Manatee County, Florida: drinking water report. Manatee County – Bradenton and surrounding communities – serves about 410,000 residents south of Tampa Bay.
Manatee County – Bradenton and surrounding communities – serves about 410,000 residents south of Tampa Bay. Manatee County Utilities draws from Lake Manatee Reservoir and the Peace River via the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, supplemented by groundwater wells. The county also operates a 12-million-gallon-per-day reverse osmosis treatment plant.
Manatee County's diversified supply system provides some protection against source-specific contamination events. The RO plant, in particular, removes contaminants that conventional treatment may not fully address. UCMR5 data shows low-level PFAS detections in some county systems.
According to the Florida DEP's 2024 monitoring data, PFAS levels in Manatee County systems were below proposed federal MCLs. The county's proximity to the Piney Point phosphogypsum stack – which suffered a major leak in 2021, releasing millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater into Tampa Bay – has heightened public awareness of water quality vulnerabilities in the region.
Manatee County's multiple sources and RO treatment provide a good foundation. The Piney Point incident demonstrated how industrial facilities can create sudden water quality threats.
Check your water for current data. For areas not served by the RO plant, a household reverse osmosis system provides similar protection. Our water filter guide covers options. Pull your detailed report, and visit our Florida page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Manatee County, FL.
The EPA places Manatee County, FL in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
35% of homes in Manatee County, FL were built before 1980, and 3% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Manatee County, FL averages 7.4 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide