Water tastes funny? Fort Lauderdale says it’s safe to drink despite treatment violation

by Erika Pesantes, originally posted on June 3, 2016

 

If your drinking water tasted like pool water, Fort Lauderdale officials want you to know that a recent water treatment violation happened that posed no health risk, but spurred complaints.

The incident happened at the Fiveash Water Treatment Plant and was not deemed an emergency and did not prompt any boil-water orders, officials said. A non-certified sanitizer, a calcium hypochlorite product, was used during the cleaning of the filters on April 25, 26, 28 and 29.

Tests have revealed that drinking water standards were not compromised, but the quality of the water might have been affected. The city investigated when it got complaints about the water tasting chlorinated.

On Thursday, the city got confirmation that a supplier had provided a sanitizer that did not meet National Sanitation Foundation standards.

On Friday, the city notified the Florida Department of Heatlh about the issue. City officials said the product in question has not been used since April 29 and deliveries and its use have been suspended.

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