Water in Florida.
Florida is overwhelmingly groundwater-fed, drawing from the Floridan aquifer that underlies most of the state. Saltwater intrusion in coastal areas and disinfection byproducts on surface systems are dominant concerns. Military-base PFAS contamination is widespread.
How Florida regulates drinking water.
Federal SDWA primacy. No state MCLs stricter than federal. State PFAS Dynamic Plan in active rulemaking since 2022.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection — Drinking Water Program
Florida's water history, in order.
The contamination events, regulatory shifts, and major settlements that define how this state thinks about drinking water today.
- 2014
PFAS contamination identified at multiple Florida military installations.
- 2018
Saltwater intrusion forces several South Florida utilities to deepen wells.
- 2022
Florida begins PFAS Dynamic Plan rulemaking.
The actual water you drink.
The physical rivers, aquifers, lakes, and reservoirs that feed Florida's public water systems. Source quality is the foundation of tap quality — and where the long-term protection fights happen.
- aquiferFloridan Aquifer System
One of the most productive aquifers in the world; supplies most of FL.
- aquiferBiscayne Aquifer
Sole-source aquifer for Miami-Dade and Broward.
- riverHillsborough River
Tampa surface supply.
- riverC-43 Reservoir + Caloosahatchee
Southwest FL.
Source-water mix
~85% groundwater (Floridan aquifer), ~15% surface water
Major cities served
Jacksonville · Miami · Tampa · Orlando · St. Petersburg
Who actually serves the water.
The largest public water systems in Florida by population served. Click your ZIP after to see the full live EWG report for your specific utility.
- Miami-Dade Water and Sewer DepartmentMiami metro2,500Kserved
- JEAJacksonville880Kserved
- Tampa Bay WaterTampa Bay region2,500Kserved
- Orange County UtilitiesOrlando metro600Kserved
- Pinellas County UtilitiesSt. Petersburg730Kserved
Where the contamination comes from.
Every state has a different industrial fingerprint. The industries below are the dominant historical and active contamination sources in Florida's drinking water systems.
Military firefighting foam (Tyndall, Eglin, MacDill, Patrick) created widespread PFAS contamination. Phosphate mining (Bone Valley) drives radium and gypsum contamination in central FL groundwater. Agricultural sugar runoff into Lake Okeechobee drives downstream algal blooms.
What state data flags most consistently.
Drawn from EPA SDWIS sampling records, EWG state summaries, and regional regulatory action over the past five years. Read the full deep dive on each.
Trihalomethanes (TTHMs)
Byproducts of chlorinating water. Linked to bladder cancer at chronic exposure.
PFAS (Forever Chemicals)
A class of ~15,000 synthetic chemicals that don't break down. Now regulated for the first time.
Lead
A neurotoxic metal that leaches from old pipes and solder. No safe level for children.
Chromium-6 (Hexavalent Chromium)
The Erin Brockovich chemical. A known carcinogen with no federal-specific limit yet.
Risk isn't evenly distributed.
Residents near Tyndall, Eglin, MacDill, Patrick Air Force Bases face the most-documented PFAS exposure. Coastal saltwater intrusion increasingly affects residential wells.
~10% on private wells, concentrated in rural North Florida and Panhandle.
What's coming for Florida's water.
Sea-level rise drives accelerating saltwater intrusion into Biscayne and Floridan aquifers along both coasts. Hurricane intensity (Ian, Idalia) overwhelms treatment plants and stormwater systems. Algal blooms (red tide, Lake Okeechobee blue-green) affect surface intakes in Southwest FL.
Voluntary statewide
Florida DOH provides voluntary screening. No mandate. Some district-level voluntary programs in Miami-Dade, Orange County.
Five questions for your next Consumer Confidence Report.
Your utility is required to send you a Consumer Confidence Report annually. Most are dense and procedural. These are the questions worth following up on for Florida specifically.
- 1
Has saltwater intrusion affected my municipal well field?
- 2
Does my system have a Class V injection well permit (common in FL)?
- 3
Has my utility tested for PFAS near any of the major military bases?
- 4
What is my system's radium 226/228 running average?
Most state regulators allow public records requests for the underlying lab reports behind your CCR — your utility should be able to provide them on request.
What's changed in Florida water law.
Drinking water regulation moves at the state level as much as the federal level. Below are notable recent bills and regulatory actions specific to Florida.
- 2024
FL DEP PFAS Dynamic Plan rulemaking actively underway.
- 2022
Coastal aquifer protection bill considered, did not pass.
NSF/ANSI 53 carbon block addresses TTHMs and most PFAS in standard concentrations. RO for households with documented saltwater intrusion.
We don't recommend brands — the NSF/ANSI certification number matters more than the name on the box.
This is the state. Your address is the answer.
State-level patterns don't tell you about your specific tap. Run your ZIP for the live EWG contaminant report on your utility — or build a personalized Water File for your household.
Source-water mix, utility counts, lead-service-line estimates, and private-well shares are approximate, drawn from EPA SDWIS public data and state primacy-agency summaries. Contaminant rankings reflect EWG state-level monitoring data and regional regulatory action — they are not exhaustive. Timeline events are publicly documented. See methodology for the full sourcing. Search EPA SDWIS for Florida