City of West Palm Beach Water Quality Report and Recommendations

ull Page 2 of 8 What Do | Need To Do To Ensure My Drinking Water is Safe? Aside from the recent test results collected and analyzed by HSA, we reviewed historical test results, also summarized in the enclosed table. The City produces a safe drinking water of high quality based on the test results over the last several years. According to the USEPA and the FDEP established standards, the City’s drinking water supply is of good quality and can be consumed directly without concern. For those who want an added measure of protection, substituting bottled drinking water is an option or under the kitchen counter reverse osmosis (RO) filtration system can be installed as added intermediary treatment to provide an excellent source of high quality of drinking water. These RO units are not cost prohibitive, can be easily installed, and can usually supply sufficient drinking water for a typical household. A separate tap is usually installed near the standard sink faucet so the RO water is delivered on demand. There are several local reputable vendors that can provide free quotation for installing under the kitchen counter RO units. Please note that the typical RO unit we are referring to does not treat the entire household water supply but rather just the water intended for drinking or cooking purposes. To add a layer of confidence to residents’ concerns about the quality of the City’s drinking water, we also recommend that the Town establish a primary point of contact for the City for courtesy notification and/or discussion of real time details related to issues with the City’s treatment and distribution processes. This could potentially avoid dramatized response to typically less-detailed public notification. INTRODUCTION Residents of Palm Beach receive potable water from the City of West Palm Beach (City) through a franchise agreement Town of Palm Beach (Town). As required under rule 62-550, Florida Administrative Code, to protect the public health and ensure the quality of the delivered potable water product, these taps are routinely sampled by the City of West Palm Beach’s Public Utilities Department for specified monitoring parameters. Concerned about assuring the quality of the potable water product delivered to Town residents by the City, the Town authorized HSA Engineers & Scientists (HSA) to conduct a one-time sampling event from two of the sampling taps on the potable water distribution system (piping) serving the Town. Collected samples were targeted for laboratory analyses for regulated water chemistry parameters, constituents, and microbiologics most likely to be present in South Florida drinking water supplies. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016682