Drinking water advisory for Palm Beach lifted after toxin levels fall

Palm Beach residents and businesses were notified Friday afternoon they can resume using tap water for drinking and cooking, one week after the City of West Palm Beach issued a drinking water advisory following the discovery of a dangerous toxin in its water supply.

West Palm Beach, which supplies water to the town and nearby South Palm Beach, lifted the alert it announced May 28 after tests showed the city's water supply was contaminated with cylindrospermopsin, a toxin produced by blue-green algae that can cause health problems if ingested by vulnerable people.

Testing from water samples taken on Tuesday and Wednesday showed that levels had fallen below the federal Environmental Protection Agency's health advisory threshold for young children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and other people with liver or kidney ailments.

Mayor Keith James had hoped to lift the advisory Thursday, once the test results from Tuesday and Wednesday's sampling was known. But he said the state Department of Environmental Protection had him hold off as it reviewed more information.

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With the advisory no longer in place, the Florida Department of Health is advising residents who use the city's drinking water to first flush their lines for five to 10 minutes by turning on the hot water and then cold water taps, change refrigerator and other water filters and discard ice from their refrigerator's ice machine.

"I'm relieved that the water advisory has been lifted," Palm Beach Mayor Danielle Moore said Friday afternoon. "It's obviously good for everyone."

Cylindrospermopsin first was detected in low levels May 3, and subsequent test results returned May 19 and 20 were above a threshold considered harmful for vulnerable populations, according to Poonam Kalkat, West Palm Beach’s director of public utilities.

However, the city did not notify its water customers of the presence of the toxin until eight days later, angering government officials in Palm Beach and South Palm Beach.

Moore sent a letter to James on Sunday expressing concern with the "limited and delayed" communication between the two municipalities regarding the water supply.

"While we understand that it is appropriate to complete secondary tests and examine additional water samples, we are disappointed that the City did not contact our team to advise us of a potential problem when it was first learned," the letter read. "I suspect my colleagues in South Palm Beach feel the same."

Cylindrospermopsin can cause an upset stomach, vomiting and diarrhea as well as liver and kidney damage.

Residents and businesses throughout Palm Beach were forced to adjust after the drinking water advisory was issued.

At The Breakers, which features 10 restaurants, coffee was being brewed using pre-packaged water, while the resort's culinary teams cooked with pre-packaged water as necessary, Food Safety Manager Stewart Shapiro said.

The resort also temporarily removed beverage fountains and brought in additional refrigerated trailers to store ice and water.

Town officials also reached out to Publix to make sure there was plenty of bottled water available for those who needed it.

West Palm Beach set up water distribution events throughout this week, including one Friday morning at Gaines Park.

Moore said she spoke with James later Friday, and the conversation was a pleasant one.

"I think that we will move forward, and we will learn from this experience," she said. "I think it's going to be fine. As I've said before, incidents will occur. It's how the city of West Palm Beach chooses to notify the other stakeholders as to the incident. I think it was a learning experience for all of us, and it is certainly my hope that it doesn't happen again."

jwagner@pbdailynews.com

@JRWagner5