Palm Beach County, Florida: drinking water report. Palm Beach County serves approximately 1.5 million residents across a mix of coastal cities and inland…
Palm Beach County serves approximately 1.5 million residents across a mix of coastal cities and inland agricultural communities. The county's water comes primarily from the Surficial Aquifer System, supplemented by wells drawing from the deeper Floridan Aquifer in some western areas. Multiple utilities operate independently – Palm Beach County Water Utilities, the cities of West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Boynton Beach among the largest.
Like other South Florida counties, Palm Beach faces the dual challenge of saltwater intrusion and PFAS contamination. The USGS has mapped the saltwater front advancing into the Surficial Aquifer along the coast, threatening eastern wellfields. Some coastal utilities have already shifted to deeper wells or alternative sources.
UCMR5 data shows PFAS detections across several Palm Beach County water systems. Palm Beach International Airport and the former Palm Beach Air Force Base site are potential PFAS sources. According to the Florida DEP's 2024 statewide survey, nine public water systems in the county reported at least one PFAS compound above detection limits. Agricultural runoff from the western part of the county – one of the state's most productive farming regions – adds nitrate and pesticide concerns to the groundwater picture.
Coastal and inland communities in Palm Beach County face different water quality challenges. Eastern areas deal with saltwater intrusion; western areas near agricultural operations face runoff contaminants.
Check your water for data specific to your provider and ZIP code. For PFAS and broad contaminant protection, reverse osmosis is the most effective single filter type. Our water filter guide helps you choose based on your specific concerns. Pull your detailed report for trends, and see our Florida page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Palm Beach County, FL.
The EPA places Palm Beach County, FL in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 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.
34% of homes in Palm Beach County, FL were built before 1980, and 3% 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 Palm Beach County, FL averages 6.8 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
Across 48 public water systems serving Palm Beach County, FL with EPA lead testing on record, 7 (14.6%) reported a 90th-percentile lead result above the EPA's 15 ppb action level, and the median is 4 ppb. 18 water systems serving Palm Beach County, FL carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | 9 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 7 |
| Revised Total Coliform Rule | 3 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 2 |
| Total Coliform Rule | 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.