Strontium Contamination

Strontium in Florida Drinking Water

Ranked by max strontium detected (µg/L) · UCMR 3 data (2013–2015) · Data from EPA SDWIS & UCMR

187

Cities Tested

Over HRL

16%

% Over HRL

897.6 µg/L

State Avg

▲ 10% vs national

vs National

343

Health Violations

Analysis

Strontium in Florida: what the data shows

Florida has 187 cities with strontium data from the EPA's UCMR 3 program (2013–2015). Strontium was detected above the 1,500 µg/L EPA health reference level in 30 of those cities. The state average max detected level is 897.6 µg/L. Strontium occurs naturally in groundwater, particularly in areas with limestone and dolomite geology. It can also enter water from industrial waste and mining operations. There is no federal MCL for strontium, but the EPA established a health reference level (HRL) of 1,500 µg/L. Long-term exposure to strontium above the HRL may affect bone health, particularly in children, by substituting for calcium in developing bones. Reverse osmosis and ion exchange systems are effective at removing strontium from drinking water.

Comparison

Cities exceeding 1,500 µg/L EPA HRL (no MCL)

Florida

16%

30 of 187 cities

→ ▲ 10% above national rate (worse)

National avg

250 of 4371 cities

City Map

Strontium data across Florida

Each dot is a city with UCMR 3 strontium testing data. Cities where strontium exceeds the 1,500 µg/L EPA health reference level are highlighted. Size reflects population served.

Worst Offenders

Top 10 cities by strontium level in Florida

Highest Strontium levels (µg/L)

All Cities

All Florida cities ranked by strontium level

#	City	Level	Over HRL?	Violations	Grade
1	Sarasota	9690.0 µg/L	Over HRL	9	C+
2	Miramar Beach	6930.0 µg/L	Over HRL	1	A-
3	Lynn Haven	6500.0 µg/L	Over HRL	3	A-
4	Wimauma	6397.2 µg/L	Over HRL	8	B+
5	Jacksonville	5890.6 µg/L	Over HRL	116	F
6	Sebring	5800.0 µg/L	Over HRL	43	F
7	Destin	4300.0 µg/L	Over HRL	0	A+
8	St. Augustine	4280.0 µg/L	Over HRL	39	F
9	Cape Coral	4200.0 µg/L	Over HRL	1	A
10	Punta Gorda	3850.0 µg/L	Over HRL	101	F
11	Bradenton	3600.0 µg/L	Over HRL	9	F
12	Palmetto	3200.0 µg/L	Over HRL	3	B-
13	Middleburg	3121.1 µg/L	Over HRL	1	A
14	Vero Beach	2830.0 µg/L	Over HRL	7	D
15	Kissimmee	2810.0 µg/L	Over HRL	26	F
16	Ponte Vedra Beach	2676.5 µg/L	Over HRL	12	B
17	North Port	2640.0 µg/L	Over HRL	3	B
18	Atlantic Beach	2580.0 µg/L	Over HRL	6	A
19	Ponte Vedra	2574.2 µg/L	Over HRL	7	B
20	Palm Bay	2520.0 µg/L	Over HRL	8	B
21	Lithia	2200.0 µg/L	Over HRL	12	B-
22	Clermont	2200.0 µg/L	Over HRL	58	F
23	Orlando	2172.1 µg/L	Over HRL	78	F
24	Zephyrhills	2120.0 µg/L	Over HRL	18	F
25	Fort Myers	1940.0 µg/L	Over HRL	5	C+
26	Jacksonville	1839.1 µg/L	Over HRL	6	A-
27	Port St Lucie	1660.0 µg/L	Over HRL	2	D
28	Belleview	1610.0 µg/L	Over HRL	18	F
29	St James City	1600.0 µg/L	Over HRL	0	A
30	Avon Park	1550.0 µg/L	Over HRL	6	C-
31	Fort Walton Beach	1500.0 µg/L	No	4	A
32	St Cloud	1400.0 µg/L	No	104	F
33	Quincy	1400.0 µg/L	No	32	F
34	Clewiston	1400.0 µg/L	No	14	B+
35	Navarre	1380.0 µg/L	No	2	B-
36	Port Charlotte	1370.0 µg/L	No	4	B-
37	Coral Springs	1340.0 µg/L	No	17	F
38	Brooksville	1180.0 µg/L	No	41	F
39	Cocoa	1170.0 µg/L	No	1	A-
40	Palatka	1170.0 µg/L	No	119	F
41	Miami	1100.0 µg/L	No	104	F
42	Apopka	1090.0 µg/L	No	14	F
43	Deltona	1070.0 µg/L	No	19	B+
44	Okeechobee	1040.0 µg/L	No	150	F
45	Fleming Island	973.4 µg/L	No	1	A
46	Melbourne	950.0 µg/L	No	0	A-
47	Alachua	945.2 µg/L	No	6	C+
48	Temple Terrace	915.0 µg/L	No	4	A-
49	Riviera Beach	873.0 µg/L	No	32	F
50	Venice	872.0 µg/L	No	0	B+
51	Titusville	845.0 µg/L	No	1	C
52	West Palm Beach	820.0 µg/L	No	23	C-
53	Homestead	800.0 µg/L	No	3	C
54	Tampa	793.0 µg/L	No	64	F
55	Orange City	777.0 µg/L	No	14	C+
56	West Melbourne	769.0 µg/L	No	4	B+
57	Florida City	767.0 µg/L	No	26	F
58	Fernandina Beach	740.0 µg/L	No	16	B
59	Ocala	700.0 µg/L	No	91	F
60	Palm Springs	697.0 µg/L	No	0	B
61	Lake Worth Beach	659.0 µg/L	No	0	B+
62	Sanibel Island	640.0 µg/L	No	0	A-
63	High Springs	630.0 µg/L	No	18	B-
64	Lakeland	624.3 µg/L	No	27	D
65	Gulf Breeze	609.0 µg/L	No	5	B
66	Safety Harbor	583.0 µg/L	No	1	A
67	New Port Richey	578.6 µg/L	No	68	F
68	Gulfport	566.0 µg/L	No	1	A-
69	Gainesville	554.0 µg/L	No	8	B
70	Margate	492.0 µg/L	No	0	C-
71	Clearwater	490.0 µg/L	No	14	F
72	Pompano Beach	490.0 µg/L	No	1	F
73	Coconut Creek	480.0 µg/L	No	0	C+
74	Tarpon Springs	480.0 µg/L	No	3	B+
75	Tamarac	474.0 µg/L	No	0	F
76	Pinellas Park	460.0 µg/L	No	3	B
77	Lake Wales	460.0 µg/L	No	56	F
78	Hialeah Gardens	458.0 µg/L	No	6	B+
79	Plant City	435.0 µg/L	No	85	D
80	Bartow	435.0 µg/L	No	6	F
81	Fort Pierce	428.0 µg/L	No	85	F
82	Boynton Beach	412.0 µg/L	No	42	F
83	Hialeah	410.0 µg/L	No	0	B-
84	The Villages	410.0 µg/L	No	1	B
85	Lady Lake	400.0 µg/L	No	18	F
86	Palm Beach Gardens	370.0 µg/L	No	2	B
87	Longwood	370.0 µg/L	No	9	F
88	Tequesta	370.0 µg/L	No	1	B-
89	Odessa	352.0 µg/L	No	8	C+
90	Opa Locka	348.0 µg/L	No	1	B-
91	Barefoot Bay	347.0 µg/L	No	3	A
92	Niceville	345.0 µg/L	No	5	A-
93	Wellington	343.0 µg/L	No	0	A-
94	Wildwood	340.0 µg/L	No	2	B-
95	Miami Beach	335.0 µg/L	No	1	C+
96	Jupiter	334.0 µg/L	No	1	B+
97	Miramar	330.0 µg/L	No	2	F
98	Sunrise	323.0 µg/L	No	1	F
99	Davie/Hollywood	323.0 µg/L	No	1	C
100	North Miami	320.0 µg/L	No	1	B
101	Dunnellon	310.0 µg/L	No	10	F
102	Wilton Manors	308.0 µg/L	No	1	C+
103	Stuart	306.0 µg/L	No	25	F
104	Sanford	305.0 µg/L	No	8	F
105	Winter Springs	304.0 µg/L	No	15	B
106	Marco Island	303.0 µg/L	No	5	B-
107	Palm Coast	301.1 µg/L	No	6	B+
108	North Miami Beach	301.0 µg/L	No	1	B
109	Lake Buena Vista	296.0 µg/L	No	0	A
110	Hudson	290.0 µg/L	No	4	D
111	Oakland Park	281.0 µg/L	No	0	C-
112	Ft Lauderdale	277.0 µg/L	No	12	F
113	Dade City	275.0 µg/L	No	8	F
114	North Lauderdale	273.0 µg/L	No	1	F
115	Deerfield Beach	270.0 µg/L	No	0	C
116	Pembroke Pines	264.0 µg/L	No	8	F
117	Hobe Sound	260.0 µg/L	No	23	F
118	Hollywood	255.0 µg/L	No	32	F
119	Delray Beach	240.0 µg/L	No	7	C
120	Jensen Beach	232.0 µg/L	No	75	D
121	Edgewater	230.0 µg/L	No	50	B-
122	Lauderhill	228.0 µg/L	No	6	F
123	New Smyrna Beach	224.0 µg/L	No	18	B+
124	Deland	223.0 µg/L	No	11	C-
125	Lauderdale Lakes	220.0 µg/L	No	2	C
126	Oviedo	216.0 µg/L	No	12	B-
127	Winter Park	215.0 µg/L	No	6	C+
128	Bonita Springs	215.0 µg/L	No	8	B
129	Immokalee	214.0 µg/L	No	15	B
130	Casselberry	211.3 µg/L	No	10	B
131	Dania Beach	203.0 µg/L	No	9	D
132	Boca Raton	200.0 µg/L	No	14	B+
133	Winter Haven	200.0 µg/L	No	28	F
134	Port Orange	189.2 µg/L	No	2	B-
135	Lake City	187.0 µg/L	No	112	F
136	Weston	179.0 µg/L	No	2	B-
137	Englewood	171.0 µg/L	No	1	B
138	Hallandale Beach	166.0 µg/L	No	2	F
139	Crestview	160.0 µg/L	No	13	A-
140	Homosassa	160.0 µg/L	No	2	D
141	Maitland	156.0 µg/L	No	1	B+
142	Bonifay	149.8 µg/L	No	3	C-
143	Lehigh Acres	149.0 µg/L	No	7	B
144	Lake Mary	144.0 µg/L	No	1	B
145	Winter Pk/Casselbery	143.7 µg/L	No	0	A-
146	Ormond Beach	141.0 µg/L	No	43	D+
147	Bushnell	140.0 µg/L	No	22	D+
148	Holly Hill	134.0 µg/L	No	0	B+
149	Naples	132.0 µg/L	No	42	F
150	Tallahassee	130.0 µg/L	No	12	F
151	Fruitland Park	120.0 µg/L	No	15	F
152	Daytona Beach	119.0 µg/L	No	5	A-
153	South Daytona	116.0 µg/L	No	2	A
154	Haines City	111.0 µg/L	No	17	F
155	Altamonte Springs	110.0 µg/L	No	3	C+
156	Santa Rosa Beach	107.0 µg/L	No	5	A
157	Dunedin	106.0 µg/L	No	4	B-
158	Auburndale	101.8 µg/L	No	5	F
159	Lecanto	100.0 µg/L	No	2	F
160	Davenport	98.0 µg/L	No	14	F
161	Ocoee	97.5 µg/L	No	5	C-
162	Milton	97.2 µg/L	No	19	B-
163	Parker	96.0 µg/L	No	7	A-
164	Tavares	93.4 µg/L	No	11	C+
165	Pensacola	92.0 µg/L	No	5	C
166	Winter Garden	84.6 µg/L	No	4	B
167	Trenton	84.0 µg/L	No	8	B+
168	Leesburg	82.7 µg/L	No	49	F
169	Silver Springs	82.5 µg/L	No	6	F
170	Groveland	76.6 µg/L	No	2	B
171	Oldsmar	76.0 µg/L	No	0	A
172	Mount Dora	69.0 µg/L	No	6	A
173	Callaway	68.8 µg/L	No	3	B+
174	Panama City	66.5 µg/L	No	6	B-
175	Eustis	66.0 µg/L	No	16	B-
176	Live Oak	63.0 µg/L	No	23	D
177	Plantation	62.6 µg/L	No	3	D+
178	Panama City Beach	62.0 µg/L	No	12	A-
179	Minneola	61.0 µg/L	No	4	B-
180	Springfield	56.3 µg/L	No	15	C
181	Defuniak Springs	49.0 µg/L	No	10	B
182	Chattahoochee	43.0 µg/L	No	1	B-
183	Century	27.0 µg/L	No	1	B-
184	Port St. Joe	25.0 µg/L	No	25	C-
185	Cantonment	24.7 µg/L	No	5	B
186	Pace	20.3 µg/L	No	4	A
187	Cooper City	19.0 µg/L	No	1	C

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about strontium in Florida

Is strontium in Florida tap water harmful?

Strontium at low levels is not considered harmful, but the EPA set a health reference level (HRL) of 1,500 µg/L based on potential bone effects. 30 cities in Florida exceed this HRL. There is currently no federal MCL for strontium. Children may be more susceptible because strontium can substitute for calcium in developing bones.

How can I remove strontium from my drinking water?

Reverse osmosis and ion exchange (water softener) systems are effective at removing strontium from drinking water. Standard carbon filters are NOT effective. If your water comes from a well in an area with limestone or dolomite geology, consider testing for strontium.

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