Aluminum
Overview
Aluminum is common in soil and is sometimes used in water treatment. It is regulated for color and cloudiness.
In Florida, Aluminum was found in 178 community water systems serving about 1,519,815 people.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Ray Mar MHP in Hillsborough County, at 335% of it.
Where it comes from: Erosion of natural deposits; treatment additive.
The standards
Enforceable. A utility must stay at or under this.
Health-based, not enforceable. Often lower than the limit, sometimes zero.
California OEHHA PHG (2001). For comparison the legal limit is 200 ppb.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Regulated as a secondary (aesthetic) standard for discoloration; not a health-based limit.
The health goal is set on health alone. The legal limit is set as close to it as is technically and economically feasible, so treatment cost and available technology are written into the number a utility is measured against. A system at or under the limit is meeting the standard it is required to meet. Both numbers are shown so the distance between them is visible.
What removes it
Reverse osmosis. Aluminium in treated water is usually residual coagulant from the plant rather than something in the source.
Treatment guidance describes the methods generally used for this contaminant. What your own tap actually carries depends on your plumbing and your service line as much as on the utility, which is what a test at the house tells you and an annual report cannot.
Where in Florida
Highest reported levels
Showing the 25 highest of 178 systems that reported Aluminum.
Data Sources
These figures describe water as delivered by each utility, not what your home’s plumbing adds after it arrives. Informational; not a substitute for testing your own tap.