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Okeechobee Correctional Inst

What EPA’s and Florida’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
1,700 people
Connections
700
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Okeechobee, FL
County
Okeechobee
Owner
State government
The ZIP code it serves

34972

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2003 to 2024.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), uranium, fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total): Florida’s own results, samples taken from July 24, 2020 to July 8, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

63.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 42.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 63.8 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 99.5 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 42.5 ppb. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded a violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2023. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 62 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.6ppb

90th percentile, 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.6 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.39ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.39 ppb, in 2022: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.3ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.3 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.5 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

16.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 12.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 16.5 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 22.2 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 12.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 45.2 ppb, in 2012, and EPA recorded a violation in 2012.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.0ppm

Highest sample; found in 4 of 4

2024, one sample: 0.079 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 1.0 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.079 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.19 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction, Uranium

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead, Uranium

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 202381.3 UG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 53 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), uranium, fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total) results here are Florida’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Okeechobee Correctional Inst’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; Florida’s results run from July 24, 2020 to July 8, 2024.

Testing your own tap

Okeechobee Correctional Inst’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Florida certifies.

The 3 labs Florida certifies closest to the area Okeechobee Correctional Inst serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Florida-Spectrum Environmental Services-Big Lake Laboratory

    Okeechobee, FL · under a mile

    Certified for bacteria

    (863) 763-3336

  • FL Dept. of Health - Indian River County Health Department

    Vero Beach, FL · about 34 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (772) 794-7400

  • Eurofins Port St. Lucie

    Port St. Lucie, FL · about 35 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (772) 343-8006

Florida Department of Health Bureau of Public Health Laboratories: Coliform and E. coli testing for private wells at the Jacksonville and Miami labs. Collection kits come from your county health department, and the sample has to reach the lab on ice the same day it is collected. $40 for private testing through the state lab. Well Water Testing, Florida Department of Health.

All 212 certified labs for Florida

Sources

PWSID FL4474497. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Okeechobee County

All Florida utilities

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