Kissimmee, Florida
What is the Water Quality in Kissimmee, Florida?
[Updated: June 9, 2023]
Compared to other US cities, Kissimmee water quality ranks in the lower range for contamination excluding Lead.
Most of the 12 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.
- Chlorate is at high levels: 2.7x health guidelines.
- Haloacetic acids (HAA5) are at extremely high levels: 236x health guidelines.
- Haloacetic acids (HAA9) are at extremely high levels: 577x health guidelines.
- These are both byproducts of the chlorine treatment process most water supplies go through.
Let’s look closer at what’s in Kissimmee water.
What’s in Kissimmee water?
Here are the top 4 chemical compounds in Kissimmee water and what health issues they can potentially cause:
- Chlorate – Potential effect: Harm to the thyroid
- Haloacetic acids (HAA5) – Potential effect: Cancer
- Haloacetic acids (HAA9) – Potential effect: Cancer
- Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer
These are four of the 12 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).
These 4 contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.
Does Kissimmee water have Lead contamination?
Yes, Kissimmee has lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected in 2017 showed concentrations up to 0.7 parts per billion (ppb).
The legal limit for lead is 15 parts per billion. Being well-below this level is a good thing.
- Concentrations between 3.8 ppb and 15 ppb put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. Read more about the symptoms of Lead in water.
There is no safe level of lead for humans.
- The good news is that 99.99% of the lead can be removed.
See the What Can You Do? section below to learn how to filter out contaminants.
Where does Kissimmee’s water come from?
Kissimmee’s water comes from the Lake Tohopekaliga watershed.
10 of the 12 EPA assessed water sources in the Lake Tohopekaliga watershed are in Impaired or Unknown condition. These include:
- City Ditch Canal
- Lake Tohopekaliga
- Lake Tohopekaliga Drain
- Mill Slough
- Reedy Creek (above Lake Russell)
- Shingle Creek
- South Port Canal
Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. East Lake Tohopekaliga Drain and St. Cloud Canal are in Good condition.
Whether a water source is in Impaired or Good condition refers to the quality of these uses:
- Drinking Water
- Aquatic Life
- Fish and Shellfish Consumption
- Recreation
Learn more from How’s My Waterway
See below for what you can do to improve Kissimmee’s water.
What Can You Do?
Information about water quality in Kissimmee can be surprising.
But there are things you can do in your home to clean up your water.
To Remove Lead and Other Contaminants In Your Home:
- Use Activated Carbon filters to remove most contaminants in your drinking water.
- To filter out even more contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
- These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but can be more effective.
- They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
- Arsenic – health risks
- Barium – health risks
- Dalapon – herbicide used on sugarcane and sugar beets
- Fluoride
- Haloacetic acids – chlorination byproduct*
- Hexavalent chromium
- Nitrate
- Selenium – health risks
- Strontium
- Total trihalomethanes – byproduct of chlorination*
- Our recommendation: APEC Reverse Osmosis Systems
*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: https://www.kissimmee.gov/our-city/city-government to find contact information for your local officials.