Everyone wants to know: whose water is the worst? So we pulled the Environmental Working Group's analysis of government test data for three Central Florida systems and counted the contaminants each one detected above health guidelines set by public-health authorities:
- Orlando (OUC): 7 — trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids (HAA5 and HAA9), bromate, hexavalent chromium, combined radium, and 1,3-butadiene.
- Winter Park: 5 — bromate, hexavalent chromium, haloacetic acids (HAA5 and HAA9), and trihalomethanes. In Winter Park's testing, 46 of 48 samples for two haloacetic acids came back above the health guideline.
- Kissimmee South: 3 — haloacetic acids (HAA5), combined radium, and trihalomethanes.
Nobody wins this contest.
Every system on the list is in full compliance with federal law. That is the point: "legal" water and "lowest-risk" water are measured with different rulers. The disinfection byproducts show up everywhere because every system chlorinates — the chlorine that keeps water microbiologically safe creates TTHMs and HAAs as it reacts with organic matter in the pipes. Radium shows up because Central Florida's water sits in limestone aquifer rock loaded with naturally occurring radioactive minerals.
What to do with this.
If you live in any of these cities, your water is legal — and it still contains the contaminants above. Carbon filtration takes out most of them; reverse osmosis takes out all of them. Your utility publishes averages for the whole system. Only a test of your tap tells you your number.
OUC's EWG breakdown · Winter Park's EWG breakdown · Kissimmee South's EWG breakdown
What's in your water? Utility reports are system-wide averages — nobody has tested your tap. Schedule your free in-home water test and find out. Get your $100 gift card for dinner just for having your water tested — take your family to dinner! Or learn more at orlandowaterfiltrationpros.com.