Foaming Agents (surfactants)
Overview
Foaming agents (surfactants) suggest the presence of detergents, usually from wastewater. Regulated for appearance and taste.
In Florida, Foaming Agents (surfactants) was found in 529 community water systems serving about 1,155,977 people.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Hawaiian Isles MHP in Hillsborough County, at 150000% of it.
Where it comes from: Detergents; wastewater.
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: A secondary (aesthetic) standard; can indicate detergent contamination and cause foaming or a soapy taste.
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 surfactants. Their presence usually points to a nearby wastewater or septic influence worth understanding.
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 529 systems that reported Foaming Agents (surfactants).
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.