Sulfate
Overview
Sulfate is a naturally occurring mineral common in Florida's limestone aquifers. It is regulated for taste and its laxative effect, not toxicity.
In Florida, Sulfate was found in 927 community water systems serving about 3,496,741 people.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at City of North Port Utilities in Sarasota County, at 281% of it.
Where it comes from: Erosion of natural deposits.
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: Not a long-term health concern. High sulfate gives water a bitter taste and can have a temporary laxative effect on people not used to it (and a rotten-egg smell when it turns to hydrogen sulfide).
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 or anion exchange. High sulfate has a laxative effect on people not used to it, which is the usual reason anyone treats for 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 927 systems that reported Sulfate.
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.