Odor, taste and color are all listed complaints that Lehigh Acres customers have made about their drinking water. The Florida Governmental Utilities Authority or FGUA, has been allowed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection or FDEP to disperse water with higher than standard amounts of total dissolved solids, or TDS, since 2008. Click Here to read the FGUA Public Notice.
But, for now the FGUA is going to spend $3 million in upgrades for the Lehigh Acres drinking water system.
According to Lehigh Acres resident Bruce McLaughlin, the water smells bad and is not palatable.
McLaughlin said he has noticed chalky white residue left on the inside of his dishwasher, coffee pot and ice cube trays.
McLaughlin said the drinking water smells like rotten eggs and tastes even worse.
“My palate is telling me this water is not healthy; it’s not good. And people are drinking it constantly,” McLaughlin said.
“Tell them to come over here and drink a couple glasses of my water,” he said
“We do get some complaints,” FGUA’s Jerry Connolly said.
FGUA has a higher than standard amounts of total dissolved solids exemption that expires later this year.
Connolly said the main TDS found in Lehigh Acres water is calcium.
“Too much calcium isn’t a good thing. At the parts we’re talking about, though, it’s not harmful. It just makes the water hard, which is not aesthetically pleasing to customers,” he said.
“It can precipitate in your dishwasher. When you heat the water in your coffee pot you get a white residue. That residue is primarily calcium,” Gary Deremer, president of U.S. Water, said. U.S. Water is the daily service provider for the Lehigh Acres utilities systems.
Deremer said upgrades are on the way to limit excess TDS in the water; $3 million in new pipes and filtration is to be completed by December.
This FGUA investment is paid for by utility customers through their bills.
“There will absolutely be a very noticeable improvement for all the customers. Just hold on for another six months and it should improve,” Deremer said.
According to Deremer and Connolly, they insist the water is safe. FGUA customers are notified about the TDS levels in their water on a quarterly basis. Click Here to read the lastest FGUA Public Notice.
We moved here from Louisville, Ky where we had great water. I have never been on well water before. We bought a new hot water heater thinking that would take care of the horrible smell. It didn’t so we bought a new water softer that didn’t help either. My husband drains the water heater every three or four weeks which help for a while but this is terrible. We only drink bottle water and I cook with it also which I should not have to do. Lehigh Acres has a terrible history. There are some really nice people here that are trying to improve the area and then you have the water problem. Sure they say it should improve in about six months but the way things take so long here, Lehigh is a foster child. We have been here for a year and our street still needs repair. I bet you would not find that in Ft. Myers or Cape Coral or anywhere else.
I recently was told about your complaint about the water and was asked to help you. Here are the facts.
1) Welcome to Florida.
Yes the water where you live is a problem, but not a deal breaker when it comes to living here. the people are nice and the sun is nicer. I was born here and after a lifetime away overseas as well as stateside travels I love to come home to the Sunshine state.
Your water. In order to help you understand it a little better, I will give you some sites on the computer that will help make it easier to understand.
In Florida where you live you are in a region that has a high Total Dissolved Solids count. It exceeds 1000 PPM. This is high. Your water comes from the surficial aquifer system of Florida. The Hardness where you live is also high. It is upwards of 17.1 grains per gallon. That’s rock hard water, and leaves all that disturbing buildup on everything in the house.The water flow in Lehigh Acres, is from north to south, and travels under ground. Your well taps into it.
The smells that you get are a combination of bacteria that are breeding in your water. The smell is the smell of the bacteria digesting and dissolving minerals that are in the water. They then produce gases that we can identify via our oral factories. We can smell them. Other oders are organics that come from numerous factors from tannin’s to decaying matter that sometimes get trapped in caverns under the ground. Our wells.
Bottom line. Water softeners do not work in our waters. Water softeners get filled quickly from the contaminates in the ground water and break down in a way that is easy to understand. They are designed as a system that can remove three salts. Manganese magnesium and calcium bicarbonate.
The remaining contaminates (dissolved solids and chemicals, oils and others) break down the resins in side the softener and cause channeling. In other words, like the river finds its way through the land, the water forms channels through your softener and stops working very quickly. Do not throw it away. It can be saved most of the time.
The fix is simple. Stop the bacteria from feeding by killing them. remove the organics and oils and the the total dissolved solids and you will be fine. Its not cheap if its done right the first time. But it is far better to do it once rather than repeat the same mistakes over and over. I have been designing water systems for Florida for 10 years. I’m good at it. I spent 30 years in the Aviation Industry as a Master Mechanic and an Authorized Inspector. When I look at the water I see a mechanical fix to a chemical content. It’s easy.
Enjoy Florida and if you need help call. Don’t let this bother you too much.
William Brenk Can be contacted at: brenk@tampabay.rr.com
863 521 2248