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Is Lake Wales, FL tap water safe?

15 utilities serve Lake Wales, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Florida’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

3 of the 15 utilities serving Lake Wales have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Florida’s records: Orange Acres Ranch, Mountain Lakes Corportion and Kissimmee River Park and Marina.

City of Lake Wales, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029 and 2 results above the health goal. The worst: PFOA at 8.0 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Lake Wales’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

5 more utilities in Lake Wales

By EPA’s estimate, each serves fewer people in Lake Wales than those above.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in City of Lake Wales’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Lake Wales

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Florida certifies.

The 3 labs Florida certifies closest to Lake Wales, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Benchmark Mid Florida Laboratory

    Winter Haven, FL · about 17 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (863) 656-2020

  • Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Environmental Sciences

    Lake Buena Vista, FL · about 35 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (407) 824-7301

  • Florida Radiochemistry Services, Inc.

    Orlando, FL · about 44 miles

    Certified for radioactivity

    (407) 382-7733

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

ZIP codes in Lake Wales

Which ZIP codes are in Lake Wales: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Florida Department of Health Environmental Laboratory Certification Program, drinking water labs, as listed in TNI LAMS; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Lake Wales

Other towns in Polk County with a page of their own.

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