Boil Water Advisory for Sarasota, Florida

A precautionary boil water advisory has been issued for an area on the west side of U.S. 41 from Worthington to Field, due to a spontaneous water main break that occurred late Tuesday, March 4.

Sarasota County Utilities crews have repaired the break, which affected several medical centers and restaurants, and have notified residents and businesses by automated telephone calls.
While the county has no reason to believe the drinking water was contaminated, Florida law requires that drinking water providers issue precautionary boil water advisories to customers affected by pressure losses in water mains.

While the advisory is in effect, the county advises affected customers to boil all tap water intended for drinking, preparation of food, washing of food utensils or for first aid, making sure the water is brought to a rolling boil for one minute. Boiling the tap water disinfects it, destroying any harmful microorganisms. Bottled water can be used as an alternative to boiling the tap water.

Over the next few days, the county will collect a series of samples in the affected area and analyze them to ensure the drinking water wasn't contaminated by potentially harmful bacteria during the service interruption. Once the county has completed its analysis, a process that normally takes two to three days, customers will notified by another automated telephone call that the boil water advisory has been cancelled.

For more information, contact Sarasota County Utilities Customer Service at 861-6790.

Water Warning: Contaminated Water in Fort Meyers, Florida

A boil water notice is in effect for the area of Fort Myers bordered by Maravilla Avenue on the south, Braman Avenue on the north, Nelson Street on the east and Cortez Avenue on the west until at least 1:30 p.m. today.

Routine sampling of the city of Fort Myers water system identified total coliform and the E. coli bacteria in a customer’s water sampled Friday at 1810 Passaic Ave.; the finding was confirmed Saturday at 1820 Passaic Ave.

These bacteria can make you sick and are a particular concern for people with weakened immune systems. Do not drink the water before boiling it first. Bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute and let it cool before using or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems. The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. People at increased risk should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.

City of Fort Myers staff is working with the Health Department to determine the source of the contamination. City staff will be conducting system flushing in the affected area. Resampling for bacteria also will be conducted until the source is found.

For more information, call the city at 332-6700.

Florida Water Warning Partially Lifted

Boil Water Order Still in Effect in some Counties

Illegal Laundry Store Pipe Hookup Suspected to be cause of Contamination

October 6th, 2007

The boil-water order was lifted late Friday (October 5th) for Palm Beach, South Palm Beach and all parts of West Palm Beach south of Okeechobee Boulevard. The rest of the city, including all areas north of Okeechobee Boulevard, remain under the boil-water notice until they test negative for fecal contamination for two days.

City officials confirmed that they are investigating Gold Coast Linen Services after discovering that the laundry store had illegally hooked pipes up from their well water to the city's water supply and this is "highly suspected" to be the source of the contamination. Engineers have sealed the Laundry off from the city water supply to prevent further contamination.

Please go to www.sun-sentinel.com to view a local news station video clip and read the full story.

Water Warning - Florida Water Contamination

Experts blame Drought, heavy rains and cracks in aging pipes for recent contaminations of the West Palm Beach Water Supply

October 5th, 2007

West Palm Beach's woes began after routine tests found evidence of coliforms - bacteria found naturally in the environment as well as the digestive tracts of humans and animals.

Mandatory follow-up tests found a narrower subset called fecal coliform bacteria, including E. coli, which provide firmer evidence that animal or human waste may have gotten into the water.

Other possible causes for the outbreak that city officials have stated are Bacterial films, including E. coli, which can thrive in warm water, parts of the pipeline that have low pressure, standing water, runoff water from recent rainfall's drainage or possibly areas where there are low levels of chlorine present in the water.  Human's are not meant to ingest these substances!  Our bodies have just gotten better at fighting them off, why continue ingesting these harmful
substances when we can purify the water ourselves and be ASSURED that our
drinking/bathing water is pure and healthy?

Check Florida Counties for Contamination - www.dep.state.fl.us

Here is some data on skin absorption of dangerous contaminants, taken from

http://www.pristine-water.com/Chlorine%20Hazards.htm

Toxic effect of chlorine skin absorption

Hazards in the bath & shower

Chlorine chemically bonds with proteins in the hair, skin and scalp. Hair can become rough and brittle and lose color. Skin can dry out with itchy, flaky scalp occurring. Chlorine can aggravate sensitive areas in the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Chlorine combines with organic substances forming Trihalomethanes including Chloroform. The most common volatile compounds found by the EPA in drinking water supplies are: trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, benzene,1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, ethylene chloride,1,1 dichloroethylene, bis-1,2-dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, chlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene, and trichlorobenzene.

Inhalation

Chlorine, trichloroethylene (TCE), chloroform, benzene and other vapors are readily absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream. Chloroform (a Trihalomethane or THM) and TCE are two highly volatile toxic chemicals that have been identified in many municipal drinking-water supplies. The National Academy of Sciences has estimated that hundreds of people may die in the U.S. each year from cancers caused by ingesting these contaminants in water. However, the major threat caused by these water toxins is far more likely to be as air pollutants in the home according to a study by Dr. Julian Andelman. He found that in the shower when temperature and chemical concentrations increase and diameter of shower head holes decrease, volatilization increases. His data indicate that hot showers can liberate about 50% of the dissolved chloroform and 80% of the dissolved TCE into the air. Both the heat and the large surface-to-volume ratio of small droplets increase vaporization.

American Journal of Public Health May 84

Science News Sep 86

Pool & Spa News Oct. 86

We will continue to look for news of areas that have posted water warning's recently or even if old warning still exist or have not been improved to a quality standard.

References:
Robert P. King - PalmBeachPost.com