Cadmium
Overview
Cadmium is a metal from corrosion of galvanized pipes and industrial or battery waste.
In Florida, Cadmium was found in 33 community water systems serving about 46,863 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 2% 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 160% of it.
Where it comes from: Corrosion of galvanized pipes; erosion of natural deposits; discharge from metal refineries; runoff from batteries and paints.
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 (2006). For comparison the legal limit is 5 ppb.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Kidney damage.
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, or a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for cadmium.
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 33 systems that reported Cadmium.
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.