Chloride
Overview
Chloride is a salt that occurs naturally and rises near the coast from saltwater. It is regulated for taste, not health.
In Florida, Chloride was found in 1,062 community water systems serving about 3,835,336 people. It was measured by 2,056 systems in all, so it was detected in 52% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at City of North Port Utilities in Sarasota County, at 1324% of it.
Where it comes from: Natural deposits; saltwater intrusion; road salt; softeners.
The standards
Enforceable. A utility must stay at or under this.
Health-based, not enforceable. Often lower than the limit, sometimes zero.
Nobody has published a health goal for this substance, official or otherwise.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Not a health concern at these levels. High chloride gives water a salty taste and can speed up corrosion of plumbing.
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. Nothing else at household scale reduces chloride meaningfully. In coastal Florida high chloride usually means saltwater intrusion into the aquifer, and it tends to worsen through the dry season as the water table drops.
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 1,062 systems that reported Chloride.
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.