The water’s yellow and no, someone didn’t forget to flush

[MichaelB]

They’re talking about Ft Lauderdale, and that’s the headline from the morning paper. I wasn’t sure if this is a health or travel topic, given the as many winter visitors. Still, travelers may want to reconsider destination. From the article (here)

When it comes to water, Fort Lauderdale is a tale of two colors: One is a dream vacation destination of turquoise-hued ocean vistas. The other is a chamber-of-commerce nightmare of yellow-tinged drinking water pouring out kitchen and bathroom faucets.
The drinking water is embarrassing but perfectly safe to drink, city leaders say. It looks kind of gross, visitors think.
Some hotels place notices in guest bathrooms to alert startled visitors that “there is no harm associated with the yellow coloration of the water.”
./.
The yellow coloration “occurs naturally in regions across the nation where water passes through marshlands and flows through peat soil," city officials said. The city’s water comes from the Biscayne Aquifer.

I guess yellow water is better than no water at all. There have been a number of “boil water” advisories in the past 2-3 years, including one just lifted, as storm water is increasingly causing overflows of the waste water system.

 

[aaronc879]

If it's safe to shower with then I wouldn't care. I never drink tap water anyway.

 

[Jerry1]

I guess I’d suck it up and be able to use it for things other than drinking. If I lived there, I think I’d send a sample to an independent lab even if all I did was use it for showering. City officials have a huge PR problem there with that situation.

 

[Spock]

They’re talking about Ft Lauderdale, and that’s the headline from the morning paper. I wasn’t sure if this is a health or travel topic, given the as many winter visitors. Still, travelers may want to reconsider destination. From the article (here)
I guess yellow water is better than no water at all. There have been a number of “boil water” advisories in the past 2-3 years, including one just lifted, as storm water is increasingly causing overflows of the waste water system.

Ft Lauderdale/Boca Raton has had a tea colored tint to the water since 1989 when I started business travel there. Back then it was blamed on all the leaves in the swamp literally making tea.

So market it as a health spa with tea bath/showers and with tea on tap.

 

[braumeister]

If I lived there, I think I’d send a sample to an independent lab even if all I did was use it for showering.

In case anyone is in this situation, when I was a homebrewer I used to occasionally send a sample of my tap water to this lab for analysis (mineral content is important in brewing). They are very reliable, inexpensive, and give a quick turnaround.

https://www.wardlab.com/services/water-analysis/

 

[MichaelB]

In case anyone is in this situation, when I was a homebrewer I used to occasionally send a sample of my tap water to this lab for analysis (mineral content is important in brewing). They are very reliable, inexpensive, and give a quick turnaround.

https://www.wardlab.com/services/water-analysis/

That’s a useful link, thanks. The cost is $47 for a complete household analysis, which doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Municipal water suppliers are required to send an annual report to alll the households they service. Did you ever notice s difference between that report and the one from WardLab?

 

[Jerry1]

In case anyone is in this situation, when I was a homebrewer I used to occasionally send a sample of my tap water to this lab for analysis (mineral content is important in brewing). They are very reliable, inexpensive, and give a quick turnaround.

https://www.wardlab.com/services/water-analysis/

I’d be worried about metals like lead and that the color is from leaking pipes. I live near Flint Michigan and it was amazing how long it took city and state officials to admit there was a problem even though there were people with nasty looking water on the news and at city meetings. In this case, I’d be most worried because the color, natural and safe as it may be, may camouflage another issue.

There’s no way I’d drink it. I don’t drink much tap water anyway. That which I do is through a certified filter (NSF 42 and 53).

 

[braumeister]

That’s a useful link, thanks. The cost is $47 for a complete household analysis, which doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Municipal water suppliers are required to send an annual report to alll the households they service. Did you ever notice s difference between that report and the one from WardLab?

The report from the local water supplier is very limited. Mainly just things like total dissolved solids, hardness, etc. The laboratory report is quite thorough.

 

[marko]

From what I see it's only the southern part of FLL around the Las Olas area. There was a bad water main break earlier this summer.
We winter on the north beach area and don't seem impacted but we generally have a water service for drinking anyway.

 

[Amethyst]

Water along the Treasure Coast is naturally yellowish, so they add chemicals to bleach it. We installed a carbon filter to take out the bleach and its bad taste. Water is not one of Florida's great virtues. When we moved here, we were besieged by water filter and softener salesmen.

 

[Ian S]

When we lived in Phoenix, this was the time of the year for a musty odor and odd taste in the city water. Supposedly harmless https://ktar.com/story/1759835/phoenix-says-seasonal-algae-causes-odd-smell-taste-drinking-water/
Our water filters dealt with that and the chlorine as well but we also drank a lot of bottled water. Now that we are in Sedona, I'm loving the tap water which comes from deep wells and doesn't even require chlorination! I've mostly stopped drinking bottled water and instead rely on the water out of the fridge door which has its own filter.

As if I didn't need another reason to avoid living in Florida, yellow drinking water is certainly another lol! Oh and here's another especially for those on septic tank systems: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-septic-tanks-20190422-story.html

 

[O2Bfree]

DH worked for the water department here in town, and would tell stories about what went on in the water system, such as dead birds floating in reservoirs, and the water crews using improper flushing techniques during main repairs. In spite of all that, the water in our area was rated as excellent. It really was quite good in fact, until the City switched from using gaseous chlorine to liquid chlorine for sterilization. After that, the chlorine taste was very noticeable. We considered buying bottled water, but then DH bought a Berkey water filter, which takes out the chlorine, fluoride, and most every thing else.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I drink tap water filtered from a Berkey. Works out a lot better than dealing with plastic water bottles.