Drinking water quality · 2024
· Verified
· PWSID FL4504393
What's in West Palm Beach, FL tap water
5 contaminants in West Palm Beach, FL's water sat at or above a federal limit, led by Turbidity at 83.3x the limit.
- !5 contaminants at or above a federal limit — worst is Turbidity at 83.3x
- !1 contaminant within 20% of a limit
- !10 of 27 core regulated contaminants reported — 17 never appear in this report
- ✓No open federal violations
+How this score is calculated
Every system starts at 100. Points come off for measured levels, for the federal violation record, and for how much of the core regulated set the utility actually reported. All three inputs are the utility's own published numbers and EPA's own records.
- −60 contaminants at or above a federal limit
- −4 contaminants within 20% of a limit
- −0 open health-based violations
- −0 open monitoring / reporting violations
- −2 health-based violations resolved in the last 5 years
- −14 core regulated contaminants never reported (10/27)
A 90–100 · B 80–89 · C 70–79 · D 60–69 · F below 60. A system reporting under a third of the core set is capped at C however clean its numbers look — a short report is not a clean bill of health.
Full grading methodology, constant for constant →What to worry about
- Turbidity83.3× the federal limit83.3 NTU · limit 1 NTU
High turbidity can shelter microbes from disinfection; the EPA enforces it through a treatment-technique standard.
higher than 95% of U.S. systems
- PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)5.0× the federal limit20 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
higher than 85% of U.S. systems
- PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid)2.3× the federal limit9 ng/L · limit 4 ng/L
Linked to cancer, liver damage, and immune effects; the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion.
higher than 85% of U.S. systems
- TTHM1.1× the federal limit13.9–90.1 ug/L · limit 80 ug/L
Long-term exposure above the federal limit is linked to liver, kidney, and central-nervous-system effects and increased cancer risk.
higher than 95% of U.S. systems
- Chlorine Total1.1× the federal limit0.4–4.3 mg/L · limit 4 mg/L
higher than 95% of U.S. systems
- Chlorine93% of the federal limit0–3.7 mg/L · limit 4 mg/L
Effective and necessary, but high residual levels can cause taste and odor issues; the EPA caps the residual disinfectant level.
higher than 95% of U.S. systems
+15 contaminants were measured and came in below the limitShow all
| Contaminant | Measured | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFHxS (Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid) | 6.4 ng/L | 10 ng/L |
| HAA5 | 7.2–27.7 ug/L | 60 ug/L |
| Copper | 0.15 mg/L | 1.3 mg/L |
| Lead | 1.3 ug/L | 15 ug/L |
| Fluoride | 0.089 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Nitrate | 0.16 mg/L | 10 mg/L |
| Barium | 0.0051 mg/L | 2 mg/L |
| Sodium | 24.9 mg/L | — |
| TOC | 1.1 | — |
| PFHxA | 6.5 ng/L | — |
| PFBS | 6.1000000000000005 ng/L | — |
| PFPeA | 7.7 ng/L | — |
| 6:2 FTS | 0.013 µg/L | — |
| PFHpA | 3.1 ng/L | — |
| PFBA | 5 ng/L | — |
What this report doesn't tell you
17 of the 27 contaminants a community water system normally reports do not appear anywhere in West Palm Beach, FL's data. Absent is not the same as absent-from-the-water — it means nobody published a number.
+Full detail: PFAS testing, water source, historical monitoring, and the federal violation record
PFAS — EPA UCMR5 (2023–2025)
2 PFAS compounds above EPA limits in West Palm Beach, FL
The EPA finalized the first-ever federal drinking-water limits for six PFAS compounds in April 2024. These numbers come straight from EPA's UCMR5 lab dataset — every U.S. system serving more than 3,300 people tested every PFAS sample at an entry point to its distribution system. PFAS not listed below were either tested and not detected, or not yet sampled.
PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)
● Over EPA limit (5.0×)PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid)
● Over EPA limit (2.3×)PFHxS (Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid)
● Below limitPFHxA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBS
● Detected (no federal limit)PFPeA
● Detected (no federal limit)6:2 FTS
● Detected (no federal limit)PFHpA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBA
● Detected (no federal limit)Where your water comes from · EPA SDWIS
West Palm Beach, FL's drinking water comes from ground water, drawn from 142 sources.
Source
- WELL · 114
- SYSTEM 3 · 4
- WRONGLY ENTERED · 2
- WELL 9W-2R
- + 21 more
Treatment
- SYSTEM 2
- SYSTEM 3
- SYSTEM 8
- + 8 more
Distribution
Compliance history
Federal Safe Drinking Water Act violation & enforcement records (EPA SDWIS). A violation is a regulatory determination by the state or EPA — separate from the measured levels above.
- Maximum contaminant level exceededHealth-based1 violation on record · most recent Dec 2023resolved
Source: EPA SDWIS / ECHO. View the full federal record on EPA ECHO ↗