Florida Water Report shows you what public records say about the drinking water in your area, for every community water system in the state and for private-well groundwater. We read each system’s measured levels against the published health goals first, because the legal limit is not a health line. We also publish what a utility’s own annual report cannot: its violation and enforcement record, and the unregulated contaminants a national survey found and then stopped looking for.
Some of what follows is alarming. That is not a choice of tone. It is what the records say, and there is a source on every figure so you can check it yourself.
How we read the numbers
Two numbers matter for any contaminant, and we show both. The health goal (the federal MCLG, or a state public health goal) is the level with no known or expected health risk. It is set on health alone. The legal limit (the federal MCL) is what a utility must actually stay under, and by law it is set as close to the health goal as is technically and economically feasible. Treatment cost and available technology are written into it.
That is why the two numbers differ, and the gap between them is the honest thing to look at. A utility at or under the legal limit is meeting the standard it is required to meet, which is what it is there to do. It is not the same as the water matching the health goal, and for a number of contaminants that goal is zero. We show the limit, the health goal where an official one exists, and the actual reading, so you can see where your water sits between them rather than being told it passed.
Two further things the annual report does not tell you. The limit is measured at the treatment plant, so whatever your service line and your own plumbing add afterwards is not in that number. And compliance is a snapshot: a system can be within its limits this year and still carry health-based violations that were never resolved. We show that record too, from EPA’s own enforcement data, on every system that has one.
What happens when a system breaks the rules
Not much, and that is measurable. Across the Florida systems on this site EPA’s records show 1,639 health-based violations, 439 of which have no return-to-compliance date and were never recorded as fixed. Against those, 4,007 informal actions - letters, notices and site visits - 221 formal orders, and three penalties.
A health-based violation in Florida takes a median of 637 days to close, and 61 of them ran more than ten years. Systems keep operating the whole time, because cutting off a community’s water is not a remedy anyone wants. That is not a loophole so much as a fact about how the rules work, and it is the reason a system can be in compliance today and still carry years of unresolved violations. We show that record on every system that has one.
Where the numbers come from
Everything here comes from public records, not our opinion:
- EPA SDWIS for system identity, source, population served, and violation history.
- EPA UCMR 5 for nationwide PFAS monitoring.
- Florida DEP for statewide chemical monitoring results.
- Consumer Confidence Reports, each utility’s own annual report to its customers.
- USGS Water Quality Portal for private-well groundwater samples.
We cite the source and the retrieval date on every page. We do not run our own lab samples for these pages, and we do not change the numbers. If a reading looks wrong, it is drawn straight from the record, and we would rather you check it than trust us.
What this can and can’t tell you
These records describe the water your utility delivers, measured before it reaches your home. They cannot tell you what your own plumbing, water heater, softener, or fixtures add after the water arrives, and they cannot describe a private well that no agency has sampled. The only way to know what is actually coming out of your tap is to test that tap.
The water consultation
If you want to see your own numbers, we will arrange for a water professional to come out, test your home’s tap water and go through the results with you. No cost to you, and no obligation.
Who publishes this
Florida Water Report is published by a Southwest Florida water-treatment company. Testing and treating water is what we do, and this site grew out of wanting Floridians to look up honest, sourced information without a sales pitch attached. The data pages stand on their own, whether or not you ever book a test.
Contact and corrections
Questions, a correction, or a data source we should add? Email info@floridawaterreport.com. If you spot a number that looks off, tell us and we will check it against the record and fix it.
This site is informational and is not a substitute for testing your own water or for professional or medical advice.