Water Quality
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2009 Water Quality Report
As the City of Tallahassee begins its second century of providing safe, dependable and environmentally sound water services, it has released the 2009 Water Quality Annual Report.
Also known as the Consumer Confidence Report, this federally mandated publication must be mailed to Water Utility customers by July 1 each year in response to provisions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Act.
The report, designed to educate consumers on local water-related topics, contains important information about conservation, resource protection and governmental safeguards. It also highlights the results of the City's comprehensive water testing and analyses performed throughout the year.
"We've also increased the scope of the report this year by providing additional information about the City's Energy Smart Plus (e+) campaign, designed to help our customers save energy, save water and save money," Underground Utilities General Manager Mike Tadros said.
Once again, the results show that Tallahassee's drinking water continues to meet all state and federal standards for safety and quality.
"The City is deeply committed to providing the cleanest and best tasting water, while also taking every step possible to protect our environment. We continue to take our role as an industry leader and environmental steward very seriously, as we move forward to make technological improvements and maintain the highest standards of customer service," Tadros said.
"It's great to see these results. It should come as no surprise to our customers why Tallahassee was voted as having Florida's best tasting drinking water last year," Mayor John Marks said.
The City of Tallahassee is blessed with a source of drinking water that
is of exceptional quality. The Floridan
Aquifer, an underground geological formation, supplies us with
a source of potable water for both outdoor and indoor use. At present twenty-nine
wells located throughout Tallahassee, supported by eight elevated tanks,
supplies the customers of Tallahassee with over 25 million gallons a day.
This is but a fraction of the aquifer's output when you consider that at
neighboring Wakulla
Springs over 300 million gallons a day flows freely out of
it's underground springs. To monitor and control the production and distribution
of water throughout Tallahassee, the Water Utility employs telemetry-controlled
well pumps. They are operated and monitored from System Control located at
the Thomas P. Smith Wastewater Reclamation Facility. System Control presently
monitors 29 wells each with outputs ranging from 575 to 3000 gallons per
minute. The System Control Specialist also monitors eight elevated tanks
which serve as a reserve in assisting with peak demand hours throughout the
day. These tanks vary in capacity from 75,000 to 1,000,000 gallons and are
elevated anywhere from 115 to 205 feet high.
Of
all the city services provided, the delivery of water has the most impact
on our customer's health because it's the only product that is consumed.
Therefore, we take great strides in ensuring the delivery of a safe potable
source of water to each and every customer. Before the water is pumped through
the 900 miles of underground pipe throughout Tallahassee, it is chlorinated
to prevent any bacterial contamination that could occur as it is delivered
to the customer. Furthermore, in 1988, the Water Utility incorporated a fluoride
injection program into Tallahassee's water distribution system as a further
aid to good dental hygiene based on an abundant source of historical research
worldwide.
The quality of our water is constantly monitored by the city's water quality laboratory at each wellhead, after chemical treatment prior to entering the distribution system, and even in the home or business if the customer suspects their water doesn't meet their satisfaction. In addition to the ongoing monitoring program, the Aquifer Protection Program was established to prevent our most precious resource from becoming contaminated by regulating commercial businesses and educating our citizens in preventing any possible groundwater contamination. This program was initiated after it was discovered through our monitoring program that a few downtown wells had become contaminated with tetrachloroethene, a solvent widely used by the dry cleaning industry and by businesses that degreased machine parts. Today, each of these contaminated wells has a series of carbon-filled tanks connected to it to extract the solvent prior to entering the distribution system. Each of these tanks are now included in our ongoing monitoring program of all wells to insure a safe source of water to our customers.