JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A rise in COVID-19 cases has led to calls for water conservation across Central Florida, with authorities in Orlando and Tampa asking people to temporarily reduce their water usage.
Some water utilities use liquid oxygen to treat or purify their water, but hospitals also need liquid oxygen to help treat COVID-19 patients. For hospitals, oxygen is easier to store as a liquid in the large volumes that they need to treat COVID 19 patients. The issue is that some water utilities also use liquid oxygen to treat and purify their water.
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Hillsborough County’s water utility is the latest to face a shortage of liquid oxygen. Residents are being asked to conserve their water usage for the next few weeks.
In Orlando and the city of Winter Park, flyers are being distributed, asking residents to limit watering their lawns, using a pressure washer or washing their vehicles.
The Orlando Utilities Commission uses liquid oxygen to remove odor and color from the drinking water supply, so the idea is that less water use means using less liquid oxygen. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said hospitals need the extra supply of liquid oxygen to accommodate the influx of COVID-19 patients in the city.
“This liquid oxygen is a critical part of the care hospitals are providing to fight the deadly disease and save lives,” Dyer said.
Central Florida residents are also being asked to wash only full loads of clothes, take short showers and turn off their water while brushing their teeth and shaving.
News4Jax wanted to know whether local residents will soon be asked to conserve their water usage, as well.
A spokesperson with JEA issued this statement to News4Jax, saying:
“JEA uses Liquid Oxygen Systems at both the Main Street and Greenland water treatment plants to generate ozone for water treatment. Currently, JEA does not have any delivery issues. The ozone at the Main Street Water Treatment Plant is used for odor control, which is not required as part of water treatment. If JEA runs out of Liquid Oxygen Systems, the water can still be treated at both locations. At Greenland, ozone is used for disinfection. JEA can switch over to sodium hypochlorite for disinfection if needed. This will likely require FDEP permission.”
News4Jax also reached out to the Clay County Utility Authority, where a spokesperson told us:
“We reached out to our suppliers this morning and have no issues with suppliers of this type. We do not anticipate any problems. The Clay Utility Authority uses Ferric Sulfate and Hypochlorite to treat the water, we are not experiencing shortages locally.”
News4Jax has also learned that the liquid oxygen shortage isn’t only affecting water utilities. The shortage may delay Space X’s remaining launch schedule this year since liquid oxygen is the most commonly used propellant in vehicles being launched into space.