Turbidity
Overview
Turbidity is the cloudiness of water from tiny suspended particles. It is not a contaminant itself, but a key measure of how well filtration is working.
In Florida, Turbidity was found in 1 community water system serving about 58,584 people. Nobody has set a legal limit for it, so no reading here counts as an exceedance and no utility is required to do anything about it.
Where it comes from: Soil runoff; treatment performance.
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 harmful itself, but can shelter microbes and reduce disinfection.
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
Turbidity is cloudiness, a measure of particles rather than a substance. A sediment filter handles it at the house. Persistent turbidity at the tap is worth reporting to the utility, since it can point to a problem in the distribution main.
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
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.