Santa Rosa County lies between Escambia and Okaloosa counties in the Florida Panhandle, home to about 190,000 residents.
Santa Rosa County lies between Escambia and Okaloosa counties in the Florida Panhandle, home to about 190,000 residents. Multiple small utilities serve the county, drawing from the Sand and Gravel Aquifer and Floridan Aquifer. The county is sandwiched between two major military PFAS sources – NAS Pensacola to the west and Eglin AFB to the east.
Santa Rosa County's position between two of the largest military installations in the Florida Panhandle puts it in a challenging PFAS situation. The southern part of the county borders NAS Whiting Field, another Navy installation with documented AFFF use. According to the Florida DEP's monitoring data, PFAS has been detected in wells serving multiple community water systems in the county.
UCMR5 data confirms PFAS detections across several systems. The county's shallow aquifer system is particularly vulnerable to contamination migration from these military sources.
Santa Rosa County faces PFAS pressure from multiple military installations. Understanding which base is closest to your water source helps assess risk.
Check your water for data specific to your provider. Reverse osmosis provides the strongest household PFAS 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 Santa Rosa County, FL.
The EPA places Santa Rosa 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.
22% of homes in Santa Rosa County, FL were built before 1980, and 2% 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 Santa Rosa County, FL averages 8.5 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