Daytona Beach utilities: May 2 boil‑water notice was precautionary; most test results cleared in 48 hours
Loading...
Summary
City utilities director said a brief pressure drop at the LPGA water plant on May 2 triggered a citywide precautionary boil‑water notice, that 90 sample sites were tested, and that 98% passed within the required testing period; a small set of addresses required repeated testing and door hanger notification.
A brief loss of pressure late afternoon on May 2 at the city’s LPGA water‑treatment plant prompted a citywide boil‑water notice that the city characterized as precautionary, Utilities Director Shannon Ponitz told the commission on May 21.
Ponitz said a pump pressure drop that lasted only “a very, very brief, like, 30‑second” interval reduced system pressure below the 20 psi regulatory threshold that requires notifying customers. Because the plant feeds the entire distribution system, the notice applied citywide rather than to a small localized area.
The city moved quickly to communicate with residents and businesses. Ponitz said staff issued a press release, posted alerts on the city website and social media, used the city’s emergency notification list (about 4,000 subscribers), and deployed six electronic message boards at strategic intersections. The initial advisory indicated the boil‑water notice would be in effect for a minimum of 48 hours while water‑quality tests were completed.
“We tested 90 sites throughout the city… everything passed,” Ponitz said, and reported that 98% of sites cleared on schedule. She said 4 small areas — representing about 177 addresses — required additional testing; those sites were notified with door hangers until repeated sampling met standards.
Ponitz said the city is reviewing notification systems after some residents reported they did not receive alerts they had signed up for. “We have an open ticket with IT and we’re looking into why someone would have been signed up and didn’t get the alert,” she said, and added that utilities staff will work with the public‑information office to improve distribution lists and consider a targeted “critical user” distribution list for hotels, hospitals and restaurants.
On related infrastructure questions, Ponitz told commissioners the city recently obtained a larger consumptive‑use permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District. City withdrawal limits rose from about 16.03 million gallons per day to about 19.75 million gallons per day, a change Ponitz described as significant for long‑term supply. When asked about plans for advanced filtration, Ponitz said that is not expected to be imminent: “I don’t think it’s gonna be anytime… I don’t think it’s gonna be anywhere in the next 10 years,” she said.
What the city did not say tonight: the utilities director stressed the boil‑water notice was precautionary and that laboratory tests found no positive contamination in the vast majority of sites; the department will continue to refine its public‑notification process and coordinate with IT and the public‑information office to reduce notification gaps.
Speakers quoted in this story are identified from the meeting transcript.
