Drinking Water

Florida Department of Health (FDOH) - Hillsborough County Environmental Health Services staff are responsible for all regulatory activities pertaining to the permitting, inspection, monitoring and enforcement of all public drinking water facilities serving Hillsborough County. This includes public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and Federal Facilities, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Water Rules, Limited Use public water systems not covered under the Safe Drinking Water Act and private residential well systems.

Federal Safe Drinking Water Act

Under an agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FDOH-Hillsborough County implements the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. This covers all water systems serving more than 25 people and/or 15 service connections.

The Safe Drinking Water staff is responsible for ensuring the residents and visitors to Hillsborough County receive safe and reliable drinking water. More than 1.5 million Hillsborough County residents get their drinking water from 670 public drinking water systems. These systems serve anywhere from 25 to 600,000 people daily and can be as small as a convenience store or a school or as large as the City of Tampa or Temple Terrace water treatment plants.  Our office provides technical assistance to water systems and local agencies, implements the EPA Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, Florida Administrative Code and local ordinances, monitors water quality, conducts sanitary surveys and special purpose investigations and reviews and approves water system plans. Our rules and programs rely on prevention as the first line of defense, with a goal of avoiding potentially health-threatening and costly problems.

Water system inspections(sanitary surveys) look at all aspects of water system operations, including water sources, pumps, storage tanks, treatment and filtration units, water monitoring records, and technical, financial and managerial capacity.

Technical assistance and education programs, along with construction plan reviews help us ensure proper design and operation of water systems.

There are many resources available for consumers to learn more about the quality of their drinking water and how to help protect it from natural and man-made threats.  Your utility is required to provide you with an annual water quality report, known as a Consumer Confidence Report, by July 1 of each year.  You may also visit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) web site for EPA water quality information on-line.

The FDOH-Hillsborough County drinking water program also provides educational information for public water systems and private drinking water wells. Here you can find helpful material on troubleshooting water quality problems, who to contact for answers, and how to protect water sources.

Limited Use Commercial and Community Wells

This program deals with water systems not covered under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act and serving less than 15 service connections (buildings or multi-family homes) and less than 25 people. The program also regulates new well construction for private homeowners.  Definitions for these systems and statutory authorization are found in section 381.0062 of the Florida Statutes. Florida Administrative Code 64E-8 establishes the rules to implement the statutes. It includes setback standards for private water systems, construction standards for multi-family water systems, and construction and operation standards for limited use public water systems. Get Forms and Applications from our Department of Health web site.