Data report · October 2026

Florida Tap Water Report 2026

We ranked 25 of Florida's largest water systems, serving about 5,300,000 people, by how many contaminants in their own test results exceed independent health guidelines. Every one of them has at least three.

25 of 25systems have at least three contaminants above EWG health guidelines

25 of 25have disinfection by-products above guidelines

3average above EPA's 2029 PFAS limit: Pensacola, Palm Bay, Boynton Beach

14contaminants above guidelines in City of Cocoa, the most of any system

The ranking

Ranked by the number of contaminants above EWG health guidelines, then by the largest exceedance.

25 Florida community water systems, averages of each utility's own testing
#	Water system	County	People served	Above guidelines	Highest
1	City of CocoaCocoa	Brevard	294,039	14	HAA9 724×
2	Emerald Coast Utilities AuthorityPensacola	Escambia	240,274	12	PFHxS 4,370×
3	City of SarasotaSarasota	Sarasota	55,364	12	TTHMs 352×
4	Northwest Utilities (Hillsborough County)Tampa	Hillsborough	206,485	11	HAA9 307×
5	City of Palm BayPalm Bay	Brevard	121,160	10	PFHxS 2,300×
6	Venice Water DepartmentVenice	Sarasota	31,358	10	HAA9 94×
7	Pasco County RegionalNew Port Richey	Pasco	214,403	9	HAA9 181×
8	Boynton BeachBoynton Beach	Palm Beach	112,000	8	PFHxS 3,300×
9	Lee County UtilitiesFort Myers	Lee	266,949	8	HAA9 301×
10	Orlando Utilities CommissionOrlando	Orange	456,036	7	HAA9 544×
11	Pinellas County UtilitiesClearwater	Pinellas	506,353	7	HAA9 486×
12	Charlotte County UtilitiesPort Charlotte	Charlotte	156,367	6	HAA9 415×
13	City of St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg	Pinellas	349,979	6	HAA9 375×
14	Orange County Utilities WestOrlando	Orange	206,742	6	HAA9 361×
15	City of MelbourneMelbourne	Brevard	167,460	6	HAA9 282×
16	Indian River County UtilitiesVero Beach	Indian River	126,893	6	TTHMs 257×
17	Manatee County UtilitiesBradenton	Manatee	347,800	5	HAA9 1,029×
18	City of LakelandLakeland	Polk	193,297	5	HAA9 533×
19	Port St. Lucie UtilitiesPort St. Lucie	St. Lucie	224,485	5	HAA9 376×
20	MiramarMiramar	Broward	127,700	5	HAA9 249×
21	City of Cape CoralCape Coral	Lee	163,647	5	TTHMs 200×
22	Collier County RegionalNaples	Collier	171,370	4	HAA9 392×
23	Gainesville Regional UtilitiesGainesville	Alachua	194,036	4	TTHMs 322×
24	Orange County Utilities EastOrlando	Orange	293,374	3	HAA9 754×
25	Toho Water Authority EasternKissimmee	Osceola	110,102	3	HAA9 548×

How to read this

Health guideline: the level the Environmental Working Group says poses minimal health risk over a lifetime, based on current science. These guidelines are stricter than federal law.

Legal limit: the federal maximum a water system can deliver. Many limits are decades old, and many contaminants have none. Apart from the PFAS results noted, the averages here are within today's legal limits.

Disinfection by-products: trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids form when chlorine or chloramine reacts with natural matter in source water. They show up in every system in this report. More on HAA9 and TTHM.

PFAS: "forever chemicals" from firefighting foam and industry. The EPA set limits of 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS in 2024, enforceable from 2029; in 2026 it proposed letting some systems have until 2031.

Method

Results are averages of each utility's own testing as published in the EWG Tap Water Database; each system's years are listed on its page. A contaminant counts when its average exceeds EWG's health guideline, and the multiple shows by how much. We started with Florida's 40 largest community water systems by population served. The database could not be reached for 15 of them (including Miami-Dade, JEA, the City of Tampa, Palm Beach County and Sarasota County), so they are not ranked; we will add them from each utility's annual water quality report.

Averages over many years are not the same as current compliance. Water systems report compliance to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on their own schedules; check your utility's latest annual water quality report for current results.

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Source: EWG Tap Water Database, compiled October 2026. EWG's health guidelines are far stricter than federal legal limits. Long-term averages describe the public supply, not any one home, and aren't the same as current compliance; see your utility's latest annual water quality report. Whole Home Company sells and installs home water treatment and isn't affiliated with any utility or with EWG.