Orlando residents urged to conserve water as hospital demand for liquid oxygen spikes

Now, COVID-19 is coming for your lawn-watering routine, at least in Central Florida.

There’s a shortage of liquid oxygen to treat water, because of the demand for it caused by inpatient COVID-19 hospitalizations, officials said.

The situation has Miami-Dade Sen. Annette Taddeo renewing her call for Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency. She sent the Governor a letter Friday saying such an order would alleviate looming shortages that were lessened the last time DeSantis called an emergency due to COVID-19, she said.

“We also saw the suspension of restrictions on how many hours truck drivers could be on the road, ensuring speedy replenishment of oxygen tanks where they were needed most,” Taddeo wrote. “It is clear that these expired provisions are desperately needed and must be reinstated by declaring a state of emergency, allowing the federal government to also supply these resources.”

A state Division of Emergency Management spokeswoman said there are currently rules in place for truckers to be on the road for extended hours to meet oxygen shipping needs.

More immediately, Orlando Utility Commission and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer are asking residents to stop watering their lawns for at least two weeks as water treatment must take a backseat to saving lives.

“This liquid oxygen is a critical part of the care that hospitals are providing to try to fight this deadly disease and to save lives,” Dyer said at a news conference Friday.

Liquid oxygen is used for the respiratory treatment of COVID-19 patients when they struggle to get oxygen into their lungs on their own. Usually, it’s used to treat conditions like asthma, cystic fibrosis, dysphasia, COPD, heart failure, lung disease, and pneumonia.

Liquid oxygen is also what OUC uses to remove hydrogen sulfide, a naturally occurring compound that yields an unpleasant odor in water coming from the Lower Florida Aquifer, according to a news release from the OUC.

OUC estimated they have about half of their usual supply of liquid oxygen because of the health care demand for it, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

“If OUC’s liquid oxygen supplies continue to be depleted and water usage isn’t reduced, water quality may be impacted,” a news release from the utility says. “But, we believe that will not happen if everyone does their part to conserve water.”

OUC estimates that 40% of the treated water is used for lawn irrigation. Customers without reclaimed water systems also should not wash their car or pressure wash to help conserve, OUC officials said.

Dr. Isaiah Cochran, a family medicine physician in North Orlando, said the crisis highlights how DeSantis has failed to lead on this crisis and keep the pandemic from reaching into more aspects of everyday life.

“As if the record number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 weren’t enough, now families in our community face a potential water crisis due to Gov. DeSantis’ failures throughout this pandemic,” said Cochran, who is a part of the Committee to Protect Health Care, a group of health care providers working for public policy that improves health care access. “Repeatedly, DeSantis has refused to take actions that would stem this crisis … Now Orlando faces a threat not just from the delta variant but from the very water we depend on to live.”