2023 Water Quality Report
SAFE, RELIABLE DRINKING WATER FOR GENERATIONS TO COME
OUC's water comes from the Lower Floridan aquifer, an underground reservoir that, in many places, is a quarter-mile below parts of the Earth's surface. The aquifer is fed by rainwater that goes through a filtration process as it seeps through hundreds of feet of sand and rock. OUC pumps water from the aquifer to facilities where it's treated to meet standards that ensure the water is safe to drink.
OUC works year-round to educate the community about the importance of protecting such a precious — and limited — natural resource. From water-conservation themed events, campaigns and student projects to proactive traditional and social media outreach during times of low rainfall or drought, we are committed to helping our customers understand the vital role water plays in everyday life and how crucial their role is in protecting and conserving our most vital resources.
OUC also offers services that help customers become water-wise consumers. Our conservation team conducts water audits to search for potential sources of water loss and make recommendations for water efficiency. Some recommended upgrades may be eligible for OUC rebates, including EPA WaterSense labeled smart irrigation controllers, high-efficiency toilets, and the installation of water cisterns. Customers also have online access to water conservation tips and information covering such topics as leak detection, water-wise landscaping, smart irrigation guidelines, and more. For additional information, visit OUC.com/water.
OUC uses ozone treatment at our seven water-service plants as part of a process to produce high-quality, great-tasting tap water we call H2OUC. Ozone oxidizes hydrogen sulfide to improve taste, eliminate odor and reduce the amount of chlorine that's added to water. By law, we are required to add chlorine to our water to maintain its high quality as it flows through pipes to customers' taps. Fluoride also is added to promote healthy teeth, and we add sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH, preventing copper and lead from leaching into the drinking water from customers' plumbing, the primary source of these elements.
Because the safety of your water is of the utmost importance, OUC goes to great lengths to keep our water treatment facilities secure. All OUC water plants are equipped with state-of-the-art security, including intrusion-detection systems, alarms, cameras and fences around the perimeter of properties. Armed security guards and law enforcement officers regularly patrol the facilities.
At OUC, our goal is to provide our customers with clean, safe and great-tasting water. Enclosed in the 2023 OUC Water Quality Report you will find data and test results that affirm this commitment.
For more than 100 years, OUC has provided reliable water service to Central Florida. As part of this service, OUC’s water lab conducts thousands of chemical and bacteriological water-quality tests annually, including tests for more than 135 regulated and unregulated substances like lead and copper. The lab also meets all federal and state regulations and complies with any new testing or reporting requirements brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies. In fact, our lab tests our water not only at our water plants, but also at multiple points along the way to your home or business. Summaries of our test results are included in this report.
Beyond ensuring safe and clean water, OUC is focused on delivering Central Florida a consistent water supply that keeps pace with our rapidly growing community. This means practicing effective water conservation methods while identifying and implementing new technologies to deliver water efficiently and effectively. Recently, we added activated carbon filtration to our Conway water treatment plant to reduce the amount of chlorine used as a disinfectant and to save approximately 1 million gallons per day of water.
Also, OUC is identifying alternative water sources and will build a water treatment plant by 2033 near Lake Nona that will use water from a brackish source in the Floridan Aquifer. Through reverse osmosis, salt will be removed and returned underground. The water will then be treated with ozone, just like OUC has done for 25 years.
As we went to press with this report, the EPA announced newly established national limits in drinking water for six types of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. By 2027, public water utilities must complete monitoring associated with these new standards and by 2029, must acquire and install PFAS-filtering equipment if water samples exceed these standards.;
As always, OUC is committed to doing the right thing and will follow all regulations. For more information and updates, please visit ouc.com/pfas.
I hope the 2023 Water Quality Report reassures you that we take seriously our responsibility of providing reliable access to great-tasting and clean H2O while protecting and preserving the public’s water supply. If you have questions, please contact OUC’s Water Quality Lab at 407-434-2549.
— Clint Bullock
OUC General Manager & CEO
Through water-conservation-themed classroom programs, OUC is teaching public school students about the importance of preserving and protecting Florida’s water supply. Since 2006, more than 139,000 local students have participated in OUC’s Water Color Project and Project AWESOME (Alternative Water & Energy Supply, Observation, Methods and Education). The Water Color Project encourages Orange County students to use their artistic talents to promote conservation. Fourth and fifth-graders compete to have their artwork featured in OUC’s annual Water Conservation Calendar while middle and high school students paint water-themed rain barrels for judging.
Project AWESOME delivers an interactive lab to fifth graders in Orange and Osceola counties. For water efficiency, students gain an understanding of how water is supplied by community water systems and learn the importance of water conservation. For renewable energy, students discover how to harness Florida’s natural resource, the sun, to its greatest advantage.
OUC’s efforts to spread the word on water conservation go beyond the classroom. Everyone can help save water by following a few simple tips:
- Water only as needed and then water only a maximum of once per week in cooler months and twice per week in warmer months in accordance with the SJRWMD watering restrictions at www.sjrwmd.com/wateringrestrictions.
- Water your lawn before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. to minimize the amount lost to evaporation.
- Water your lawn only as needed and just for 35-45 minutes to provide no more than 1/2"-3/4" of water per zone per day. Turn off your irrigation system if it has rained or install a smart irrigation controller.
- Repair leaking faucets and toilets immediately.
- Install EPA WaterSense labeled shower heads and take shorter showers.
For more ways to save water, visit OUC.com/waterconservation.
Well pumps at OUC’s water treatment plants draw water from a natural underground reservoir called the Lower Floridan aquifer. After being sent through ozone contact basins, the water is treated with chlorine and fluoride. The water is then pumped into a finished water storage tank and distributed to residential, commercial and industrial customers. OUC pumps about 32.5 billion gallons of water per year to customers across a 200-square-mile service area.
OUC's water pumping equipment
from the 1930s.
The foundation for what would eventually become the Orlando Utilities Commission was laid even before the 20th century began. Through
much of the 1800s, the community’s only source of water was a town well located next to the Orange County
Courthouse at the corner of Central and Main.
The Orlando Water Company was formed in 1886 and consisted of a plant and distribution system, which used Lake
Highland as its source. In 1889, additional water mains – including about 13.5 miles of pipe – were laid
to serve many areas of Orlando with a safe domestic supply and fire protection.
Four years later, a foreclosure resulted in a new corporation, the Orlando Water and Sewerage Company, which was
purchased within a year to form the Orlando Water & Light Company (OWLC). Using an additional water supply, Lake
Concord, OWLC boosted the system to 23 miles of mains and pipes, covering every part of the City and more than 100
fire hydrants. In 1917, the first filtrated treatment facilities were built to begin treating lake water before
passing it into the city mains.
In 1922, the City of Orlando purchased OWLC to form the Orlando Utilities Commission. OUC – The Reliable One,
as you know us today, pumps water from the pristine Lower Floridan aquifer to provide safe, clean, great-tasting
water to the residents of Orlando and parts of unincorporated Orange County.
Sources of drinking water (both tap and bottled) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels over the surface of land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring, and, in some cases, radioactive materials. But it also picks up substances related to animals or human activity. Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
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Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations and wildlife
- 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.
- Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff and residential uses.
- Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production and can come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff and septic systems.
- Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or the result of oil and gas production, and mining activities.
In order to ensure that tap water provided by public water systems is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations that limit the amounts of certain contaminants in water. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.
All drinking water, including bottled water, may be reasonably expected to contain minute amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants in water does not necessarily pose health risks. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
What The EPA Says About MCLs And Health Effects
The Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) established by the EPA are set at very stringent levels. To understand the possible health effects described for many regulated constituents, a person would have to drink two 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 people, such as those with cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy, those who have undergone organ transplants, those with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, and some elderly and infants, can be particularly at risk for infections. These people should consult with their healthcare providers about drinking water. EPA and Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
MCL: Maximum Contaminant Level.
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.
MCLG: Maximum Contaminant Level Goal.
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.
AL: Action Level.
The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system must follow.
ppm: Parts Per Million.
One part by weight of analyte to 1 million parts by weight of the water sample.
ppb: Parts Per Billion.
One part by weight of analyte to 1 billion parts by weight of the water sample.
pCi/L: Picocurie per Liter.
Measure of the radioactivity in water.
LRAA: Locational Running Annual Average.
The average of sample analytical results for samples taken at a particular monitoring location during the previous four calendar quarters.
RAA: Running Annual Average.
The average of results computed quarterly, of monthly averages of all samples collected during the previous four calendar quarters.
N/A: Not Applicable.
ND: Not Detected.
Indicates that the substance was not found by laboratory analysis.
MRDLG: Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal.
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.
MRDL: Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level.
The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
MFL: Million Fibers Per Liter.
Measure of the presence of asbestos fibers that are longer than 10 micrometers.
Water Quality Test Results
As shown in the following tables, OUC routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws, rules, and regulations. Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based on the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2023. Data obtained before January 1, 2023, and presented in this report is from the most recent testing done in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations.
Results of Copper and Lead
Sampling at Customer Taps
The following results are from tests conducted in July 2023 (the most recent available in accordance with FDEP regulations). The tests confirm that the levels of lead and copper in tap water sampled in homes were below the Action Level (AL).
About OUC—The Reliable One
OUC is a municipal utility owned by the citizens of Orlando and governed by a board of commissioners. As the second largest municipal utility in Florida and 14th largest municipal in the country, OUC provides electric, water, chilled water and/or lighting services to 400,000 customer accounts in Orlando, St. Cloud and parts of unincorporated Orange and Osceola counties. OUC is one of the largest water utilities in the state and serves a population of more than 442,000.