FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Patricia DiPiero, Lee County Utilities
               (239) 479-8534

LEE COUNTY UTILITIES CHANGE OF DISINFECTION

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 31, 2004) - Lee County Utilities (LCU) will be closing the interconnect between LCU and the City of Cape Coral on September 3, 2004. The City of Cape Coral uses free chlorine to disinfect their water, which is different from LCU, which uses chloramines. This change will take approximately 2-3 days to change completely back to chloramines. LCU will flush the lines to expedite the change.

Customers may notice a change in taste, odor and color of the water. The change is temporary and harmless. However, some customers should take special precautions. Those customers are:

Anyone using a kidney dialysis machine at home should contact the equipment supplier so proper filtering equipment may be installed.

Owners of tropical fish or other aquatic animals should contact a tropical fish store for ways to pre-treat water used to replenish the tanks.

Approximately 2003 metered residences and business will be affected by this disinfection process change.

Customers in the following area will be affected:

Hancock Bridge Pkwy between Orange Grove Blvd and 24th St, Orange Grove Blvd between Hancock Bridge Pkwy and Pondella Rd, Pondella Rd between Betmar Ave and Del Pine Dr. This will include all of the side streets that run into these main streets.