Is Tap Water Safe to Drink in Florida?

If you recently moved to Florida and have been drinking tap water, you may be wondering if Florida tap water is safe to drink. Perhaps your tap water has an odor and taste that isn’t exactly pleasant. Long-term Florida residents have probably noticed that the smell and taste of tap water vary throughout the state. For example, you may have noticed that the tap water in your office tastes slightly different from the tap water in your home, and you are concerned about the safety of drinking it.

Is Tap Water Safe to Drink in Florida?

The answer to that question is a qualified yes. Under normal conditions, most public water systems in the State of Florida are regulated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and must meet their strict regulations for water quality and safety. Seven counties, though, are regulated by the Florida Department of Health (DOH), a sister agency. To complicate matters even more, extremely small Florida water systems known as Community Public Drinking Water Systems are regulated under a different set of rules and may not be required to meet the same DEP and DOH standards as larger systems.

Why Does My Highly Regulated Tap Water Taste Bad?

There are two reasons why your highly regulated tap water may not smell or taste the way you think it should. First, DEP regulations specify the maximum amount of minerals, metals, and contaminants allowed in tap water. That doesn’t mean that the tap water is free of those things. It just means that their concentrations are below DEP maximum levels. Second, DEP is mostly concerned about the safety of tap water and not the smell or taste of it. Some substances found in tap water are not highly regulated because they are not considered to be a safety hazard. However, those substances may still alter the smell and taste of your tap water.

What Is the Source of Florida Tap Water?

Most of Florida’s tap water comes from groundwater. The water is pumped out of the state’s aquifer through the use of deep wells. An aquifer is an underground layer of permeable rock, such as limestone, through which water can flow. Florida’s aquifer consists of three layers, and tap water is usually pumped out of the deepest layer. The rock in that layer acts as a natural filter and filters out sediment and larger-sized particulates. However, it does not filter out dissolved substances or extremely small particulates.

Can Florida’s Groundwater Become Contaminated?

Yes, Florida’s groundwater can become contaminated, which means that Florida’s tap water can also become contaminated. Sources of contamination include such things as fertilizer runoff, golf course irrigation, construction, and mining. Dry cleaning solvents and leaking underground storage tanks also contribute to groundwater contamination. From time to time, a sewer line will break, which causes raw sewage to flow into surface water.

When there is a chance that tap water has been contaminated, public utility systems are required to issue a “boil water” notice. That means that your water is not safe to drink unless you boil it. Boil water notices are also given when a major water line breaks because the water from a broken water line is in direct contact with the soil. Even when things are working the way they should, your tap water will contain a certain number of contaminants that escape the natural filtering systems.

Why Does My Tap Water Taste and Smell Like Bleach?

Not only can tap water contain minerals, metals, and contaminants, but it also can contain bacteria capable of making people sick with diseases like Salmonella. To prevent that from happening, regulated Florida public utility systems inject chlorine or chloramine into their water, usually at wellheads. The chlorine or chloramine is what gives your water its bleach smell and taste. The amount of chlorine and chloramine used is small and is not believed to cause any adverse health effects. However, a high concentration of it can negatively affect your water quality.