Water Quality

City of Altamonte Springs Drinking Water Shows No Detection of 1,4-dioxane or “Forever Chemicals”

Over the past month, the Orlando Sentinel published a series of articles relating to 1,4-dioxane  contamination in the Lake Mary, Sanford and northwest Seminole County area. It is a serious and newsworthy issue anytime there is groundwater contamination. In some of the Orlando Sentinel’s articles, the geographic references simply referred to Seminole County. As a result, many Altamonte Springs residents grew concerned that groundwater contamination was in all Seminole County groundwater and drinking wells rather than in the confined area of northwest Seminole County.

In 2014, every utility in the United States – including the City of Altamonte Springs utility – was mandated to test for 1,4-dioxane, among other chemicals. At that time, 1,4-dioxane was non-detected in our water. That is not surprising because Altamonte Springs is at a higher elevation than Lake Mary and the water table flows away from us. But the primary reason that we do not have 1,4-dioxane in our water system is because Altamonte Springs never had significant manufacturing industries in the City.

Because of the Orlando Sentinel’s articles, we received a number of phone calls from residents and water customers who were concerned that the contamination that is the subject of the articles was also in other parts of Seminole County, like in Altamonte Springs. Therefore, we tested our water again for 1,4-dioxane to put our residents’ and water customers’ minds at ease.

We are pleased to confirm for our residents and water customers that the City of Altamonte Springs’ drinking water showed no detection of 1,4-dioxane.  

There has also been some discussion about perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances commonly referred to as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” PFAS’s are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water. Every public and private water utility in the United States was mandated to run these tests, including the City of Altamonte Springs, which ran those tests in March of 2023 at both water treatment plants. 

We are pleased to confirm that our earlier testing confirmed that perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances commonly referred to as PFAS or “forever chemicals” were not detected in our drinking water wells.

In addition to their series of articles, the Orlando Sentinel also created an information article that provides additional information regarding 1,4-dioxane.

“Q&A: What is 1,4-dioxane, is it safe to drink and how do you get rid of it?”