Sarasota County, Florida: drinking water report. Sarasota County serves about 440,000 residents on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Sarasota County serves about 440,000 residents on Florida's Gulf Coast. Water comes from the Peace River via the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, groundwater from the Floridan Aquifer, and the county's own wellfields. The county has invested in aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) to bank treated surface water underground during wet periods for use during dry spells.
Sarasota County's Floridan Aquifer water is naturally hard and may contain hydrogen sulfide. The Peace River source adds variability – river water quality changes with rainfall and upstream agricultural activity in the Polk County phosphate mining region. According to the Florida DEP, two county systems required treatment for naturally occurring radium.
UCMR5 data shows PFAS detections in some county systems at low levels. The county does not host major military installations. Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is a potential minor PFAS source. Overall PFAS levels are lower than in Florida counties with significant military presence.
Sarasota County's diversified supply provides more consistency than single-source systems. Hardness and mineral content are the most common quality complaints.
Check your water for data specific to your area. Reverse osmosis handles hardness, radium, and PFAS. Our water filter guide covers options for Florida's unique water chemistry. Pull your detailed report, and visit our Florida page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Sarasota County, FL.
The EPA places Sarasota 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.
37% of homes in Sarasota 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 Sarasota County, FL averages 7.3 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