Polk County publishes water quality report
A review of the water quality report published June 6 by Polk County reveals that tap water coming out of one of the 18 county-operated water treatment plants has five times the amount of lead as any of the 17 other plants, though local and state officials maintain the water is below the federal threshold that would require corrective action.
In 2018, the Lake Garfield Water Treatment Plant – located south of State Road 60, between Bartow and Mulberry – produced tap water with 5.70 parts per billion of lead, and also exceeded federal guidelines of having too much color.
Polk County Utilities Director Tamara Richardson said that federal lead guidelines state that tap water cannot have more than 15 parts per billion of lead (ppb) content.
Richardson said the 5.70 ppb of lead from Lake Garfield does not require any corrective action. State officials provided similar feedback.
In 2018, 8.54 million gallons of water were produced from the Lake Garfield Water Treatment Plant.