Water Division

If you experience a high water bill, the most common cause is a leak.  Look for wet areas in and around your home that are not typical. Check all taps and spigots. Toilet leaks are very common. Try turning off all water in your home and check to see if meter is still registering flow.  If so, call a plumber or number above.

Did you know that a toilet leak can waste from 30 to over 1,000 gallons of water per day? Leaks are one of the most common causes for high water bills. So, fixing a leak can save water and money.

Common causes of toilet leaks

1. Flapper becomes warped or damaged and does not provide watertight seal on the flush valve. In-tank toilet cleaners can cause flapper damage.
2. Flapper, trip leaver, or chain loses its alignment with the flush valve, leaving a gap that can cause a leak.
3. Flush valve develops small cuts or damages that cause a leak between it and the flapper. This is usually caused by grit or sediment.
4. Fill valve becomes stuck in the open position causing water waste as it flows down the overflow pipe. This can happen when the water pressure changes in your home.

How to test for toilet leaks

1. Listen - The toilet should only make refill noise when refilling after a flush
2. Look - A large leak will cause moving water in the bowl long after the tank has refilled from a flush. For a small leak, place a leak detection tab or food coloring in the tank and wait at least 15 minutes. If colored water appears in the bowl, then you have a leak.

To get free leak detection tabs, email the Sustainability Coordinator

Creating safe drinking water and ensuring water security for Oldsmar residents is vitally important. Continue reading to see how water is made using the reverse osmosis process.

Why do we use brackish water instead of freshwater?

The increased demand for fresh tap water in Florida has increased significantly in the last 20 years. This increase demand on traditional freshwater wells has caused adverse effects on the lakes and wetlands around the area by depleting the Floridan aquifer much faster than it can recharge. The use of brackish wells and ROWTPs has greatly reduced the strain on our local surface waters for tap water production. Our ROWTP helps keep our lakes and wetlands healthy and decreases saltwater intrusion into our surface water.

What is Reverse Osmosis?

Water naturally moves in a process called Osmosis. This is when non-salty water moves towards salty water. Reverse Osmosis uses pressure to push salty water through a membrane to remove salts. This process creates non-salty freshwater.

How is tap water made?

There are four basic steps to produce drinking water:

1. Brackish water is pulled out of wells around the city.
2. Well water passes through two membrane stages. The first stage removes 50% of the salt and the second stage squeezes out the remaining 50%. Salts removed from process are sent into a deep injection well.
3. Freshwater is sent through purification and stabilization process to ensure water will remain clean and safe until it reaches your tap.
4. Treated water is sent to storage tanks and out to customers.

How much water is produced daily?

The ROWTP is permitted to produce 2.0 million gallons per day (MGD). The 11 brackish supply wells are permitted to produce 2.7 MGD. The wells have a higher permitted rate because 1,000 gallons of treated well water produces 750 gallons of drinking water. Even though we can produce 2.0 MGD, the average daily demand in Oldsmar is 1.2 MGD, this allows our ROWTP operators to  quickly respond to increased or emergency water needs.