water Reclamation Facility (817 Oak Street at the Corner of Oak Street and Spruce Creek Road). Please bring used cooking oil here for disposal OR place in a container at home and throw away in a garbage can.

Take great care to not overuse pesticides and fertilizers on your lawns.

Do not litter, that includes releasing balloons into the air! Throwing trash on the ground can be harmful to local wildlife.

Please DO NOT FLUSH your unused/unwanted medications down toilets or sink drains. The Port Orange Police Department accepts unused or expired medications for proper disposal. More information is available at:http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/pages/disposal.htm.