Manganese

The standards

Health effects the EPA associates with it: Mainly an aesthetic issue: black or brown staining and a metallic taste. At much higher levels over long periods it can have neurological effects, which is why EPA also has a health advisory.

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

The same oxidation and filtration as iron, which it almost always accompanies. Manganese needs a higher pH than iron to oxidise properly, so a system sized only for iron often leaves manganese behind, which is what the black staining is.

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 709 systems that reported Manganese.