Central Florida Water Hardness by Utility and County: What Consumer Confidence Reports Show (2026)

The water coming out of your tap in Kissimmee is measurably different from what a homeowner in Winter Park drinks or what a property owner on a private well in Poinciana draws from the ground. Central Florida spans six counties and more than a dozen utility districts, all pulling from the same Floridan Aquifer but from different depths, different wellfields, and through different treatment processes. The number that matters most for home water treatment decisions is hardness, measured in grains per gallon (GPG). Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) states an average hardness of 129 ppm, about 7 GPG. The City of Apopka reports 120 to 200 mg/L (7.0 to 11.7 GPG). Toho Water Authority, which serves Kissimmee and most of Osceola County, and Orange County Utilities do not list hardness in their 2025 reports. Private well owners receive untreated aquifer water, and well hardness varies from one well to the next. This article compiles publicly available Consumer Confidence Report data and USGS monitoring records in one place.

Last updated: July 2026

How this data was compiled

Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) are annual water quality summaries that every Florida public utility must publish by July 1 under Florida Statutes Section 403.8532 and the EPA's Consumer Confidence Report Rule (40 CFR Part 141, Subpart V, available at epa.gov/ccr). CCRs report hardness as milligrams per liter (mg/L) of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Converting to the more intuitive grains per gallon: divide by 17.1.

The hardness figures in the table below come from the most recently published CCR for each utility as of this writing. Ranges reflect variation across multiple wellfields or treatment plants within the same system. Readers should download their utility's current CCR directly for the most up-to-date figures; the Florida Department of Environmental Protection maintains a CCR portal at floridahealth.gov.

For USGS regional aquifer data, this article references the St. Johns River Water Management District aquifer monitoring program and the USGS Florida Water Science Center's published studies on the Upper Floridan Aquifer (USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070, pubs.usgs.gov). The USGS hardness classification used throughout: soft below 60 mg/L, moderately hard 60 to 120 mg/L, hard 120 to 180 mg/L, very hard above 180 mg/L (source: USGS Water Science School).

Note: a single utility can span multiple treatment plants and wellfields, each reporting different hardness. The ranges above reflect the spread across all reporting plants. If you want the hardness for your specific service zone, look at your annual CCR or call your utility directly.

Why is Osceola County water harder than Orange County water?

The short answer is aquifer depth and residence time. Both counties draw from the Upper Floridan Aquifer, a vast limestone formation documented by the USGS to underlie approximately 100,000 square miles of the southeastern United States. But the depth at which utilities tap the aquifer, and the age of water at that depth, varies. Toho Water Authority wellfields in Osceola County access portions of the Upper Floridan where water has spent longer in contact with calcium carbonate rock, dissolving more minerals before reaching the wellfield. The reaction is simple chemistry: carbonic acid (formed when CO2 from organic matter dissolves in water) attacks limestone, releasing calcium and bicarbonate ions into solution. More contact time, more dissolution, harder water at the tap.

OUC and Orange County Utilities draw from wellfields distributed across a broader geography with somewhat shorter aquifer residence times in many zones. The result is consistently lower but still high hardness, still well above the USGS "moderately hard" ceiling of 7 GPG in most zones. For a deeper explanation of the aquifer geology, see our Floridan Aquifer and hard water in Central Florida article.

What about Seminole, Lake, Polk, and Volusia counties?

The six counties in Pure Agua's service area each sit over a different section of the Floridan Aquifer system, producing meaningfully different water quality profiles.

Seminole County (Sanford, Lake Mary, Altamonte Springs, Oviedo): Seminole County Utilities and the City of Sanford both draw from the Upper Floridan Aquifer. Check your utility's report for a hardness figure, or test at your tap. Sanford residents can access their CCR at sanfordfl.gov; Seminole County Utilities publishes its CCR at seminolecountyfl.gov.

Lake County (Leesburg, Mount Dora, Clermont): Leesburg, Mount Dora and Tavares each run a city water system. EPA's water system records list the City of Leesburg's system as groundwater supplied (EPA Envirofacts, FL3350745), and the Mount Dora and Tavares reports say their water is drawn from the Floridan Aquifer. Check your specific utility's CCR for current figures, or test at your tap.

Polk County (Haines City, Winter Haven, Lakeland): Homeowners in Haines City, Winter Haven, Lakeland and eastern Polk County should download their utility's CCR before deciding on a treatment approach, and test at the tap. Private wells need their own test.

Volusia County (Deltona, DeLand): Deltona and DeLand residents should check the report from the utility named on their water bill for a hardness figure, or test at the tap.

How does municipal hardness compare to private well water?

Private well owners throughout the service area receive raw, untreated Floridan Aquifer water with no utility softening step. Well hardness varies with depth and location, so the only reliable number is a test at your tap.

Iron and sulfur are more frequent secondary findings on private well tests than on municipal tests. The Upper Floridan Aquifer in Osceola and Polk counties contains iron-bearing clay layers that contribute iron (Fe) to groundwater. Even small concentrations, above the EPA secondary maximum contaminant level of 0.3 mg/L documented at epa.gov/sdwa, cause orange-brown staining on fixtures and laundry. Sulfur odor (hydrogen sulfide) is more common in Osceola and Polk county wells than in Orange County. For a full breakdown of well water issues specific to this region, see our well water treatment guide for Kissimmee and Orlando and the manganese in Florida well water guide.

The Florida Department of Health recommends private well owners test annually. A list of certified labs is available at floridahealth.gov/environmental-health/well-safety.

PFAS monitoring: what Central Florida utilities reported under UCMR5

The EPA's Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5) required all public water systems serving 3,300 or more people to test for 29 PFAS compounds between 2023 and 2025. Results are publicly available through the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System. Search by state (Florida) and utility name to retrieve PFAS occurrence data for OUC, Toho, and Orange County Utilities at epa.gov/dwucmr.

The EPA finalized Maximum Contaminant Levels for six PFAS compounds in April 2024, including PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion. Utilities must complete initial monitoring by April 2027. For a detailed explanation of what those numbers mean for Central Florida residents, see our PFAS in Central Florida drinking water guide.

Private well owners are not covered by the federal PFAS MCL rule. The Florida Department of Health recommends testing wells near known PFAS source sites (fire training areas, industrial sites, military facilities). For more on the distinction between municipal and private well PFAS regulation, see our Florida drinking water standards 2026 article.

How to find your Central Florida utility's Consumer Confidence Report

The fastest route to your exact hardness number:

1. Find the name of your water utility on your water bill.
2. Go to that utility's website, or search EPA's Find Your Local CCR tool by state, water system name, or city or county.
3. Download the most recent report (published by July 1 each year for the prior calendar year's water quality data).
4. Look for a hardness figure. Hardness is not a regulated contaminant, so many reports do not list one; when a report does, it is usually in mg/L as CaCO3. Divide by 17.1 to convert to GPG.

For the main Orlando and Kissimmee utilities: OUC answers water quality questions at ouc.com/about/water-services and posts its 2025 Water Quality Report, Toho posts five reports, one for each of its service areas, at tohowater.com/waterquality, and Orange County Utilities posts its 2025 Drinking Water Report. For a step-by-step guide to interpreting the numbers in a Florida CCR, see our how to read your Florida water quality report article.

For homeowners who want a free in-home measurement rather than a utility average, Pure Agua offers a free water test across all 26 cities in the service area. A technician runs a field test kit at your tap, measures hardness, TDS, iron, pH, and chlorine or chloramine, and explains what the numbers mean for your household. No purchase required. Schedule your free water test or call (407) 773-2883. See also: the Kissimmee and Orlando water quality overview, salt free water conditioning options for Central Florida, and why Orlando water smells like chlorine each spring.