GRU routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water in accordance with federal and state laws, rules and regulations.
GRU treats water pumped from the Floridan aquifer. The treatment process includes lime softening, recarbonation, filtration, fluoridation and disinfection. This water quality report is submitted to customers as required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based on the results of GRU’s monitoring for the period of January 1 through December 31, 2015. Data obtained before January 1, 2015, and presented in this report, are from the most recent testing done in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations. The state allows GRU to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Therefore, some data, though representative, may be more than one year old.
GRU is a municipally-owned utility, governed by the Gainesville City Commission. The commission meets at City Hall, 200 East University Avenue, Gainesville, Florida, on the first and third Thursday of every month.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection performed Source Water Assessments on GRU’s system in 2015. The assessments were conducted to provide information about any potential sources of contamination within a 5-year ground water travel time around each well. No potential sources of contamination were identified. The assessment results are available on the FDEP Source Water Assessment and Protection Program Web site at dep.state.fl.us/swapp.
Additional information is available at gru.com/waterreport.
Listed below are 8 parameters detected in GRU’s water during the reporting period. All are below maximum contaminant levels allowed. Not listed are many others we test for, but that were not detected. A list of measured parameters is provided in Appendix A. As you can see by the tables, our system had no violations. We’re proud that your drinking water meets or exceeds all Federal, State and local requirements.
| Contaminant and Unit of Measurement | Dates of Sampling (mo/yr) | MCL Violation Y/N | Level Detected | Range of Results | MCLG | MCL | Likely Source of Contamination |
| Barium (ppm) | 6/14 | N | 0.0091 | 2 | 2 | Discharge of drilling wastes; discharge from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits | |
| Fluoride (ppm) | 1/15–12/15 | N | 0.70 | 0.28–0.77 | 4 | 4.0 | Water additive which promotes strong teeth when at the optimum level of 0.7 ppm |
| Sodium (ppm) | 6/14 | N | 11.1 | N/A | 160 | Salt water intrusion, leaching from soil |
For chlorine, the level detected is the highest running annual average (RAA), computed quarterly, of monthly averages of all samples collected. The range of results is the range of results of all the individual samples collected during the past year.
For haloacetic acids or TTHM, the level detected is the highest LRAA, computed quarterly, of quarterly averages of all samples collected from a location if the system is monitoring quarterly or is the average of all samples taken during the year if the system monitors less frequently than quarterly. Range of Results is the range of individual sample results (lowest to highest) for all monitoring locations.
| Disinfectant or Contaminant and Unit of Measurement | Dates of sampling (mo/yr) | MCL or MRDL Violation Y/N | Level Detected | Range of Results | MCLG or MRDLG | MCL or MRDL | Likely Source of Contamination |
| Chlorine (ppm) | 1/15–12/15 | N | 0.73 | 0.40–1.17 | MRDLG = 4 | MRDL = 4.0 | Water additive used to control microbes |
| Haloacetic Acids (five) (HAA5) (ppb) | 1/15–10/15 | N | 9.52 | 2.30–11.50 | NA | MCL = 60 | By-product of drinking water disinfection |
| TTHM [Total trihalomethanes] (ppb) | 1/15–10/15 | N | 55.99 | 35.75–63.50 | NA | MCL = 80 | By-product of drinking water disinfection |
| Contaminant and Unit of Measurement | Dates of Sampling (mo/yr) | AL Exceeded (Y/N) |
90th Percentile Result | No. of Sampling Sites Exceeding the AL | MCLG | AL (Action Level) | Likely Source of Contamination |
| Copper (tap water) (ppm) | 9/13 | N | 0.028 | 0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits; leaching from wood preservatives |
| Lead (tap water) (ppb) | 9/13 | N | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Corrosion of household plumbing systems; erosion of natural deposits |
If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious problems, especially in pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with home plumbing. Gainesville Regional Utilities is responsible for providing high-quality drinking water but cannot control the variety of materials used in customer plumbing installations. When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline 800-426-4791 or at epa.gov/safewater/lead.
