I've lived in Port Orange for over 10 years, and in the Daytona Beach area since I was born. And my daughter is a 5th generation Floridian =) but I digress. I just think it's cool to have all my family nearby since it's somewhat rare anymore. This blog post is about some information I recently discovered. When I found this page on the web site for the city of Port Orange, I started asking people if they were aware of this ordinance. (We do have a lot of unique ordinances. Many of them help keep Port Orange a city that's a step up from some of the others.) In this case, I discovered that many people were not aware of this ordinance, and some knew about it and were knowingly in violation. But it's for the good of our residents and our environment.
Ironically, I was planning to blog about our water restrictions anyway. But this seems to be more pressing. Port Orange home owners already know we have water restrictions and most people comply with them. Very few people choose to blatantly disregard our water restrictions. But I'm not sure what to think of this water ordinance.
Here's the simple, short paragraph about a Port Orange ordinance pertaining to our water restrictions.
"Rain sensors are required on all automatic irrigation systems by March 2003 according to City Ordinance 01-63. You can get rain sensors at local hardware stores. It is recommended that a professional electrician install the sensor. For information on the sensor requirement, please call Mary Kronenberg in the City’s Public Utilities Department at 506-5756. If Mary is not in, please leave your name and telephone number, someone will contact you as soon as possible."
Do you see the date in the very first line of this ordinance? This went into effect six years ago! But in my little poll, I discovered that approximately half of Port Orange residents even know about this water ordinance, and about another half had chosen to disregard it. And what I really don't get is how real estate builders are building new construction, and the irrigation systems do not have this required rain sensor. How is that possible!?
OK. Here's the deal. I'm not a fanatic about most things. But about a year and a half ago I discovered and blogged about some unbelievable problems with Florida's ecosystem, wetlands, and aquifer. My first post along these lines was titled "Florida's Vanishing Wetlands". (You can follow the link to read that post.) Part two of that mini-series was downright alarming. The second post was titled "Florida's Aquifers (Vanishing Wetlands Part 2)". Read that post for the full information, but here's what everyone needs to know.
The Floridan Aquifer is Florida's primary source of fresh water. The details of that are in the second post. but the bottom line is, the Floridan Aquifer is becoming more and more polluted. Here is a partial list of the polutants in our aquifer.
- Antimony
- Asbestos
- Barium
- Cadmium
- Chromium
- Cyanide
- Fluoride
- Mercury
- Nickel
- Selenium
- Sodium
- Thallium
- Nitrate
- Nitrite
Please read the post to learn the effects of these chemicals, and to develop a better understanding of why it's so important for us to preserve our water resources.
If you're a Port Orange resident, or even a resident of anywhere in Central Florida, please educate yourself about the pollution of the Floridan Aquifer, and have your automated irrigation systems fitted with rain sensors, as required by city ordinance.
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