Leon County, Florida: drinking water report. Leon County – Tallahassee – serves about 300,000 residents.
Leon County – Tallahassee – serves about 300,000 residents. The City of Tallahassee draws entirely from the Floridan Aquifer through a system of deep wells. As the state capital and home to two major universities (FSU and FAMU), the county's population fluctuates with the academic calendar and legislative sessions.
Tallahassee's Floridan Aquifer supply is deep and well-protected by thick clay layers. The water is naturally hard but generally free of industrial contaminants. UCMR5 data shows low-level PFAS detections in the city's system. The county does not host major military installations.
According to the Florida DEP's 2024 monitoring data, PFAS levels in the Tallahassee system were below proposed federal MCLs. The primary water quality issue is aesthetic – hardness and mineral content affect taste and cause scale buildup.
Tallahassee's water quality is strong by Florida standards. Hardness is the main complaint, not contamination.
Check your water for current data. A water softener addresses hardness; a carbon filter improves taste. Our water filter guide covers options. Pull your detailed report, and visit our Florida page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Leon County, FL.
The EPA places Leon County, FL in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
36% of homes in Leon County, FL were built before 1980, and 4% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Leon County, FL averages 8.7 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
29 public water systems serving Leon County, FL have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 9 water systems serving Leon County, FL carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 4 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 4 |
| Lead and Copper Rule | 3 |
| Revised Total Coliform Rule | 1 |
| Nitrate | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.