Brevard has no single water system. The City of Melbourne, the City of Cocoa, Palm Bay, Titusville and others each run their own drinking-water utilities, and the county’s Utility Services Department runs sewer and some water service in parts of the county. What ties them all together is the Indian River Lagoon — it runs the length of the county, and the county’s stormwater and treated wastewater end up there.
| County sewer | Brevard County Utility Services runs sewer service across much of the county, including the south beaches (Melbourne Beach’s sewer, for example). Phone (321) 633-2091. Town of Melbourne Beach — Water & Sewer Service |
| Melbourne’s water | One example: the City of Melbourne — serving about 168,000 people in Melbourne, and the south beaches — draws from Lake Washington (St. Johns River) and the Floridan Aquifer, and is permitted for 25 million gallons a day. City of Melbourne 2026 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2025 data) |
| Lead pipes | City of Melbourne: as of June 8, 2026 its inventory counts 60,726 service lines: 41,789 not lead, 0 lead, 0 galvanized needing replacement, and 18,937 still of unknown material. Each utility keeps its own inventory. City of Melbourne — Lead and Copper Program |
| The lagoon | From December 2020 to April 2022, 1,255 manatees died in the Indian River Lagoon event, mostly from “starvation due to lack of forage” after the seagrass died off. FWC closed the event in March 2025. Seagrass is coming back: the water management district mapped 17,042 hectares in 2025, up from 9,924 in 2023. FWC — manatee unusual mortality event · St. Johns River Water Management District, May 2026 |
| The lagoon tax | Voters approved the Save Our Indian River Lagoon half-cent sales tax in 2016; it pays for muck removal, septic-to-sewer work, stormwater filters and oyster restoration. Its ten-year renewal is on the November 3, 2026 ballot — this site gives facts and takes no side. Brevard Supervisor of Elections — 2026 referenda · Save Our Indian River Lagoon |
| Septic deadline | State law requires septic systems in the lagoon watershed to connect to sewer or upgrade to nitrogen-reducing systems by 2030. The lagoon program’s septic upgrade cost-share pays $6,000 to $20,000 per property. Central Florida Public Media, Dec. 2025 |
Each city utility publishes its own yearly water quality report. The City of Melbourne’s latest (2025 tests) lists one violation: E. coli.
| Measure | Result | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Chlorine byproducts (TTHM) | 22.3 ppb (range 9.9–31.6) | 80 |
| Chlorine byproducts (HAA5) | 13.91 ppb (range 4.8–19.9) | 60 |
| Lead (2023 tap tests) No homes over the action level. | 1.2 ppb at the 90th percentile (highest 4.6) | 15 action level |
| Copper (2023 tap tests) | 0.0778 ppm at the 90th percentile | 1.3 action level |
E. coli was found in April and May 2025 (“an E. coli positive repeat sample following a total coliform positive routine sample”). The city ran a Level 2 assessment overseen by a third party, which found “no known issues” with the pipes or plants, and installed a dedicated sampling station. A separate August 28, 2025 boil-water notice for all customers was lifted the next day; the city said that result was likely a contaminated sample or lab error.
July 24, 2026: a taste-and-odor notice after algae in Lake Washington. The city said the water “remains safe to drink” and its tests for algae toxins found none.
The report has no PFAS (“forever chemical”) results (Docket #7 — for every utility in the county). Sources: City of Melbourne 2026 water quality report · WFTV, Aug 2025 · City of Melbourne — Update on City Water
The open question: How many septic systems are left in the lagoon watershed, and how many does the county plan to connect by the state’s 2030 deadline? (Docket #4) See the docket.
Melbourne Beach’s drinking water is already low in byproducts. Its water problem is the other direction: rain carries fertilizer and dirt off streets and lawns, through the town’s pipes, into the lagoon. A living filter at the end of each pipe — an oyster reef, a living shoreline, or a bed of special media where bacteria eat the nitrogen — cleans that water before the lagoon has to. However the drainage work is paid for, it can be built with a living filter at the outfall.
Why here: Every city’s storm drains in Brevard empty toward the lagoon. In Melbourne Beach alone, the town describes old, undersized pipes sending rain into the lagoon, and in February 2026 a live manatee had to be removed from a stormwater junction box. Town of Melbourne Beach — bond page · Melbourne Beach Commission packet, Feb. 18, 2026
The evidence:
The honest limits:
Save Our Indian River Lagoon — BAM projects
First step: Have the lagoon program fund one living-filter pilot per year at a city stormwater outfall — BAM media, an oyster reef, or a living shoreline — with nitrogen tests before and after, and publish the results.
This is a proposal, labeled as one. The records above are the facts; whether to do this is for residents and the people they elect to decide.
Smart meters plus listening devices on the pipes find leaks early. Every gallon lost was already pumped and treated. Hot Springs, Arkansas cut water it couldn’t account for from 44% to 24%, and found one broken valve wasting about 4 million gallons a day (the meter company’s case study).
Limit: The case study comes from the company that sold the system. Savings depend on how leaky the pipes are to begin with. Xylem case study, Hot Springs
A living layer on the sand or carbon filter eats organic matter and ammonia — with fewer chemicals. Less organic matter means fewer chlorine byproducts later. Slow sand filters work this way. Slow sand filters have run for more than 150 years; several U.S. utilities have converted filters to biological operation.
Limit: It doesn’t remove “forever chemicals” (PFAS) by itself, and slow sand filters need land. Biofiltration review, 2016 · Hazen and Sawyer
Ultraviolet light kills germs without adding a chemical, so less chlorine is needed. Adding hydrogen peroxide under UV (advanced oxidation) breaks down trace chemicals too.
Limit: Some chlorine is still needed to keep water safe inside the pipes. Trojan Technologies
Wells beside a river pull water through natural sand and gravel, which filters it before it reaches the plant. Louisville Water in Kentucky uses riverbank filtration.
Limit: Only works where the ground next to the river is the right kind of sand and gravel — that takes a study. Louisville Water
Very fine filters physically block germs and particles. Packaged systems are sold for small towns.
Limit: Membranes need cleaning and replacing, and they use electricity. AMTA
Activated carbon, ion exchange, and reverse osmosis remove PFAS. Destroying PFAS completely (supercritical water, electrochemical methods) is still in pilots.
Limit: EPA set PFAS limits in 2024. In 2026 it proposed pushing the main deadline from 2029 to 2031 and dropping limits for four of the six chemicals — both still proposals. Test first, then decide. EPA · PFAS destruction review · EPA — proposed extension · EPA — proposed rescission
Keeping the watershed healthy — forests, stream banks, fixing upstream sewage — is usually cheaper than treating dirty water. New York City protected its Catskill watershed instead of building a filtration plant estimated at up to $10 billion.
Limit: New York’s dollars don’t scale down; the idea does. PERC
Planted, shallow basins where plants, soil, and microbes clean treated wastewater further. EPA guidance calls them well suited to small towns “where inexpensive land is available.”
Limit: Needs land, and works slower in cold weather. Univ. of Arizona, summarizing EPA guidance
Algae grow on belts that rotate through lagoon water, pulling out phosphorus and nitrogen. The harvested algae can become fertilizer. Gross-Wen Technologies (Iowa) — at least eight systems running in Iowa and Illinois.
Limit: Still young, and algae slow down in winter. Iowa State · phys.org, 2023
Floating plants, fungal filters, and greenhouse ecosystems that clean water. Duckweed pulled more than 93% of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater in a study.
Limit: Strong study results, few full-size town plants to copy. Treat as a supplement, not a whole plant. Duckweed study (MDPI) · Oberlin’s Living Machine
Digesting sludge makes biogas; phosphorus can be recovered as a fertilizer. Tigard, Oregon became the first U.S. plant to recycle nutrients into commercial fertilizer (Ostara, 2009).
Limit: Usually pays off only at bigger plants. Ostara
Engineered surfaces that soak up sunlight to evaporate and purify water.
Limit: Researchers say fouling, cost, and scale still need to be solved. No utility runs it. research review · J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022
Ultra-thin carbon membranes that could filter faster with less energy.
Limit: Research says most use is “still limited to laboratory scale.” No U.S. water utility uses them as its main filter yet. ACS Environmental Au review
Look up any system yourself: EPA — find your report · EPA ECHO · EPA SDWIS · EPA UCMR data · TCEQ
Related: Commonwealth — our own money · Grow-ops. This page lays out options and their records; it doesn’t choose for anyone. Spot an error? Report it.