Overview
Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, one of the PFAS family. Used in firefighting foam and as a stain and water repellent, it does not break down in the environment or in the body. EPA set a federal limit of 10 parts per trillion for it in 2024.
In Florida, PFHxS was found in 108 community water systems serving about 8,121,206 people. 11 of those readings were above the federal legal limit, together serving 494,023 people.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) in Escambia County, at 553% of it.
Where it comes from: Firefighting foam, especially at airports and military sites; stain-resistant treatments; industrial discharge.
The standards
Legal limit (MCL)
10 ppt
Enforceable. A utility must stay at or under this.
Federal health goal (MCLG)
Not set
Health-based, not enforceable. Often lower than the limit, sometimes zero.
EPA health goal (MCLG)
10 ppt
EPA maximum contaminant level goal (2024), PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, 89 FR 32532, April 26 2024. EPA set this as the level with no known or expected risk to health, with an adequate margin of safety. It is a health goal, not a limit: unlike the legal limit, no test of what utilities can afford went into it.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: EPA links PFAS exposure to decreased immune response, increased cholesterol, and developmental effects in infants and children.
The health goal is set on health alone. The legal limit is set as close to it as is technically and economically feasible, so treatment cost and available technology are written into the number a utility is measured against. A system at or under the limit is meeting the standard it is required to meet. Both numbers are shown so the distance between them is visible.
What removes it
Granular activated carbon, anion exchange resin, or reverse osmosis. Shorter-chain PFAS are harder to capture than PFOA and PFOS and exhaust carbon faster, so replacement intervals matter more, not less. Boiling concentrates it.
Treatment guidance describes the methods generally used for this contaminant. What your own tap actually carries depends on your plumbing and your service line as much as on the utility, which is what a test at the house tells you and an annual report cannot.
Where in Florida
CountySystemsOver limit
Escambia County289,578 people served32Pasco County51,449 people served42Palm Beach County910,924 people served91Hillsborough County843,402 people served61Lake County215,851 people served101Marion County161,526 people served41Santa Rosa County97,613 people served51Citrus County36,412 people served21Sumter County8,556 people served21Miami-Dade County2,874,819 people served9NoneBroward County1,098,597 people served16NoneVolusia County266,355 people served7NoneSeminole County241,237 people served6NoneLeon County211,875 people served2NonePolk County175,950 people served5NoneBrevard County139,408 people served3NoneHernando County135,207 people served1NoneHighlands County64,261 people served2NoneSt. Lucie County61,954 people served2NoneMartin County49,688 people served3NoneIndian River County37,308 people served1NoneOrange County34,000 people served1NoneLee County32,296 people served1NonePinellas County28,875 people served1NoneCollier County25,838 people served1NoneOkeechobee County20,000 people served1NoneJackson County8,227 people served1NoneHighest reported levels
Water systemReadingOf limit
Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA)Pensacola · Escambia County55.3 ppt553%Ocala, City ofOcala · Marion County42 ppt420%Lady Lake Central - WPS 1,2,3Lady Lake · Lake County24.1 ppt241%Citrus CO Utl/Charles A. BlackLecanto · Citrus County19 ppt190%Zephyrhills City ofZephyrhills · Pasco County18.1 ppt181%Lake Panasoffkee Water Assn 2wpsLake Panasoffkee · Sumter County18 ppt180%Moore Creek Mount Carmel UtilitiesJay · Santa Rosa County14.5 ppt145%Orangewood Water SystemHoliday · Pasco County12.9 ppt129%University of South FloridaTampa · Hillsborough County12 ppt120%Palm Springs, Village ofPalm Springs · Palm Beach County11 ppt110%Peoples Water Service CompanyPensacola · Escambia County11 ppt110%NAS Pensacola / Corry StationPensacola · Escambia County10 ppt100%Orange City UtilitiesOrange City · Volusia County9.5 ppt95%MDWASA - Main SystemMiami · Miami-Dade County9.4 ppt94%Pembroke Pines, City ofPembroke Pines · Broward County9.1 ppt91%Tarpon Springs Water SystemTarpon Springs · Pinellas County9.1 ppt91%North Bay Village, City ofNorth Bay Village · Miami-Dade County9.1 ppt91%Pace Water System, INC.Pace · Santa Rosa County8.8 ppt88%City of Temple Terrace UtilityTemple Terrace · Hillsborough County8.8 ppt88%Lantana Water Treatment PlantLantana · Palm Beach County8.8 ppt88%North Miami, City ofNorth Miami · Miami-Dade County8.6 ppt86%Deland, City ofDeland · Volusia County8.6 ppt86%Bradfordville Regional W/SQuincy · Leon County8.4 ppt84%Lauderhill, City ofLauderhill · Broward County8.3 ppt83%Village of IndiantownIndiantown · Martin County8 ppt80%Know when your water changes
We will email you when new readings, violations or health goals land for your system.
Or schedule a water consultation.
Data Sources
EPA SDWISSystem identity, population, countyret. 2026
FDEPFlorida drinking-water chemical monitoringret. 2026
CCREach utility’s own annual reportret. 2026
CA OEHHACalifornia public health goals, the health-based benchmark where one is publishedret. 2026
FWROur own benchmarks, only where no government body has published one, each citing the official source it is built onret. 2026
These figures describe water as delivered by each utility, not what your home’s plumbing adds after it arrives. Informational; not a substitute for testing your own tap.
