Water testing in Jacksonville, and what each test can tell you
Water testing here comes in two kinds. Our in-home test reads hardness, iron, pH, TDS and chlorine at your tap. Bacteria, lead and PFAS need a certified lab. Florida DOH tells well owners to test bacteria and nitrate every year. We serve all five counties.
GUARANTEE
THE TWO KINDS
What does a water test actually measure?
Two different things, and they don't come from the same place. One set of readings comes off equipment we carry into your kitchen and read while you watch. The other set goes to a state-certified laboratory. The method there is a culture or a lab instrument. There's no honest way around that.
| On site, in your home | Certified lab |
|---|---|
| Hardness, in grains per gallon | Total coliform and E. coli |
| Iron | Nitrate |
| pH | Lead |
| TDS, total dissolved solids | PFAS |
| Chlorine |
Coliform is a bacterial culture, not a dropper test. Anyone telling you otherwise is describing something else.
THE FIVE ON-SITE READINGS
What can Stillwell test in your home?
Five readings, taken at your own tap, written down while you watch.
- Hardness One grain per gallon is 17.1 mg/L. USGS sorts hardness in mg/L: soft under 60, moderately hard 61 to 120, hard 121 to 180, very hard above 180. In gpg that's soft under 3.5, moderately hard 3.5 to 7, hard 7 to 10.5, very hard above 10.5, a derivation from the USGS classes, not a scale USGS publishes in gpg.
- Iron EPA's secondary standard is 0.3 mg/L. The listed effects are rusty color, sediment, metallic taste and orange staining. Iron can draw clear and stain later once it meets air. So your fixtures often tell the story before your glass does.
- pH EPA's secondary range is 6.5 to 8.5. Below that, water gets corrosive on copper plumbing. Blue-green staining around a drain is the visible version of a number.
- TDS EPA's secondary standard for total dissolved solids is 500 mg/L. High TDS reads as a salty or mineral taste.
- Chlorine JEA disinfects with chlorine, so on city water there's a residual at your tap. It's usually what people mean when they say the water tastes like a pool.
WHAT NEEDS A LAB
What needs a certified lab, and why?
Bacteria, lead and PFAS. A coliform test is a culture. A lab grows a sample under controlled conditions and reads what appears. No strip, dropper or handheld meter does that, and we don't claim to.
Florida DOH's guidance for private wells is a state-certified laboratory, every time. So when the question is bacteria, our job is to get your sample where it belongs. Not to guess at it in your kitchen.
Lead works the same way. PFAS does too, and there the honest verb is reduce. EPA says activated carbon and reverse osmosis can reduce PFAS in drinking water.
It points people toward products certified to NSF/ANSI 53 or NSF/ANSI 58. If someone tells you a filter removes PFAS, that word is doing more work than the evidence allows.
HOW OFTEN
How often should a well owner test?
At least once a year for bacteria and nitrate. Every three years for lead. Always through a state-certified lab. That's Florida DOH's guidance for private wells.
County health departments run the sampling programs. They give you the collection instructions and help you read what comes back. That runs roughly $20 to $30 a sample.
Duval is one of the counties where the health department enforces local rules requiring a test on any newly built or repaired well. DOH-Duval also samples potable wells near known contamination sources.
Whether Clay, Nassau, St. Johns or Baker carry their own local rules isn't something we've verified. So check with your county health department rather than take our word for it.
STRIPS AND KITS
Can you test your own water at home?
For a rough read, yes. A hardness strip or a pH strip will put you in a range. That's enough to tell you whether the question is worth chasing.
What a strip won't do is give you a number you'd size equipment against. It also won't say anything about bacteria. Strips and lab cultures answer different questions. Knowing which one you're asking saves you money.
ON THE VISIT
What happens on a Stillwell visit?
We take the five on-site readings at your tap, write them down and hand you the sheet. Then we walk through what those numbers mean for your plumbing, your water heater and your fixtures.
If a reading points toward bacteria, lead or PFAS, we tell you where the sample goes and how to get it there. The recommendation always comes after the reading. We don't name a system before a number exists.
The rest of the sequence is on how it works. On a well, the reading picks the stages in the treatment train.
WHAT THE AREA DATA SAYS
Is Jacksonville water hard, and will a test tell you your number?
Jacksonville water is hard, and how hard moves by county. Across the 64,969 well households in our five-county dataset the median hardness is 16.4 gpg. That's a dataset median, not anyone's tap.
County by county the area medians run about 17.2 gpg in Duval, 16.0 in Nassau and 5.4 in Clay. St. Johns and Baker hold no reading in the domestic band at all.
City water spreads too. JEA doesn't soften, so hardness arrives at your tap intact. Delivered hardness runs roughly 120 to 372 mg/L, about 7 to 21.7 gpg.
Which wellfield feeds your side of town decides it. Two homes a few miles apart read differently. That's the argument for testing at your tap instead of reading an average and hoping.
The by-area spread is on hard water in Jacksonville, and the utility readings on JEA water quality. City homes start at what city water needs.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
What do you do with the results?
The reading picks the system. Hardness sets softener sizing. Chlorine decides whether carbon belongs in the train. pH and iron change what goes ahead of everything else. Once there's a number, the recommendation is arithmetic rather than opinion.
The quiz is the short version of that. Six questions about your home and your water, and you'll see the system your water calls for with its price.
City systems from $2,695. Well systems from $3,595. Answer six questions and see the one your water calls for.
Every price stands behind the Love Your Water Guarantee, 90 days.
The measurement, after the quiz
On city water, the technician tests at your tap on install day, before anything is commissioned, and that reading is what the guarantee is held to. On a well, we mail you a free sample kit first, because a well can't be honestly quoted without it.
Care is a membership. Monthly plans start at $29 for city homes and $49 for well homes. Members get scheduled visits, filter and lamp changes and a standing line to us when something reads off.
What each tier covers: Stillwell Care. What a system costs is on its own page.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Who this page is for
Well owners in Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Baker who want a number before they buy anything. JEA customers who'd rather know their own hardness than a metro figure. Buyers closing on a well house, and anyone who just had one repaired and needs to know what the county expects.
If you want the tap-water version first, read whether Florida tap water is safe to drink.
Common questions about water testing
Where can I bring my water to get tested?
Start with your county health department. Florida DOH county programs give private well owners sampling instructions. They run the test through a state-certified laboratory and help you read the result. That runs roughly $20 to $30 a sample. State-certified labs also accept samples directly. For hardness, iron, pH, TDS and chlorine, we can read those at your tap instead.
How much does a well water test cost in Florida?
Florida DOH county health department sampling programs run roughly $20 to $30 a sample. That's the figure we quote, because it's the one that's published. Private certified labs set their own pricing by panel. Our in-home test covers hardness, iron, pH, TDS and chlorine. It's part of how we size a system rather than a separate line item.
Is Jacksonville tap water safe to drink?
JEA publishes annual water quality reports, 2013 through 2025, showing compliance with federal standards. The things people actually notice here are livability ones. Hardness that leaves scale on fixtures and glassware. The chlorine taste that comes with disinfection. Those are comfort problems with straightforward fixes, not safety problems.
How can I test my water quality myself?
Home strips and kits give you a rough read on hardness and pH, enough to know whether something is worth investigating. They won't produce a number precise enough to size equipment against, and no home kit cultures bacteria. If you want a working number for hardness, iron, pH, TDS or chlorine, that's what an in-home test is for.
What can a free in-store water test tell you?
Counter-top tests at a retailer typically read hardness and sometimes TDS, which is a real answer to a narrow question. What they can't cover is bacteria, nitrate, lead or PFAS. All of those need a state-certified laboratory. Judge any test by its scope rather than its price, and ask which parameters it actually measures.
Does a water test tell me if I have bacteria?
Only a lab culture does. Total coliform and E. coli testing means growing a sample under controlled conditions and reading the result. That's why Florida DOH tells private well owners to use a state-certified laboratory, and to test at least once a year. Nothing we carry to your house cultures bacteria, and we won't say otherwise.