[AES328]

Hillsborough County has some of the worst tap water I've ever had, both for drinking and for dish washing/showing. Pasco isn't much better. A filter and/or softener is practically a must down here.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

Miami has some of the best tap water in the country they say.

IMO Miami's tap water was good. I drank it all the time when I lived there. The only time it wasn't so good was about two weeks or so each October, I think it was. At that time they "superchlorinated" their water to disinfect their systems, and the water tasted lousy. They used to notify places like dialysis centers when they did this, so that the centers could take extra steps in getting rid of the chlorine in the water they used for patients.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

We have pretty crummy tap water up here in St. Johns County. It's very hard (you need a water softener). And - even if you're on "city water" (like we are) - it has the merest hint of sulfur. You don't even want to think about well water here. OTOH - it's safe - never killed anyone best I can recall . Robyn

If I recall at some point some places in Palm Beach County ( Boca Raton for sure, maybe other places there) had tap water with a yellowish tinge. I don't remember drinking any water when I visited there, but it was yellow enough it was hard to tell if you'd flushed after using the john.

Robyn, do you know if the source of your water there is from aquifers (ground water) or surface water? I'm asking because we have well water here, from an artesian well they dug when they built our house, and the water right out of the ground is pretty sulfur-y. But the water system we have, involving an aerator which removes the sulfur gas, particle filters, and a water softner do a great job of removing that sulfur, we don't usually smell it in the water coming from the taps in the house. I don't know what the municipal water is like around here.

[straight shooter]

Miami has good tap water and Hialeah might even have better tap water.

[Michael3512]

From my experience, Florida tap water definitely runs the gamut with respect to taste, quality and hardness. I believe that most of Florida gets its water from the Floridan Aquifer (please correct me if I'm wrong), so variations in water quality are probably due to "how" the water is treated in different municipalities. Some places I've been had very hard water, some had moderately hard water, some had chlorine tasting water, some had water that tasted of sulfur, and some had water that didn't have any taste. Here is my rating of a few different places I've been in Florida:

Jacksonville: very hard water that has a strong sulfur smell you can smell when you run the tap. Probably the worst quality water I've experienced in Florida.

Orlando: similar to Jacksonville, very hard and smelly water.

Tampa: no real sulfur smell / taste, more of a chlorine smell. Still quite hard.

Lake Worth (Palm Beach Co.): slight sulfur smell and taste, but otherwise clean tasting. Moderately hard. I do believe Palm Beach Co. does soften it's water in their treatment process.

Miami Beach: best quality water I've experienced in Florida. Very clean tasting (slight chlorine taste and smell) and you can drink out of the tap no problem. Moderately to slightly hard.