If we buy bottled water, we are paying from $1,100 (Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water) to $9,240 (Evian Natural Spring Water) per 1,000 gallons of the same groundwater in a fancy plastic bottle.
In Florida the water itself is free.
A common contaminant in groundwater in Florida and worldwide is nitrate nitrogen.
Even the bottled springs water for sale in Florida contains elevated nitrate concentrations.
Nitrate in fertilizer costs anywhere from 50 to 200 times less than the cost of removing it from drinking water.
Its called an aquifer protection dee.
Public utilities have learned that a tiered water rate effectively discourages excessive water use.
While there are some costs for installation and maintenance of a septic system and for lagoons associated with dairies, there is little to no cost for prevention of nitrogen pollution for rural homeowners and agricultural producers.
All groundwater uses must be monitored and users pay a fee in proportion to the amount of groundwater they use.
The proceeds from these aquifer protection fees should be used for preventing excessive depletion and pollution of the Floridan Aquifer.