Why doesn't my utility publish a hardness number?

Hardness is a 'secondary' parameter — it affects your skin, appliances and glassware, not safety — so federal rules don't require it in the annual water quality report, and 13 of the county's 15 utilities leave it out. Only Boca Raton (65–80 mg/L) and Tequesta (about 100–120 mg/L) publish an official figure. For every other town, the only way to know your number is to measure it at your own tap — which is exactly what our free test does.

Is chloramine worse than chlorine?

Neither is a safety problem at regulated levels — but they behave differently in your house. Chloramine, which nearly every utility in this county now uses, lingers longer and is harder to remove: standard carbon works slowly on it, so removing it well takes catalytic carbon and enough contact time. That's a sizing question, and it's why we design from your actual water rather than a brochure.

My utility uses reverse osmosis or nanofiltration. Do I still need anything?

Membrane-treated systems generally deliver the county's softest water — but the utility still adds chloramine or chlorine for the trip to your house, hardness is often blended back for pipe stability, and none of it is measured at your tap. The free test tells you what actually arrives, and sometimes the honest answer is a small fix at the kitchen sink rather than a whole-home system.

Utility by utility

Palm Beach County water, compared

Fifteen utilities serve this county, and they do not deliver the same water. Everything on this page comes from each utility’s own official water quality report — every fact is linked to its source. The most useful finding: 13 of 15 utilities never publish how hard their finished water is. The only way to know your number is to measure it at your own sink.

Measure mine — free Call (561) 354-3095

The only official numbers

Two utilities publish their hardness

Out of fifteen. Both figures below are the utilities’ own, from their official pages.

Boca Raton

65–80 mg/L

3.8–4.7 gpg — City of Boca Raton Utility Services

Source: City of Boca Raton FAQ (Utility Services) →

Tequesta

about 100–120 mg/L

roughly 6–7 gpg — Village of Tequesta Water Utility

Source: Village of Tequesta Water Utilities FAQ →

A note on numbers you may have seen elsewhere: figures like “West Palm Beach water is 317 ppm” circulate on water-dealer websites. They describe raw aquifer water, not what your utility delivers — every major system in this county softens its water before it ships. We don’t quote numbers nobody published. We measure yours.

Every utility

What each utility says about its own water

Grouped by treatment: membrane plants (nanofiltration or reverse osmosis, generally the softest finished water) first, then conventional lime-softening systems. Every row links to the utility’s own report.

Publishes a hardness figure

Utility	Serves	Source water	Treatment	Disinfectant	Published hardness
City of Boca Raton Utility Services2025 report ↗	Boca Raton	Biscayne Aquifer — 52 city wells	Lime softening plus membrane (nanofiltration) softening, then filtration and disinfection	Chloramine	65–80 mg/L
Village of Tequesta Water Utility2025 report ↗	Tequesta	14 wells — 10 surficial-aquifer plus 4 wells about 1,800 ft into the upper Floridan aquifer	Direct filtration for surficial water, blended with reverse-osmosis-treated Floridan water	Chloramine	about 100–120 mg/L

Membrane treatment (NF/RO) — generally softest

Utility	Serves	Source water	Treatment	Disinfectant	Published hardness
Seacoast Utility Authority2025 report ↗	Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, Lake Park, Juno Beach	Surficial aquifer (38 wells, 75–200 ft) plus brackish Floridan aquifer (6 wells, ~1,500 ft)	Hood Road Membrane Water Plant — nanofiltration plus low-pressure reverse osmosis	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
Town of Jupiter Utilities2025 report ↗	Jupiter, nearby unincorporated areas	63 wells — 51 surficial-aquifer, the rest in the deeper Floridan aquifer	Membrane plant — nanofiltration for surficial water, reverse osmosis for Floridan water	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
Village of Wellington Public Utilities2025 report ↗	Wellington	Surficial aquifer — 18 wells in 3 wellfields	Dual process: conventional lime softening plus nanofiltration membranes, blended	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
City of Boynton Beach Utilities2025 report ↗	Boynton Beach, Ocean Ridge, Hypoluxo area	East Coast Surficial Aquifer — 30 wells, 50–240 ft	East plant: lime softening + magnetic ion exchange. West plant: nanofiltration membranes	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
Town of Manalapan Water2025 report ↗	Manalapan	Brackish Floridan aquifer wells blended with four surficial-aquifer wells	Reverse osmosis blended with filtered surficial water	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
Town of Highland Beach Water2023 (most recent posted) report ↗	Highland Beach	Own brackish Floridan aquifer wells, about 1,200 ft deep — the town has run its own plant since 2004	Full reverse osmosis, with hardness and alkalinity added back for stability	Chlorine	Not published — we measure it free
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department — western system2025 report ↗	Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay	Deep Floridan aquifer wells	Reverse osmosis (varies by plant)	Chlorine, year-round	Not published — we measure it free
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department — eastern system2025 report ↗	Royal Palm Beach, Greenacres, Haverhill, much unincorporated Palm Beach County	Biscayne (surficial) aquifer, with Floridan supply at some plants	Lime softening plus ion exchange, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, varying by plant	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
City of Lake Worth Beach Utilities2025 report ↗	Lake Worth Beach	Surficial/Biscayne aquifer (12 wells) plus brackish Floridan aquifer (3 wells)	Lime softening plant plus a reverse osmosis plant, blended	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free

Conventional lime softening

Utility	Serves	Source water	Treatment	Disinfectant	Published hardness
City of West Palm Beach Public Utilities2025 report ↗	West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, South Palm Beach	Surface water — Grassy Waters Preserve via the M-canal to Lake Mangonia and Clear Lake; the county's only surface-water system	Coagulation and sedimentation, carbon and sand filtration, UV disinfection	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
City of Delray Beach Utilities2025 report ↗	Delray Beach, Gulf Stream (wholesale)	East Coast Surficial Aquifer — 30 raw-water wells	Lime softening: aeration, lime clarifiers, filtration, disinfection	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
Town of Gulf Stream2025 report ↗	Gulf Stream	Purchases all water from City of Delray Beach Utilities	Delray Beach lime softening process	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
City of Riviera Beach Utility Special District2024 (most recent posted) report ↗	Riviera Beach, Singer Island	East Coast Surficial Aquifer wells	Lime softening — lime and polymer, then filtration	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free
Town of Lantana Water2025 report ↗	Lantana	East Coast Surficial Aquifer — ten shallow wells	Chlorination, aeration, chloramination, filtration, corrosion control	Chloramine	Not published — we measure it free

Before and after

Whatever your number is, here’s where it lands

A correctly sized softener takes any of the water above to under 1 grain per gallon — soft by every definition — at every tap in the house. The free test gives you the before; the sizing makes the after a guarantee, not a guess.

Before: whatever your utility delivers — measured at your sink, in front of you, free
After: under 1 gpg at every tap, with the chloramine or chlorine handled by matched carbon
Exact price before you decide, free installation, lifetime warranty

Book my free water test Look up my town by ZIP

Why this page exists

Most water companies quote you off a county average that doesn’t exist. We’d rather show you what every utility actually publishes — sources and all — and then measure the one number that matters: yours.

Sources

Every document this page draws on

Official annual water quality reports (CCRs) and utility pages, linked directly.

City of Boca Raton 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2025) — City of Boca Raton Utility Services
Village of Tequesta 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2025) — Village of Tequesta Water Utility
Seacoast Utility Authority 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (2025) — Seacoast Utility Authority
Town of Jupiter 2025 Water Quality Report (2025) — Town of Jupiter Utilities
Village of Wellington 2025 Drinking Water Report (2025) — Village of Wellington Public Utilities
2025 Water Quality Report for the City of Boynton Beach (2025) — City of Boynton Beach Utilities
Town of Manalapan 2025 Consumer Confidence Report (2025) — Town of Manalapan Water
Town of Highland Beach Annual Water Quality Report (2023 (most recent posted)) — Town of Highland Beach Water
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department 2025 Water Quality Report (CCR) (2025) — Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department — western system
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department 2025 Water Quality Report (CCR) (2025) — Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department — eastern system
City of West Palm Beach Annual Water Quality Report, Reporting Year 2025 (2025) — City of West Palm Beach Public Utilities
2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report, City of Lake Worth Beach (2025) — City of Lake Worth Beach Utilities
City of Delray Beach 2025 Water Quality Report (2025) — City of Delray Beach Utilities
Town of Gulf Stream 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2025) — Town of Gulf Stream
City of Riviera Beach Annual Water Quality Report (2024 (most recent posted)) — City of Riviera Beach Utility Special District
Town of Lantana Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2025) — Town of Lantana Water
City of Boca Raton FAQ (Utility Services) — published hardness figure
Village of Tequesta Water Utilities FAQ — published hardness figure

Data pulled September 2026 from each utility’s most recent published report. Reports are republished annually — if a link has moved, the utility’s water quality page will carry the current edition.

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