Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo recently announced guidance recommending against community water fluoridation due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure.  Several public water systems in Florida currently add small amounts of Fluoride to the community water system to help prevent tooth decay. 

Destin Water Users does not add Fluoride to the drinking water in our service area.  However, some Fluoride is naturally occurring in the Upper Floridan Aquifer which is the source of our water.  The amount of Fluoride present is well below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 4.0 ppm listed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The testing conducted in 2023 and listed on the 2023 Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) resulted in a range of 0.03-1.1 ppm.  If you would like more information, the 2023 CCR is on the Destin Water Users website and is linked here.

The Big Red Bus is coming to DWU for our next blood drive on Wednesday, May 7^th from 9:00AM-2:00PM.

To reserve your appointment click here.

OneBlood incentives include $20 eGift cards, T-shirts and a Wellness checkup for all donors.

If you’re unsure of your eligibility to donate click here for more information.

**You can donate whole blood once every 8 weeks (56 days) for a total of 6 donations per year.

Weekly watering times are indicated below: (Effective March 1, 2016)

Suggested Daily Watering Schedule

Based on the last digit of your address, please adjust your irrigation to one of these times on your watering days:

To confirm your reclaimed water service zone please see the map located HERE. These watering times are effective year round. However, DWU may leave mains open if excess water is available (winter and summer). For more information regarding our reclaimed water program click HERE

If you have any questions or concerns please contact our customer service team at (850) 837-6146.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO WATERING FROM 10AM-2PM DAILY. Water used during this time is often wasted more than it is beneficial due to evaporation in the heat of the day.

Military Times reported on April 26^th that “the water at or around 126 military installations contains potentially harmful levels of perfluorinated compounds…”, “…and more than 90 sites that reported either on-base or off-base drinking water or groundwater contamination, in which the water source tested above the Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate or perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOS and PFOA.” These compounds are used in concentrated forms on military airfields in the foaming agents used to put our aircraft fires.

This report was based on sample results from 2017 in which the Department of Defense tested various sites for the unregulated compounds of concern. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) utilizes what is known as Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) to collect data for contaminants that are suspected to be present in drinking water and do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Testing for these contaminants was required of drinking water systems throughout the nation during the UCMR 3 round of testing performed in 2013 and again in 2014.

Destin Water Users did participate in the UCMR 3 water testing which included samples taken from all drinking water wells. DWU feels it is important to inform our customers that all results were absent of the PFOS and PFOA compounds, and there is no reason for our customers to be alarmed by the recent news report.

In Destin and most of the surrounding area, our sole drinking water source is groundwater from the Upper Floridan Aquifer- a deep underground limestone aquifer protected from surface water influences by a confining layer. Because of the nature of our aquifer, there is no direct recharge from the shallow ground water in our area and therefore contamination from perflourinated compounds is unlikely.

To read more on the news release, please go to https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/04/26/dod-126-bases-report-water-contaminants-harmful-to-infant-development-tied-to-cancers/

For more information on the PFOA and PFOS compounds, please refer to the EPA website at  https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-health-advisories-pfoa-and-pfos

Please click HERE to view the DWU statement on Lead Monitoring

WEAR TV3 reported on Thursday, September 22^nd that Chromium-6, “The Erin Brockovich” chemical, had been found in local water supplies in Northwest Florida. This report was based on sample results from 2013-2014 which tested for a list of potential contaminants in drinking water which are not currently regulated. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) utilizes what is known as Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) to collect data for contaminants that are suspected to be present in drinking water and do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).

Destin Water Users did participate in the UCMR water testing which included samples taken from all of our drinking water wells and locations throughout our distribution system. DWU feels it is important to inform our customers that all of our results were absent of the Chromium-6 chemical, and there is no reason for our customers to be alarmed by the recent news report.

In other news, ABC reported on Tuesday, September 20^th that “Scores of residents in Polk County, Florida have requested water quality testing after a fertilizer plant admitted a sinkhole on its property leached 215 million gallons of “slightly radioactive” water into the local Florida aquifer”.

Polk County is located east of Tampa and this was a localized event which the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has been closely monitoring. The results of their sampling has indicated that affected water is being successfully contained, and that there is no evidence of offsite movement or threat to our drinking water source here in Destin.

FOG (Fats, Oils, & Grease) is one of the primary causes of stoppages, backups, upsets and overflows in a wastewater system. To view on information click this link.