How many water violations are in Polk County?

Polk County has 16,587 total drinking water violations across 402 water systems, of which 1,505 are health-based violations. 98.3% of systems have at least one violation.

How many people get water from Polk County systems?

Water systems in Polk County serve approximately 672,690 people through 402 public water systems.

Has PFAS been detected in Polk County water?

Under EPA UCMR5, 8 of 21 tested systems in Polk County had at least one PFAS detection (38.1% of the UCMR5-tested subset - not of all 402 SDWIS systems).

What types of water sources supply Polk County?

Water systems in Polk County use GW (402 systems) as their primary water sources.

Are health-based violations serious?

Health-based violations indicate that drinking water exceeded Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) set by the EPA or failed treatment technique requirements. 9.1% of Polk County's violations are health-based. Among counties with any SDWIS violations, this extract puts Polk County in the lower health-based share band. Not all violations indicate immediate health risk, but they require corrective action.

Where does Polk County sit among U.S. counties for water-system population?

According to EPA SDWIS county population served used on /counties, Polk County ranks #102 of 3,254 counties by people served, and #10 of 67 counties in Florida. Ordinals use the same total_population DESC sort as the counties directory. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

Counties → Florida

Polk County, Florida

Compiled by PlainWater · May 15, 2026

SDWIS compliance plate

Sheet FL105 · Polk County 402 sys · 16,587 viol · #102/3254

VIOL-SEVERE · HEALTH-LOW · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · PFAS-MID · SRC-GW · SYS-LARGE · BOOK-FULL

VIOL-SEVERE 98.3% flagged
HEALTH-LOW 9.1% health
RANK-TOP #102/3254
PHOTO-FINISH ±0.1 pp
PFAS-MID 38.1% detect
SRC-GW GW lead 100%
SYS-LARGE 402 systems
BOOK-FULL 7/7 fields

Nearest flagged-rate peer: Seminole County (+ 0.1 pp flagged-rate)

According to EPA SDWIS county population served used on /counties, Polk County ranks #102 of 3,254 counties by people served, and #10 of 67 counties in Florida. See methodology · corpus placement.

Polk County standing, mid-flagged corpus third

Flagged-system rate 98.3% is in the corpus middle third (≤ 100.0% flagged) across 2,973 counties with ≥3 SDWIS systems . Health-based share 9.1% is health-based share at or below the lower third (≤ 10.3%) . UCMR5 detect rate 38.1% is UCMR5 detect rate above the tested-pool upper third (> 33.3%) . Population served ranks #102 of 3,254 · #10 of 67 in Florida.

Water Systems

System Name	Population	Violations	PFAS
Lakeland, City Of	193,297	16	Clean
Winter Haven Water Department	87,537	46	Detected
Northeast	60,557	64	Detected
Southwest/Polk County Utility	39,209	28	Detected
Auburndale, City Of	35,239	40	Clean
Haines City, City Of	30,545	72	Clean
Northwest	28,082	59	Clean
Bartow, City Of	21,501	14	Detected
Lake Wales, City Of	18,722	23	Detected
Central	13,595	73	Clean
Davenport, City Of	9,043	67	Detected
Lake Alfred, City Of	5,584	51	Detected
City of Fort Meade	5,455	34	Clean
East Water System	5,052	40	Clean
Wahneta Water System	4,500	26	Clean
Sws - Cypress Lakes	4,065	44	Clean
Dundee, Town Of	3,824	277	Clean
Mulberry, City Of	3,780	48	Clean
Frostproof, City Of	3,425	77	Detected
Avon Park Correctional Institution	3,000	48	-
Southeast	2,828	32	-
Publix Industrial Center	2,783	44	-
Mount Olive Estates	2,724	53	-
Eagle Lake, City Of	2,600	70	-
Polk City System	2,568	36	-
Gold Coast Utility	2,500	115	-
Lake Hamilton, Town Of	2,430	261	-
Babson Park	2,161	48	-
Grenelefe Resort	2,114	104	-
Westgate River Ranch ; RV Resort	2,100	23	-
City of Lake Wales/Park Water Company	1,948	46	Clean
Swiss Golf ; Tennis Club	1,900	107	-
Lake Gibson Estates	1,897	42	-
Foxwood Lake Estates	1,816	10	-
Four Lakes Golf Club	1,600	40	-
Outdoor Resorts	1,500	58	-
Camp Inn Associates, LLC	1,500	125	-
Polk Correctional Institution	1,500	102	-
Waverly Water System	1,479	52	-
Swiss Village MHP	1,410	124	-
Deer Creek RV Golf ; Country Club	1,300	4	-
Bradley Junction, Town Of	1,260	20	-
Saddlebag Lake Resort	1,200	35	-
Florida Camp Inn	1,150	50	-
Sunlake Terrace Water Systems	1,000	37	-
Lake Region Mobile Home Village	930	46	-
Circle K # 7087-District 1150	900	10	-
Circle K # 7321	900	8	-
Galloway Shell Circle K	900	9	-
Circle K # 7347	883	17	-

Compare beyond Florida

Mid-flagged peers for Polk County

Cross-state counties nearest Polk County on flagged-system share (98.3%) and cumulative violation count (16,587). In-state neighbours stay on the compliance plate above.

Similar flagged-system rate

Nearest cross-state counties by % of SDWIS systems with at least one violation on record.

4 peers

Similar violation load

Nearest cross-state counties by cumulative SDWIS violation count (all systems in the county).

4 peers

Read our methodology · Check your water system - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 PFAS monitoring data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainWater

Compiled by PlainWater, Drinking Water Quality Editorial Process · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainWater is rendered directly from EPA SDWIS drinking-water data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on EPA SDWIS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.