Beryllium
Overview
Beryllium is a metal used in aerospace and electronics that can enter water from industrial discharge.
In Florida, Beryllium was found in 18 community water systems serving about 462,716 people. 1 of those readings was above the federal legal limit, together serving 469 people. It was measured by 1,559 systems in all, so it was detected in 1% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Lakemont Ridge Home & RV Park in Polk County, at 3175% of it.
Where it comes from: Discharge from metal refineries and coal-burning factories; electrical and aerospace industries.
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 (2003). For comparison the legal limit is 4 ppb.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Intestinal lesions.
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.
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
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.