FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Authorities warned on Friday night that infants, pregnant women, the elderly and patients with a compromised immune system may have been at an increased risk due to a mistake that affected drinking water in Fort Lauderdale.
Authorities advised those at risk needed to "seek advice from their health care providers about drinking" water from the Fiveash Water Treatment Plant, which services Fort Lauderdale.
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The plant, west of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, draws ground water from the Biscayne Aquifer and treats it through aeration, chemical processing and filtering.
The Florida Department of Health in Broward County was notified June 3rd that the City of Fort Lauderdale "violated a treatment technique" at the Fiveash Water Treatment Plant from April 25-29, the press release said.
"The standard maintenance procedure was not followed and this sanitizer was inadvertently released into the drinking water," said Matt Little, the city's spokesperson.
The investigation started after complaints about the taste of the water. The water had High Test Hypochlorite, a white chlorinated powder, that did not meet The National Sanitation Foundation's public health standards, authorities said.
The drinking water did not pose any health risks on Friday, according to Little. For more information, call the city at 954-828-8000.