April - 2020 Water Quality Report - amended
2020 Water Quality Report
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA
We are very pleased to provide you with this year’s Annual Water Quality Report. We want to keep you informed
about the excellent water and services we have delivered to you over the past year. Our constant goal is to provide
you with safe and dependable drinking water. We want you—our valued customers—to understand our water
quality results and what they mean.
Our water source is the Floridan Aquifer, which is similar to a large underground river. Groundwater is pumped
from nine wells that are approximately 700 to 1000 feet deep. This water is aerated to remove sulfides and
chlorinated for disinfection at the four separate Water Treatment Plants. Corrosion control treatment is also
provided. Trained, state certified plant operators ensure proper treatment of nearly three million gallons per day
of water provided to our customers. We are pleased to report that our drinking water quality meets all
Federal and State requirements.
If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Mr. Troy Stephens,
Public Utilities Director at 904-247-5875. You can also access this report any time on the cities website -
If you want to become informed about upcoming water-related projects or programs, please attend any of our
City Commission meetings which are scheduled on the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month at 6:00 p.m. at City
Hall, 800 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233.
The City of Atlantic Beach routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and
State laws. Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based on the results of our monitoring for the period
of January 1st to December 31st, 2020. Data obtained before January 1, 2020 and presented in this report are from
the most recent testing done in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations.
As authorized and approved by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the State has reduced monitoring
requirements for certain contaminants to less often than once per year because the concentrations of these
contaminants are not expected to vary significantly from year to year.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain
contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations
establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health.
Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some
contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk.
More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe
Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
The EPA requires monitoring of over 80 drinking water contaminants. Those contaminants listed in the table are
the only ones detected in your drinking water.
MCLs are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated
contaminants, a person would have to drink 2 liters of water every day at the MCL level for a lifetime to have a
one-in-a-million chance of having the described health effect.
Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general
population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing
chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or
other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from
infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care
providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by
cryptosporidium and other micro-biological contaminants are available from EPA’s Safe
Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.
If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young
children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and
home plumbing. Atlantic Beach is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the
variety of materials used in plumbing components. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can
minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for
drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested.
Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available
from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.
In 2020 the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) performed a Source Water Assessment on
our system. The assessment was conducted to provide information about any potential sources of contamination
in the vicinity of our wells. There are 12 potential sources of contamination identified for our system with low
susceptibility levels. To protect our source waters, the City enacted a Wellhead Protection Ordinance. Also,
FDEP has a very active petroleum contamination prevention program, and handles permitting and enforcement
for both domestic and hazardous wastes. FDEP has some of the most stringent rules in the country. The
assessment results are available on the FDEP Source Water Assessment and Protection Program website at
www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp.
Our water system did not meet the requirements of a drinking water rule. Although this is not an emergency, as
our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct
this situation.
We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular
monitoring are an indicator of whether or not your drinking water meets health standards. During the 2020
monitoring period, we did not monitor or test for a second set of Synthetic Organic Contaminants (SOCs) , and
therefore cannot be sure of the quality of your drinking water at that time. Some people who drink water
containing Synthetic Organic Contaminants (SOCs) could become seriously ill. Health effects language for
individual contaminants can be obtained by visiting the EPA website at: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-
drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulation. Any customers who are concerned about their
exposure to these contaminants can choose alternative sources of water for ingestion.
The Public Utilities Department has added extra oversight to the sampling program to avoid any further sampling
violations from happening in the future.
Thank you for allowing us to continue providing your family with clean, quality water this year. We at the
City of Atlantic Beach work around the clock to provide top quality water to every tap. We ask that all
our customers help us protect our water sources.
2020 Water Quality Report
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA
In the table you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand t hese terms, we
have provided the following definitions:
Action Level (AL) — The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water
system must follow.
Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL — The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as
close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal or MCLG — The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or
expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) – The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. The re is a
convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG) – The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known
or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.
Non-Detects (ND) — Means not detected and indicates that the substance was not found by laboratory analysis.
Not Applicable (N/A) – The information does not apply in this category or for this contaminant.
Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (ug/L) – One part by weight of analyte to one billion parts by weight of the water
sample.
Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/L) – One part by weight of analyte to one million parts by weight of the water
sample.
Picocuries per liter (pCi/l) – Measure of the radioactivity in water.
The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lak es, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells.
As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally -occurring minerals and, in some cases,
radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the prese nce of animals or from human activity. Contaminants that
may be present in source water include:
(A) Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems,
agricultural livestock operations and wildlife.
(B) Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff,
industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming.
(C) Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential
uses.
(D) Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial
processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff and septic systems.
(E) Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
ATLANTIC BEACH WATER QUALITY DATA 2020
Contaminant
and Unit of
Measurement
Sample
Date
(mo./yr.)
Maximum
Level
Allowed
(MCL or
MRDL)
Goal
(MCLG or
MRDLG)
Highest
Level
Detected
(HLD)
Range of
Results
Typical Source of Contaminant
MCL
Violation
(Y/N)
(Results in the HLD column are the highest detected level at any sampling point)
Inorganic Contaminants
Barium
(ppm) 2/20 2 2 0.026 0.025 –
0.026
Discharge of drilling wastes;
discharge from metal
refineries; erosion of natural
deposits
N
Nitrate
(as Nitrogen)
(ppm)
2/20 10 10 0.072 0.069 –
0.072
Runoff from fertilizer use;
leaching from septic tanks,
sewage; erosion of natural
deposits
N
Fluoride
(ppm) 2/20 4.0 4 0.67 0.62 -
0.67
Erosion of natural deposits;
discharge from fertilizer and
aluminum factories. Water
additive which promotes strong
teeth when at optimum levels
between 0.7 and 1.3 ppm.
N
Lead (point of
entry)
(ppb)
2/20 15 0 0.36 ND - 0.36
Residue from man-made
pollution such as auto
emissions and paint; lead pipe,
casing
and solder
N
Sodium
(ppm) 2/20 160 N/A 13.0 12.0 –
13.0
Salt water intrusion, leaching
from soil
N
Stage 1 Disinfectants and Disinfection By-Products
For bromate, chloramines, or chlorine, the level detected is the the highest running annual average (RAA), computed quarterly, of monthly averages of all
samples collected. The range of results is the range of results of all the individual samples collected during the past year.
Disinfectant or
Contaminant and Unit of
Measurement
Dates of
sampling
(mo/yr)
MCL or MRDL
Violation Y/N
Level
Detected
Range of
Results
MCLG
or
MRDLG
MCL or
MRDL Likely Source of Contamination
Chlorine (ppm) Monthly
2020 N 2.5 0.4 – 3.1 MRDLG
= 4
MRDL =
4.0
Water additive used to control
microbes
For haloacetic acids or TTHM, the level detected is the highest RAA, computed quarterly, of quarterly averages of all samples collected if the system is
monitoring quarterly or is the highest of all samples taken during the year if the system monitors less frequently than quarterly. Range of Results is the
range of individual sample results (lowest to highest) for all monitoring locations.
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)
(ppb)
4/2020-
10/2020 N 19.37 17.72 –
19.37 60 N/A By-product of drinking water
disinfection
Total Trihalomethanes
(TTHM) (ppb)
4/2020-
10/2020 N 39.58 24.00 –
39.58 80 N/A By-product of drinking water
disinfection
Lead and Copper Tap Sampling
Contaminant
and Unit of
Measurement
Sample
Date
(mo/yr)
AL
(Actio
n
Level)
MCLG
90th
Percentile
Result
No. of
sampling
sites
exceeding
the AL
Likely Source of
Contamination AL Exceeded Y/N
Copper
(tap water)
(ppm)
9/20 1.3 1.3 0.23 0 of 30
Corrosion of household
plumbing systems; erosion of
natural deposits; leaching from
wood preservatives
N
Lead
(tap water)
(ppb)
9/20 15 0
2.70
1 of 30
Corrosion of household
plumbing systems; erosion of
natural deposits
N