Drinking water quality and lead — Palm Bay, Florida

Palm Bay tap water met the federal limits listed in the 2026 Water Quality Report for every regulated chemical, radiological and lead and copper result, but the report also discloses one sampling violation from December 2025.

The Palm Bay Utilities Department (PBUD) publishes the report each year for public water system 3050442 (2026 Water Quality Report, page 1). The 2026 edition covers monitoring from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025, and the city's report page says it details testing performed on the water system during 2025 (Palm Bay Water Quality Report page). Federal rules require every community water system to deliver its report by July 1 each year (40 CFR 141.152).

Palm Bay water starts underground. PBUD pumps groundwater from 42 wells across the city, drawing on the Floridan Aquifer at about 850 feet and the surficial aquifer at 80 to 150 feet, and treats it by reverse osmosis and lime softening, with disinfection before it enters the pipes (2026 Water Quality Report, page 1). In 2025 the Florida Department of Environmental Protection assessed the land around the Palm Bay wells and found 15 potential sources of contamination with low to moderate susceptibility (2026 Water Quality Report, page 2). Beyond plant testing, the city samples the water at over 120 points around Palm Bay (Palm Bay Lead Reduction Program).

Every regulated chemical and radiological result in the 2026 Palm Bay report sits below its federal limit, with both disinfection byproducts below half their caps and chloramines averaging 3.2 against a 4.0 maximum.

All figures above come from page 4 of the Palm Bay report (2026 Water Quality Report, page 4). The trihalomethane and haloacetic acid lines are byproducts of disinfection, and the report describes chloramines as a water additive used to control microbes. The sodium figures reflect salt water intrusion and leaching from soil, which the report names as the likely source, for Palm Bay wells. Fluoride at Palm Bay sampling points runs well under the 0.7 ppm optimum level named in the report.

The North Regional and South Regional plants and the aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) well are the three entry points PBUD reports separately. Questions about the Palm Bay numbers go to the Water Treatment Superintendent at (321) 952-3410 (Palm Bay Water, Wastewater, Reclaimed Water).

In December 2025 one routine Palm Bay distribution sample tested positive for Escherichia coli bacteria, and PBUD then failed to take all three required follow-up samples, which counts as a violation in the 2026 report.

PBUD collected a repeat sample and an upstream sample, and both met regulatory standards; because the original sample point was at a dead end, no downstream sample could be taken, and the required additional upstream sample was not collected (2026 Water Quality Report, page 7). The utility also did not notify customers at the time. The Palm Bay report states that the incident was not an emergency and that no adverse effects are believed to have resulted from the missed samples.

For scale, PBUD collects over 1,440 bacteriological samples across Palm Bay each year, and the December 15, 2025 sample is the only positive the 2026 report lists for the year (2026 Water Quality Report, page 7). Boil water notices are a separate process: Palm Bay issues one after a loss of water pressure, hangs printed notices on affected doors, and uses media releases when 150 or more customers are affected (Palm Bay Boil Water Notices).

The City of Palm Bay says it owns no lead pipes, but the private service line between the meter box and a building belongs to the owner, and the city has mapped what each Palm Bay line is made of.

The Palm Bay Lead Reduction Program page states that the city owns the service line up to the water meter box and does not own, or take responsibility for, the line from the meter box into the building (Palm Bay Lead Reduction Program). The same split appears on the Palm Bay Utilities water page, which puts repairs between the home and the meter box on the owner (Palm Bay Water, Wastewater, Reclaimed Water). PBUD states that no part of its treatment plants or distribution system contains lead or lead solder (Palm Bay Lead Reduction Program).

The city's Lead Service Line Inventory was completed and posted in 2024, and the tap sampling data sit on the same Lead Reduction Program page (2026 Water Quality Report, page 5). Its interactive Palm Bay map shows each parcel: parcels outlined in green have a verified service line material and parcels outlined in pink have not (Palm Bay Lead Reduction Program). Owners can help fill the gaps through a city survey on their service line material, and the city says it will notify an owner right away if a line needs replacement. Nationally, the EPA notes that lead pipes are more likely in older cities and in homes built before 1986 (EPA lead in drinking water). The Palm Bay map, not the age of a house, is the record for an individual line.

In the last completed round, September 2023, the 90th percentile lead level in Palm Bay home taps was 2.2 ppb against a 15 ppb action level, and copper was 0.062 ppm against 1.3 ppm.

Palm Bay offers free tap testing at homes and buildings every three years, and the last cycle was done in September 2023; a result above 15 micrograms per liter triggers notice to the customer with instructions required by the FDEP (Palm Bay Lead Reduction Program). The 2026 report says PBUD is in the required triennial sampling event under the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, which runs from June 1 through September 30, and that final results were not complete when the report went out (2026 Water Quality Report, page 5). Homes with lead or galvanized lines get first priority for that Palm Bay sampling.

Any Palm Bay owner can ask for a test outside the cycle. The city must sample water from the tap of a home or building when the owner requests it, through Utilities Customer Service at (321) 952-3420 (Palm Bay Lead Reduction Program).

Yes: 2024 federal monitoring found trace PFAS at the North Regional plant and the ASR Well in Palm Bay, with PFOA and PFOS averages near 8 parts per trillion, while South Regional samples were below the reporting level.

In 2024 PBUD sampled 31 PFAS compounds and lithium under the EPA's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (2026 Water Quality Report, page 6). The Palm Bay report lists PFOA averages of 0.0079 ppb at North Regional and 0.0083 ppb at the ASR Well, and PFOS at 0.0080 ppb at North Regional; in parts per trillion those are 7.9, 8.3 and 8.0 (1 ppb equals 1,000 ppt). The EPA's enforceable limit for PFOA and for PFOS is 4.0 ppt (EPA PFAS rule).

The timing matters for reading the Palm Bay figures. Under the EPA rule, water systems have until 2029 to put solutions in place where monitoring shows levels above the new limits, and the EPA has proposed letting systems request two more years, to 2031 (EPA PFAS rule). The Palm Bay report marks the 2024 PFAS lines as unregulated monitoring with N/A in the violation column, says no sampling was due in 2025, and says 2026 results will appear in the 2027 report (2026 Water Quality Report, page 6).

The current Palm Bay report is posted on the Utilities Water Quality Report page, and older reports going back up to 10 years come from Utilities Customer Care at (321) 952-3420.

Customer Care asks requests for past Palm Bay reports to go by phone or to ucs@palmbayfl.gov (Palm Bay Water Quality Report page). The report lists two offices: Palm Bay Utilities Department Customer Care at 120 Malabar Road SE, Palm Bay, and PBUD Administration at 250 Osmosis Drive SE, Palm Bay, (321) 952-3410 (2026 Water Quality Report, page 9). Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the City of Palm Bay Utilities pages.