Chromium (total)
Overview
Chromium occurs naturally and is also used in industry. The legal limit covers total chromium.
In Florida, Chromium (total) was found in 223 community water systems serving about 1,294,266 people. It was measured by 1,559 systems in all, so it was detected in 14% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Holliday Manor in Polk County, at 100% of it.
Where it comes from: Discharge from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits.
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: Allergic dermatitis (skin reactions).
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 removes total chromium. Anion exchange works on chromium-6 specifically. Carbon removes neither.
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 223 systems that reported Chromium (total).
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.