Water – State of the City – April 2016

Recently there has been considerable national attention regarding the harmful drinking water. We are pleased to remind Naples residents that they continue to have drinking water that meets the highest standers.

The City of Naples Water Treatment Plant is an award winning, 30 MGD (million gallon per day) lime softening facility. The City received the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Plant Operations Excellence Award in 2013. The award reflects Naples’ commitment to providing the highest quality water to utility customers located within and beyond the city limits. The City maintains these high standards while also providing one of the lowest water rates in South Florida.

The facility is designed to treat raw water from 51 wells in the Coastal Ridge and East Golden Gate wellfields. The quality of this well water supply is excellent. It is treated using a process that insures the water is not corrosive to water lines while eliminating harmful bacteria with disinfection.

To ensure that the highest quality water is provided to customers, an extensive and detailed testing program is conducted throughout the entire treatment process. Water quality testing begins at the wells themselves and continues through every treatment process extending all the way to the delivery point for our customers at their water meter. In total, between 200 to over 260 tests are conducted at the plant daily, at various intervals throughout the day. Additional testing is provided and reported, as required by regulatory agencies, on a monthly and quarterly basis. The results of many of these tests are available for review by the general public in the annual Consumer Confidence Report, published during the second quarter of each year.
One aspect of our quality control testing and reporting that has been of special interest to our customers due to recent national events is related to City’s Lead and Copper Monitoring Program. In 1996, the State of Florida promulgated the Lead and Copper Rule that required all utility companies to monitor lead and copper in potable water and install corrosion control facilities to limit leaching of lead and copper from lead water service lines and plumbing fixtures. Fortunately, the City of Naples water distribution system did not have any lead service pipes from the water mains to the water meters. The City began testing for lead and copper in 1997. There was no evidence that lead or copper exceeded national standards. The last round of lead and copper testing was in 2014 with no exceedances recorded. The City’s water plant continues to operate a corrosion control system to ensure proper compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule.

The planning and initiation of improvements and upgrades to the production facilities is an on-going process designed to
provide an uninterrupted supply of this high quality water to our customers at the best price possible.

If there is something that you feel your city officials or staff need to see, please let me know jsorey@naplesgov.com or 239.248.1550.