Does Florida Have Hard Water? Water Softener For Florida

Is Florida’s water hard or soft?

21.48 million people living in Florida, the third most populous state in America, are suffering from the “Hard Water Problem”. Most of the cities located in Florida have “Hard” to “Very Hard” water. Depending on the area and water supply, the water hardness level in Florida ranges from 5 (85 PPM) Grains per Gallon to 19 (317 PPM) Grains per Gallon.

According to the standard water hardness scale set by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), any water that contains more than 7 grains of hardness causing minerals like calcium, magnesium, calcium carbonate per gallon is considered “Hard”. We have collected water hardness data for most of the cities in Florida. Take a look and find out exactly how hard the water is in your area.

Water Hardness Data of Florida

City	Water Hardness Level	City	Water Hardness Level
Boca Raton	189 PPM (mg/L) or 11 gpg	Fort Lauderdale	157 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg
Cape Coral	85 PPM (mg/L) or 5 gpg	Gainesville	140 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg
Clearwater	178 PPM (mg/L) or 10 gpg	Greater Miami Area	219 PPM (mg/L) or 12 gpg
Coral Springs	298 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg	Hialeah	290 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg
Jacksonville	154 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg	Lakeland	180 PPM (mg/L) or 11 gpg
Orlando	129 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg	Palm Bay	103 PPM (mg/L) or 6 gpg
Pembroke Pines	276 PPM (mg/L) or 16 gpg	Port St. Lucy	197 PPM (mg/L) or 12 gpg
St. Petersburg	161 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg	Tallahassee	126 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Tampa Metro Area	220 PPM (mg/L) or 13 gpg	West Palm Beach	317 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg
PPM = Parts Per Million	mg/L = Milligrams Per Liter	gpg = Grains Per Gallon	–

Where does Florida get its water?

The Florida Water Resources Act (Chapter 373), established in 1972, states all the water in Florida, either on the surface or under the ground, is considered public water. And, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the five water management districts are responsible for managing the water supply in Florida.

According to their “Annual Status Report on Regional Water Supply Planning”, the current water demand for the state of Florida stands at 6.5 billion gallons per day. Out of 6.5 billion gallons, 2.6 billion gallons of water are being used for public supply. 2.5 billion gallons of water are being used for agriculture and the remaining 1.4 billion gallons are being used for power generation, industrial and recreational purposes. The department estimates that water demand will go up and reach 7.4 billion gallons per day by the end of 2040.

In order to meet the demand, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection collects water from various rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes, springs, aquifers, and estuaries across the state to meet the enormous water demand of Floridians. Out of these sources, rivers, streams, and aquifers contribute the most to the public water supply system.

Rivers and Streams: As surface water and rainwater glides over Floridian’s landscape, it creates a network of rivers and streams across the state. For your information, Florida receives 40-60 inches of rain per year. In this network, over 1,700 rivers are connected to each other. These rivers and streams are from a few feet to a couple of miles wide. They carry freshwater to every corner of the state just like the human vein carries blood to every organ of the human body. Floridian river water is not only important for humans but also plays a vital role in meeting the water demand of wildlife.

Aquifers: An aquifer is an enormous balloon-shaped rock formation that can hold water. Gravity continuously pulls water towards the earth’s core. Due to this force, river water, stream water, and rainwater go through the upper layer of the earth’s crust penetrating layers of sand, soil, clay, and rock. Eventually, water travels deep inside and gets stored in gigantic aquifers.

The state of Florida has 3 main aquifers: The Surficial Aquifer, The Intermediate Aquifer, and The Statewide Floridan Aquifer. Altogether, they provide billions of gallons of freshwater per day.

Do you need to use a water softener in Florida?

If you want to get rid of hard water, you need to use a softener in Florida. You can either use a Salt-based Water Softener or a Salt-free Water Conditioner to turn hard water into soft water. Both of the systems are capable enough to provide soft water to the whole house. Depending on size, water supplying capacity, and other features, they cost between 700 to 800 dollars.

If that seems expensive to you, you can use budget-friendly a Electronic Water Descaler as well. They use electricity to diminish the hard water effects and protect water pipes from limescale. Although, electronic descalers are not as powerful as water softeners. And, they only work where the water hardness level is below 15 grains per gallon. They cost somewhere between 150 to 299 dollars.

Additionally, you can use an Anti-Scale Shower Filter specifically designed to provide soft water in the shower. One-time shower filters cost around 50 dollars and can protect your scalp, hair, and skin from hard water.

Water softeners, water conditioners, electric water descalers, and shower filters are widely available on Amazon. Below, we have listed the 4 best water softeners for Florida. Take a look-

Water Softener for Florida

Is Florida tap water safe to drink?

The state of Florida ranks 2nd in providing unsafe and bad-tasting water in America. The number of violations that have been reported in the “Annual Report on Violations of the U.S. and Florida Safe Drinking Water Acts in the State of Florida” indicated that Floridian tap water is far from safe to drink. As of 2020-21, the state of Florida has 5,068 active public water systems and 1,410 of these water systems have violated at least one rule of the U.S Safe Drinking Water Act. These water systems, altogether, have made a total of 5,928 violations of the Water Cct in the state of Florida. You can check each of those violations reported here by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

What are the major contaminants found in Florida tap water?

Contaminant Name	Contaminant Type	Maximum Contamination Level	Number of ‘Maximum Contaminant Level’ Violations	Number of Monitoring/ Reporting Violations
Arsenic	Inorganic Contaminants	0.01 mg/L	3	10
Fluoride	Inorganic Contaminants	4 mg/L	3	21
Nitrate	Inorganic Contaminants	10 mg/L	3	182
Thallium	Inorganic Contaminants	0.002 mg/L	3	11
Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon & Uranium	Radionuclide Contaminants	15 pCi/L	4	30
Combined Radium (226 & 228)	Radionuclide Contaminants	5 pCi/L	9
Haloacetic Acids (Five) HAA5	Disinfection By-products	0.06 mg/L	77	165
Total Trihalomethanes TTHM	Disinfection By-products	0.08 mg/L	169	164
Lead	LCR	0.0 mg/L	4	88
Copper	LCR	1.3 mg/L	4	88

Based on the Annual Water Quality Report, 10 contaminants are the major concerns for the Florida water supply authority. In the table, you can see these contaminants have crossed the “Maximum Contaminant Level” multiple times in 2020-21. They are divided into 4 categories.

• Inorganic Contaminants – Arsenic, Fluoride, Nitrate, Thallium
• Radionuclide Contaminants – Alpha Radon, Uranium, and Radium
• Disinfection By-Products – Haloacetic Acids, Total Trihalomethanes
• LCR – Lead and Copper

Inorganic Contaminants in Florida’s Tap Water

1) Safe Water Act Violation due to arsenic contamination in Florida’s tap water

Arsenic is a widely available natural element that can be found on earth’s crust, rock, sand, and soil. Floridian water authorities have found arsenic both in groundwater and surface water. Continuous consumption of arsenic-contaminated water leads to cancer, liver and kidney damage, sore throat and irritated lungs, etc.

The environmental protection agency has set the “Maximum Contamination Level” for arsenic at 0.01 mg/L. The report shows that arsenic contamination level has crossed the limit at least 3 times in the year 2020-21. Additionally, the authority has failed to properly monitor and report the contamination level 10 times making the situation even worse.

2) Are there elevated levels of Fluoride in Florida’s tap water?

Fluoride is a tasteless and odorless element. It is the 13th most available element on earth’s surface. It is found in all-natural waters. In small quantities, fluoride in water is good for dental health. The EPA has set the maximum limit of fluoride in water at 4 milligrams per liter.

But excessive fluoride consumption is nothing but harmful to humans. Continuous congestion of uncontrolled fluoride through drinking water leads to fluorous which attacks the teeth and bones. In advanced cases, fluoride congestion can potentially cause severe skeletal problems like brittle bones and neurological impairment.

Fluoride contamination in Florida tap water has crossed the maximum contamination level three times this year. And, the authorities reported that they failed to properly monitor and test fluoride levels in water 9 times this year. The number of violations could have increased if they did their jobs properly. All of these are a clear indication that Florida tap water contains excessive amounts of fluoride that is not safe for drinking without filtering.

3) Nitrate and Thallium in Florida’s city water

Nitrate and Thallium are two other inorganic particles that have also made Florida tap water unsafe to drink. Nitrate is a polyatomic ion that gets directly into the water source from fertilizer runoff. And, thallium is a man-made chemical that contaminates water by gaseous emission from cement factories, coal-burning power plants, and metal sewers.

Nitrate-contaminated water impairs the blood circulation process. It turns hemoglobin into methemoglobin, preventing oxygen circulation through blood in the human body. Excessive nitrate intake has serious health effects, including excess heart rate, heart attack, and heart failure.

Harmful Radioactive Particles in Florida’s Tap Water

Radionuclide contaminants including Alpha Radon, Uranium, and Radium have been found in tap water in Florida. There are sources from which radionuclide particles can get mixed with water, either from natural sources or from man-made sources.

Groundwater and river water that flows through phosphate-rich soils and rock areas are most likely to be polluted with naturally occurring uranium. And, groundwater close to uranium mining plants is also contaminated with radioactive particles.

It is the Floridian water supply authority’s responsibility to clear out all kinds of radioactive particles from the water before sending them out to the public. But they have failed miserably in their job. The consumer confidence report 2020-21 has reported that 13 times Florida tap water had more radionuclide particles than the allowed limit.

Evidently, radionuclide particles in drinking water have terrifying health effects. They can cause bone cancer, kidney failure, liver cancer, neuron damage, etc.

Disinfection-By-Products in Florida’s Water

Federal law compels all water treatment plants to use disinfectant chemicals to kill pathogenic organisms in water before sending it out to the public. Because Florida’s water contains an excessive amount of organic matter, they react with disinfectant chemicals and create disinfection by-products.

Haloacetic Acids (Five) HAA5 and Total Trihalomethanes TTHM are two of those disinfection by-products that have been found to cross the maximum contamination level in Florida’s water.

Lead and Copper in Florida’s Tap Water

Lead is a tasteless, odorless, and extremely toxic heavy metal. It is by far the most dangerous impurity found in drinking water because it does permanent damage to the human body. Lead can penetrate human brains and disrupt neuron development. In children, it can cause permanent neural damage which leads to lower IQs, memory failure, and deficit disorder.

In the 1990s, people in America used lead pipes for water supply without realizing their action. They also used lead pipes and faucets in homes, schools, and houses. The Natural Resources Defense Council says there are at least 200,000 lead services in Florida that can cause a lead poisoning outbreak at any time. Because these old service lines flush high amounts of dissolved lead that eventually ends up in food and drinking water.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health monitor the lead levels in drinking water. They have found lead-contaminated at various sampling stations.

The Biden administration has taken the initiative to replace all lead pipes from coast to coast by 2024. The administration has also urged individual households to replace their lead pipes and faucets if they have any.

If you think you may have lead in your drinking water, test for lead immediately. If found, use a Reverse Osmosis Water Filter to remove lead and other pollutants from your drinking water.

Why does Florida tap water taste so bad?

We have seen people complaining about the taste of Floridian tap water. People drinking Florida’s tap for the first time say it tastes like metal and is somewhat salty. And, oftentimes it smells like rotten eggs.

There is a simple explanation behind the odd taste and smell. Pure water is tasteless and odorless. Bad tasting water indicates the water is contaminated. Different impurities have different smells. Check the table of different tastes that you might experience in Florida’s tap water to find out the possible source of that taste.

Contaminant Name	Taste	Contaminant Name	Taste
Chloride	Salty	Chloramine	Salty
Copper	Metallic	Iron	Metallic
Manganese	Bitter, Metallic	pH – Low (<6.5)	Bitter, Metallic
pH – High (>8.5)	Soda taste, slippery	Sulfate	Salty or Rotten Egg
Total dissolved solids (TDS)	Salty	Zinc	Metallic

How much is the water bill in Florida?

For a family of 3-4 adults that uses 300 gallons (American standard) of water per day, the monthly water bill in Florida can be between 40-60 dollars. However, the water bill can vary because the city charges for water and sewer together.

What is the ph of tap water in Florida?

Florida Department of Environmental Protection reports the pH of tap water in Florida ranges from 6.5 to 8.5.

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