News Flash

2021 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

CITY OF DEFUNIAK SPRINGS

DRINKING WATER SYSTEM- PWS# 1660196

PREPARED AND OPERATED BY JACOBS

We're pleased to present to you this year's Annual 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 from five wells. The wells draw from the Floridan Aquifer. Because of the excellent quality of our water, the only treatment required is chlorine for disinfection purposes. 

If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Mr. Craig Drake, Public Works Director at 850.892.8500.  We encourage our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled meetings. They are held on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 6:00 PM at the DeFuniak Springs City Council Chambers located at 71 US Highway 90 West, DeFuniak Springs, Florida.

The City of DeFuniak Springs and Jacobs routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws, rules, and regulations. Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based on the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2021. Data obtained before January 1, 2021 and presented in this report is from the most recent testing done in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations. 

In the table below, you may find unfamiliar terms and abbreviations. To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions: 

• Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL: The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
• Maximum Contaminant Level Goal or MCLG: The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.

• Action Level (AL):  The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system must follow.
• Maximum residual disinfectant level or MRDL:  The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
• Maximum residual disinfectant level goal or MRDLG:  The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.
• Not Detected (ND): Indicates that the substance was not found by laboratory analysis. 
• Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (µg/l):   one part by weight of analyte to 1 billion parts by weight of the water sample.
• Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/l):  one part by weight of analyte to 1 million parts by weight of the water sample.
• Running Annual Average (RAA) - computed quarterly, of monthly averages of all samples collected. 

2021 Water Testing Results

Inorganic Contaminants

Synthetic Organic Contaminants including Pesticides and Herbicides

Disinfectants and Disinfection By-Products

Lead and Copper (Tap Water)

During the 2021 Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Sanitary Survey, it was suggested that all the mandatory cross-connection devices had not been tested in the year 2021, even though the compliance deadline is December 31st of the same year. It should be noted that all the required testing of backflow prevention devices, both commercial and residential, was done prior to the yearly deadline of December 31, 2021.  Unintentional errors in the submission of data for the 2021 cross-connection control program annual report relating residential device testing were caused by a clerical error.  In March of 2022, Cross Connection program manager Ms. Lynn Cox submitted a revised version of the report maintained constant communication with Ms. Angelia Butler at the FDEP.

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.
2. 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 amounts 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.

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.  The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk.   More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

In 2021, the Department of Environmental Protection performed a Source Water Assessment on our system and a search of the data sources indicated no potential sources of contamination with no potential sources of contamination near our wells.   The assessment results are available on the FDEP SWAPP website at https://fldep.dep.state.fl.us/swapp/.

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/Center for Disease Control (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).

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.  DeFuniak Springs and Jacobs are 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.

We at the City of DeFuniak Springs and Jacobs would like you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources. We are committed to insuring the quality of your water.  If you have any questions or concerns about the information provided, please feel free to call Stewart Duncan – Project Manager 850-333-7394.