Volusia County, FL Water Quality: PFAS & Lead

Volusia County, Florida: drinking water report. Volusia County – Daytona Beach and surrounding communities – serves about 560,000 residents on Florida's…

Water Quality in Volusia County, FL

Volusia County – Daytona Beach and surrounding communities – serves about 560,000 residents on Florida's central east coast. Water comes primarily from the Floridan Aquifer, with the City of Daytona Beach, City of Deltona, and Volusia County Utilities operating the largest systems. The county's groundwater is naturally hard and carries hydrogen sulfide in some wells, producing taste and odor issues familiar to Florida residents.

What the Data Shows

Volusia County's aquifer water requires treatment for hardness, sulfide, and in some areas, naturally occurring radium. UCMR5 data shows PFAS detections in several county water systems. The county does not host major active military installations, but the former Sanford Naval Air Station (now in neighboring Seminole County) and Daytona Beach International Airport are potential PFAS sources.

According to the Florida DEP's 2024 monitoring data, five public water systems in Volusia County reported PFAS above detection thresholds. Additionally, three systems required treatment for gross alpha radiation from naturally occurring radionuclides in the aquifer.

What Volusia County Residents Should Do

Taste and hardness are the most immediately noticeable quality issues in Volusia County, but radionuclides and PFAS are the health-relevant concerns.

Check your water for data specific to your provider. Reverse osmosis handles the full range of Volusia County's contaminant concerns – PFAS, radium, hardness, and sulfide. Our water filter guide covers which systems work. Pull your detailed report, and see our Florida page for statewide data.

Beyond water: other exposures in Volusia County, FL

Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Volusia County, FL.

Radon risk

The EPA places Volusia 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.

Lead paint risk

37% of homes in Volusia County, FL were built before 1980, and 4% 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.

Air quality

Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Volusia 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