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Drinking Water Frequently Asked Questions
Tracking Drinking Water
Why are
Florida and the CDC tracking drinking water quality?
Clean drinking water is essential to life, and the
United States provides some of the safest drinking water
supplies in the world. It is important to maintain the quality
of our drinking water by checking for chemicals which may
threaten our water supplies or pose health problems to
communities. The
Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Network provides
data on water quality of
community water systems within Florida.
You will find
information about several regulatory contaminants sometimes found
in drinking water:
nitrate,
arsenic, and
disinfection by-products.These contaminants were selected by the CDC Tracking Network
because they occur more frequently in drinking water at levels
which may impact health. Also included
is
information on the number of people using community drinking
water.
Under the requirements
of the
Safe Drinking Water Act, states are required to watch and
report drinking water quality data from community water systems.
In Florida, the Department of Health and the Department of
Environmental Protection are
responsible for protecting the quality of Floridas drinking
water for community water systems. For more information on
private wells, please see the
Bureau of Water Programs
website.
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Why
should I be concerned about my drinking water?
People can be exposed to water
contaminants in many ways. We drink water, eat food prepared
with water, breath water droplets or vapors while showering, and
absorb chemicals through our skin while bathing. Because
people drink and use water every day, contaminants in drinking
water have the potential to affect large populations.
Community water
systems in the U.S. vary greatly in size, serving twenty-five
people to over a million people. If contamination occurs in a
single water system, it can expose many people at once.
Therefore, drinking water quality is an important public health
issue.
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What are some of
the health risk associated with drinking contaminated water?
If
individuals are exposed to high enough levels of a contaminant, they may
become ill. Effects can be short-term (where people become sick
immediately) and/or long-term (where people get sick after a long period of
time). There are many types of health problems
that can result from exposure to drinking water contaminants. The type and
severity of the health problem depends on the specific contaminant, the
level of the contaminant in the water, and the persons individual exposure
level.
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How is my drinking
water protected from contamination?
The Florida Department of
Environmental Protection and other state and local agencies work together to
help ensure that drinking water contamination levels are as low as possible.
This is done by protecting water sources, treating drinking water to remove
contaminants, and monitoring water quality to identify problems as quickly
as possible. Ultimately, maintaining the highest quality drinking water
depends upon protecting our water recharge areas, aquifers, lakes, and
rivers from contamination.
Drinking water can be contaminated
by natural sources, like soil/bedrock, or from man-made sources such as:
disinfection chemicals, agricultural run-off, or plumbing fixtures.
In addition, contamination can also occur if the water supply/distribution
system (reservoir, lake, river, or water treatment system) becomes
contaminated. If you suspect you have consumed contaminated water from a
community water system, or your private well, you should contact your local
county health department.. In the event that a contaminant occurs in the
public water system, federal and state law requires that the water system
operator act immediately to notify those affected and report the incident to
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. If you think your
private well is susceptible to
contamination, you may consult with your local county health department.
For more
information on how contaminants may enter drinking water systems, please see
the Environmental Protection Agency's
Watershed website.
For more information on drinking water exposure risks, please see the
Environmental Protection Agencies
Source Water Protection
website.
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Where can I go for
more information on drinking water?
Please see the
links section of our
Drinking Water webpage.
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