Fort Myers, Florida

Water Quality in Fort Myers, Florida

Watershed: Orange Creek – Whiskey Creek Frontal

What is the water quality like in Fort Myers, FL?

Let’s dive deeper into what’s in Fort Myers water.

What’s in Fort Myers water?

Here are the top 2 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Haloacetic acids – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are two of the 8 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

These 2 contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

See the What Can You Do? section below for all of the contaminants you can filter out and how to do it.

Where does Fort Myers’ water come from?

Fort Myers’ water comes from the Orange Creek – Whiskey Creek Frontal watershed.

All 3 EPA assessed water sources in the Orange Creek – Whiskey Creek Frontal watershed are in Impaired condtion. These are:

• Deep Lagoon Canal
• Punta Rasa Cove
• San Carlos Bay

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition.

Whether a water source is in Impaired or Good condition refers to the quality of these uses:

1. Drinking Water
2. Aquatic Life
3. Fish and Shellfish Consumption
4. Recreation

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

See below for what you can do to improve Fort Myers’ water.

Conclusion – What Can You Do?

Information about water quality can be surprising.

But there’s no reason to lose hope. There are things you can do in your household as well as things you can do at a community level.

In Your Household:

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out 7 of the 8 contaminants in your drinking water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Fort Myers water.
  • Brita can filter 2 (and Lead depending on the filter).
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 7 of the 8 contaminants in your whole house, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your home.
  • These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but can be more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • Antimony
    • Fluoride
    • Haloacetic acids – chlorination byproduct*
    • Hexavalent chromium – health effects
    • Selenium – health risks
    • Strontium
    • Total trihalomethanes – byproduct of chlorination*

*Chlorination is an effective method of disinfecting/treating drinking water. You can then use a water filter to reduce the effects of chlorination byproducts to get the safest, cleanest water possible.

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: http://www.cityftmyers.com/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Florida Cities

Florida Water Quality Page