Nickel
Overview
Nickel is a metal that occurs naturally and is used in plating and batteries.
In Florida, Nickel was found in 90 community water systems serving about 1,206,612 people. It was measured by 1,559 systems in all, so it was detected in 6% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Lakemont Ridge Home & RV Park in Polk County, at 17200% of it.
Where it comes from: Erosion of natural deposits; discharge from metal industries.
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 (2001). For comparison the legal limit is 100 ppb.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Can affect body weight, heart, and liver in animal studies; some people develop skin sensitivity.
1 reported value is inconsistent with the stated unit by a margin that points to a recording error rather than a measurement. It is shown as reported below but not counted as an exceedance.
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
Reverse osmosis. A softener reduces it as well, since ion exchange captures it.
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 90 systems that reported Nickel.
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.