Copper
Overview
Copper usually enters water from corrosion of household plumbing rather than the source. It is measured at the tap. Most people are not affected at the levels found in drinking water.
In Florida, Copper was found in 654 community water systems serving about 3,113,269 people. 1 of those readings was above the federal legal limit, together serving 44 people.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Gator Wilderness Camp School in Charlotte County, at 755% of it.
Where it comes from: Corrosion of household plumbing; 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.
California OEHHA PHG (2008).
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Stomach and intestinal distress. Liver or kidney damage in people with certain conditions.
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
Like lead, copper is usually picked up from household plumbing rather than delivered by the utility, and it is worst in newer copper pipe and in water that has stood overnight. Reverse osmosis removes it, as does a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for copper. Corrosive, low-pH water dissolves more of it, so correcting pH where water enters the house treats the cause rather than the symptom.
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 654 systems that reported Copper.
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.