Tallahassee Water Service

Tallahassee's drinking water is groundwater pumped from the Floridan aquifer, drawn in 2024 from 27 deep City wells drilled directly into it (City of Tallahassee 2024 Water Quality Report).

The City's report on 2024 data says the source is good enough that only limited treatment is needed. Every well source was disinfected with chlorine, six of the 27 wells ran water through carbon filtration to remove certain chemicals found in the aquifer at those locations, one well with Greensand filtration for naturally occurring iron and manganese was offline that year, and another well provided treatment to sequester iron and manganese in the distribution system (City of Tallahassee 2024 Water Quality Report).

One treatment step has since ended. The 2024 report listed fluoride alongside chlorine, but the City's water quality page now says that after the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 700 in spring 2025, banning the addition of fluoride to public water systems, Tallahassee no longer adds fluoride (City of Tallahassee water quality page). The same Water Utility runs Tallahassee's wastewater and stormwater operations as well as drinking water (City of Tallahassee Water Utilities).

Tallahassee water is hard, averaging about 150 mg/L as calcium carbonate, or about 9 grains per gallon, because the groundwater moves through a limestone aquifer (City of Tallahassee water quality page).

That calcium is what leaves white stains in Tallahassee tubs and showers as water evaporates; the City says light stains come off with plain white vinegar. White flakes or sand-like grit in hot water, often caught in faucet aerator screens, can be caused by calcium deposits that settle in the water heater, and the City suggests having a water heater checked for deposits every couple of years, tank or tankless (City of Tallahassee water quality page).

The average pH of Tallahassee drinking water is about 7.5, inside the range of 6.5 to 8.5 that the Environmental Protection Agency recommends for public systems. Milky or cloudy water is usually tiny air bubbles that clear from the bottom of a glass in a few minutes, and brown or discolored water is most often caused by rusting water pipes, especially galvanized iron household plumbing (City of Tallahassee water quality page).

The City released its 2025 Water Quality Report, also called the Consumer Confidence Report, on June 11, 2026, covering monitoring from January 1 to December 31, 2025, at Talgov.com/WaterQuality (City of Tallahassee news, June 11, 2026).

Report years can confuse. Federal mandates changed the report's naming convention in 2023, so each report now reflects the year its data was collected, not the year it is released, so the 2025 report came out in 2026 (City of Tallahassee water quality page). The City's older link at wqr.pdf still opens the 2024 report, which is where the well and treatment figures on this page come from (City of Tallahassee 2024 Water Quality Report).

Testing is done locally. The City's Water Quality Laboratory is certified to analyze nearly 300 chemical components and processes 8,000 to 10,000 samples a year, and it also offers household plumbing and private well water testing throughout Leon County. In 2024 the Florida Department of Environmental Protection ran a Source Water Assessment of the City system and found 67 potential sources of contamination near the wells, with susceptibility from low to high (City of Tallahassee 2024 Water Quality Report). The 2024 report points to the results on FDEP's Source Water Assessment and Protection Program site, a program whose authorization was one of eight 1996 amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (FDEP SWAPP). City water customers can ask for an in-home water quality test at no cost by calling 850-891-1200 (City of Tallahassee water quality page).

No, by the City's account: Tallahassee declares its drinking water distribution system lead-free, based on an analysis carried out from 2023 to 2025 and accepted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (City of Tallahassee water service lines).

Lead-free here means no lead service lines, no galvanized lines needing replacement, no lines of unknown status and no known lead or unknown connectors in the City's system. The City built the finding from its initial service line inventory, published with customer outreach in October 2024, then refined it with field checks of lines whose material was unknown, records reviews and predictive modeling (City of Tallahassee water service lines).

The declaration covers the City's distribution system. The City notes that lead was prohibited in the construction of service lines in Tallahassee in 1977, so those materials are highly unlikely in homes built after that year, and the service line inventory lets residents look up the line at a home or business (City of Tallahassee water service lines).

On the City's commercial schedule, monthly water minimums in Tallahassee rise with meter size, from $17.75 on a 5/8 inch meter to $1,406.91 on an 8 inch meter, each including a set amount of water (City of Tallahassee Water Utilities).

Source: City of Tallahassee Water Utilities. One cgal is 100 gallons; customers outside the City pay a 50 percent surcharge.

Above the included amount, the commercial water rate is $.3138 per cgal, and irrigation water is $.45522 per cgal. The City says irrigation and evaporative cooling towers need separate metering to avoid sewer charges on that water, a point to settle before a Tallahassee business or homeowners association installs sprinklers (City of Tallahassee Water Utilities). For residential meters other than 5/8 inch, the City says to call Customer Operations at 850-891-4968 (City of Tallahassee Water Utilities).

Tallahassee water customers are not under any water use restrictions at present, though the City recommends using water wisely (City of Tallahassee water quality page).

The City's conservation tips are to water lawns in the morning before 10 a.m., skip watering in hot or windy conditions, fit irrigation systems with rain sensors, use hose nozzles that shut off automatically and sweep driveways and sidewalks instead of hosing them, and to call a plumber or the City if a leak is suspected (City of Tallahassee water quality page).

Precautionary boil water notices are posted from the City's Water Utilities page, which also links aquifer protection, cross-connection control and the water service line inventory. The page lists City of Tallahassee Utilities at 850-891-4968 and 435 N. Macomb St., beside its Report a Problem link (City of Tallahassee Water Utilities).

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the City's water quality FAQ, the commercial meter schedule, the lead-free service line page, the June 11, 2026 report notice, the 2024 report's well and lab figures and FDEP's SWAPP page.