Citrus Park Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Citrus Park, Florida, in Hillsborough County in the northwestern Tampa metropolitan area near the Veterans Expressway corridor, receives its municipal water from the City of Tampa Water Department or Hillsborough County Utilities, drawing supply wholesale from Tampa Bay Water — the regional water authority serving the Tampa Bay area. Tampa Bay Water operates an integrated supply system: the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, the Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant (the nation's largest), Hillsborough River intakes, and Upper Floridan Aquifer well fields. This diverse portfolio allows Tampa Bay Water to manage supply and quality simultaneously.

The soft 77 mg/L hardness and low TDS of 172 mg/L are notably soft for a Florida community — reflecting Tampa Bay Water's unique water management approach. The raw Upper Floridan Aquifer water in Hillsborough County, drawn from the Eocene Avon Park Formation dolomite, would be substantially harder (200–250+ mg/L) without treatment and blending. Tampa Bay Water's desalination plant produces very soft product water (~50 mg/L) from Tampa Bay seawater reverse osmosis, and blending this with surface water and treated groundwater moderates the final hardness significantly. The result is one of the softest supplies in the Tampa metro area.

At 77 mg/L, Citrus Park residents enjoy one of the softer water supplies in coastal Florida. Soap lathers well, appliances scale very slowly, and the dishwasher produces clean glassware without significant mineral film. Semi-annual descaling of kettles and coffee machines is adequate under normal household use. The PFAS level of 5.0 ppt is moderate for the Tampa metro corridor — a certified drinking water filter is a reasonable precaution for residents wanting complete daily water quality assurance.