ECUA: UWF Study Affirms Water Is Safe To Drink

January 30, 2010

The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority is continuing to rebuke a report that claimed Pensacola’s water to be the worst in the nation among 100 cities with populations over 250,000 people.

According to a University of West Florida report conducted at the Center for Environmental Diagnostics & Bioremediation, “the water provided by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) is safe for human consumption and did not exceed a single water quality standard established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Florida”.

“I can sum up in one word the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) report: Bogus,” said Dr. Carl Mohrherr, PhD, co-author of the UWF study. “It was an effective political campaign to raise public awareness, but done at the expense of public confidence in regulation by US EPA, FL DEP, and the ability of the ECUA to provide safe potable water. The EWG report does not present a valid scientific assessment of water toxicity, nor are its comparisons of utility systems statistically valid.”

The EWG, a watchdog nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., released the report on Saturday, December 12, 2009. It placed the ECUA as Number 1 on a list of cities with the worst water in the nation. Stephen Sorrell, ECUA executive director says, “Bottom line: the ECUA’s water is safe to drink and meets every federal and state regulatory guideline. We didn’t have one single health standard violation in five years as clearly indicated in the EWG report.”

The read the recently released UWF report, click here. To see ECUA’s latest water quality report, click here.

Comments

6 Responses to “ECUA: UWF Study Affirms Water Is Safe To Drink”

  1. anydaynow on February 1st, 2010 1:27 pm

    report conducted at the Center for Environmental Diagnostics & Bioremediation, “the water provided by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) is safe for human consumption

    …the water provided by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority…

    so, what, did ECUA take a water sample to UWF and ask that it be tested?? Isn’t it proper for the agency or organization doing the testing, in cases concerned with public interest and public safety, to properly collect and transport the testing sample to the lab?

  2. A Watchman on February 1st, 2010 7:01 am

    Did the study say “BAD WATER” or worst of 100 tested? I have not drank any water not highly filtered and UV treated in over 40 years. Certainly not chlorinated water. That stuff is deadly!

    What are guidelines? They are changed to fit budgets.

    Yes, well water taste better; but you can’t taste the stuff that does the most harm.

  3. Max on January 30th, 2010 5:46 pm

    Yes Bill, Larry Walker was on staff at UWF from the late 70’s until he retired in 2007 and he is currently our representative on the ECUA. I don’t think it was very wise for the ECUA to contract UWF to do the study and would have preferred to see someone other than UWF such as Cameron-Cole or another qualified company in the area involved.
    So true to Bill, you can’t beat well water!

  4. Bill W on January 30th, 2010 11:33 am

    On the same note our representative on ECUA is Larry Walker. Wasn’t he a professor at UWF? Might still be. Hmmm.

  5. Bill W on January 30th, 2010 10:42 am

    If ECUA commissioned the study how do you think the results would turn out? I’m sure Aesop has a fable that would cover this scenario.

  6. bill on January 30th, 2010 7:50 am

    Well water taste so much better than clorine water. Unless you have sulfur water, but unless you test it often you still don’t know if it’s safe. Bottle water is just a guess if it’s safe or clean. Taking the ECUA’s word for it being safe, may be like drinking out of your toilet.