Dalapon
Overview
An herbicide used on rights-of-way and crops.
In Florida, Dalapon was found in 78 community water systems serving about 282,972 people. It was measured by 1,559 systems in all, so it was detected in 5% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Hidden Acres Estates in Highlands County, at 2% of it.
Where it comes from: Runoff from herbicide used on rights of way.
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 (1997).
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Minor kidney changes.
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
Activated carbon reduces it, though it is water-soluble enough that carbon works less efficiently here than against oily compounds. Reverse osmosis alongside carbon is the surer combination.
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 78 systems that reported Dalapon.
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.