Color
Overview
Color measures visible tint in the water, usually from natural organic material (tannins) common in Florida surface water.
In Florida, Color was found in 453 community water systems serving about 2,588,786 people.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Palm Circle Cottages and MHP in Martin County, at 2000% of it.
Where it comes from: Natural organic matter (tannins).
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. It is an appearance measure.
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
Colour in Florida water is usually dissolved organic matter, the tannins that make it look like weak tea. Activated carbon reduces it. It is the same organic matter that produces disinfection by-products once the water is chlorinated.
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 453 systems that reported Color.
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.