APOPKA, Fla. – After residents and business owners repeatedly raised concerns about water quality with News 6, records and responses from the City of Apopka and state environmental regulators reveal two conclusions that can exist at the same time.
The city says its drinking water is safe and meets required contaminant standards. However, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is conducting an ongoing investigation after inspectors documented 11 possible violations involving the operation and maintenance of Apopka’s public water system.
The city also confirmed it received 36 water-related customer complaints during the past 12 months, primarily involving odor and discoloration. Two of those complaints came from commercial customers.
“I’d like to know what standards they’ve achieved,” Apopka resident Bishop Eddie Harris Jr. told News 6. “It needs to be clarified and simplified so that everybody understands.”
Harris, who recently moved to Apopka, said he uses a filtration system at home. He told News 6 he has not personally noticed unusual discoloration or odor since moving to the city, but wants residents to receive a clearer explanation of what official water-quality standards mean.
What the City of Apopka says
In a written response to News 6, the city said it is “currently providing safe, reliable drinking water” that meets or exceeds applicable state and federal regulations.
The city said its water operations employees continuously monitor the distribution system, maintain treatment facilities and oversee water quality to ensure compliance.
Along with the 36 customer complaints, Apopka reported issuing 14 precautionary boil-water notices during the past year.
The city said those notices were primarily connected to water-main breaks in situations where crews could not isolate the section requiring repairs. The resulting pressure loss prompted precautionary notices for affected customers.
A precautionary boil-water notice does not necessarily mean contamination has been found. Such notices are generally issued after pressure is lost because lower pressure can create an opportunity for contaminants to enter a distribution system.
The city said affected businesses receive the precautionary notice and applicable Florida Department of Health guidance. That guidance outlines precautions businesses must follow until testing is completed and the notice is lifted.
Elevated readings at one Apopka testing location
News 6 also asked about two individual samples collected at a testing location near 2834 Park Meadow.
Apopka’s 2025 water-quality information listed total trihalomethane, or TTHM, readings of 90.05 and 84.43 parts per billion. Both individual results were above the federal maximum contaminant level of 80 parts per billion.
However, the city did not incur a drinking-water violation.
FDEP explained that compliance for disinfection byproducts is not determined by one individual sample. It is calculated using a location’s average over the previous four calendar quarters, known as the Location Running Annual Average.
A violation occurs if that four-quarter average exceeds 0.08 milligrams per liter, which is equivalent to 80 parts per billion.
The City of Apopka said operators had historically flushed the distribution system through a nearby fire hydrant to maintain water quality in that area. The city said that flushing was temporarily discontinued after nearby residents raised concerns about the process.
Apopka later installed an underground automatic flushing device. The city said the equipment allows routine flushing to continue without the same impact on surrounding residents and should reduce the potential for elevated TTHM levels in the future.
FDEP warning letter followed April inspection
FDEP conducted a sanitary survey of Apopka’s public water system on April 23.
The system serves a reported population of 71,917 people through 26,973 service connections, according to the inspection records.
On June 3, FDEP sent Apopka Mayor Nick Nesta a formal warning letter stating that inspectors had observed possible violations of Florida statutes and administrative rules.
The letter identified 11 areas of concern:
- Insufficient records showing isolation valves had been exercised
- Insufficient cross-connection-control records
- Leaking high-service pumps and wells
- Vegetative growth on an aerator at the Grossenbacher Water Treatment Plant
- Improperly threaded raw-water sampling taps
- Missing protective screens on multiple air-relief valves
- Biological growth on a wellhead
- A missing drain line
- A leaking isolation valve connected to an abandoned tank
- A leaking on-site generator fuel tank
- Late submission of Consumer Confidence Report information
FDEP stressed that its warning letter does not conclude that Apopka’s finished drinking water is unsafe or that the city exceeded federal contaminant limits.
The agency said public-water systems may receive letters documenting operational noncompliance even when federal drinking-water standards are still being met.
The warning letter is considered preliminary to potential agency action, and FDEP said its investigation remains ongoing. Possible violations must be addressed through corrective action.
Repeat recordkeeping violation and backflow concerns
One finding was identified as a repeat violation.
Inspectors said the city did not have adequate records demonstrating that distribution-system isolation valves were exercised. FDEP requires documentation showing those valves are exercised at least once every five years.
Isolation valves allow water-system operators to shut off specific sections of the distribution network when crews need to make repairs or respond to a water-main break.
The inspection report states that the city provided a follow-up report and plan intended to bring the program into compliance.
Inspectors also found deficiencies in the city’s cross-connection-control records.
Cross-connections can create a path for water or other substances to flow backward into a public drinking-water system. Backflow-prevention assemblies are intended to prevent that from happening.
The report’s deficiency table states that only 349 of 10,536 backflow-prevention assemblies had been tested. Another section of the inspection report lists 379 tested assemblies.
News 6 has asked both the city and FDEP to clarify which figure is accurate, what period the number covers and how many assemblies have now been tested.
Some corrections submitted; other work was incomplete
The inspection records show that Apopka submitted corrective-action documentation for several of the findings, including biological growth, sampling taps, missing screens and the generator-tank leak.
At the time the report was completed, leaking pumps and a well were listed as partially corrected.
A leaking isolation valve attached to an abandoned hydropneumatic tank at the Mt. Plymouth Regional Water Treatment Plant was still listed as outstanding.
FDEP did not classify any of the listed inspection findings as a “significant deficiency.”
That classification is important: It means inspectors documented violations requiring correction, but did not place any individual finding in the report’s more serious significant-deficiency category.
News 6 has asked the city whether all 11 issues have since been fully corrected and whether any of the findings affected—or had the potential to affect—water quality, pressure, reliability or service to customers.
Why water complaints do not automatically mean a health risk
FDEP regulates public drinking-water systems in Florida under authority granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Primary drinking-water regulations establish enforceable limits for approximately 90 regulated contaminants. Those limits are known as maximum contaminant levels.
Separate secondary standards address aesthetic characteristics, including taste, color and odor.
FDEP said water with a visible tint does not, by itself, indicate a human-health risk. An odor or unusual taste also does not automatically establish that a regulated contaminant is present.
That distinction is central to understanding Apopka’s 36 complaints. The complaints show that customers reported concerns about what they saw or smelled, but the number alone does not demonstrate that the water was unsafe.
Businesses depend on consistency
At Wekiva Gardens Inc., water is central to nearly every part of the operation.
The nursery does not use Apopka’s municipal system for irrigation. Its water comes from a private well extending approximately 350 feet underground.
Co-owner Kathrein Markle said the business must understand the mineral content and other characteristics of its water before employees decide how much fertilizer to apply.
“If you don’t have good water that stays consistent, you’re out of business,” Markle said.
The nursery filters its irrigation water and has the water used by employees tested quarterly for coliform bacteria. Markle said the nursery’s well has remained consistent and emphasized that the business has not experienced a problem involving Apopka’s municipal water.
Her operation illustrates the broader business stakes attached to water reliability and treatment.
“If you have to put in equipment to sterilize the water and to filter the water, it will affect the price because your cost goes up,” Markle said.
City outlines future upgrades
Apopka said several projects are underway or planned to improve water quality, reliability and capacity as the city continues to grow.
Those projects include:
- Updating the city’s Utility Master Plan
- Completing Phase 2 of its asbestos-cement water-main replacement program
- Advancing the proposed Golden Gem Water Treatment Plant
- Establishing an emergency interconnection with Orange County Utilities
- Designing an expansion and upgrades at the Grossenbacher Water Treatment Plant
The Orange County connection would provide Apopka with an additional emergency water-supply source. The Grossenbacher improvements are intended to increase treatment capacity and improve system reliability.
What News 6 is still asking
The City of Apopka maintains that its finished drinking water is safe, reliable and compliant with state and federal contaminant standards.
FDEP says its separate investigation into maintenance, equipment, recordkeeping and reporting noncompliance remains open.
News 6 has asked the city:
- Which of the 11 inspection findings have been fully corrected
- Which issues, if any, remain unresolved
- Whether any finding affected water quality, pressure or service
- Why the isolation-valve documentation problem was a repeat violation
- How many backflow-prevention assemblies have now been tested