Silver
Overview
Silver can enter water from natural deposits or some filtration media. It is a secondary (aesthetic) standard.
In Florida, Silver was found in 95 community water systems serving about 94,668 people.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Oakview MHP in Desoto County, at 340000% of it.
Where it comes from: Erosion of natural deposits; some treatment media.
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: Regulated as a secondary standard; at very high long-term levels it can cause a harmless skin discoloration (argyria).
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. Silver is a secondary contaminant, listed for taste and colour reasons rather than health ones.
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 95 systems that reported Silver.
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.