Our Aquifers

    Florida's primary source of freshwater suitable for drinking are our aquifers.  We use several, including the Biscayne, Chokoloskee, Sand and Gravel, and our most important and famous aquifer the Floridan.  The Floridan is known world wide and is used for bottled water that is sold worldwide.  It stretches all the way into Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina covering over one hundred thousand square miles.  At points it is over three thousand feet thick.  In Alachua County it is between eighteen and twenty four hundred feet thick.  The Floridan Aquifer is deep underground as you can see in this cut out view. 

Above the Floridan Aquifer lies various surficial aquifers.  Some of these are the Sand and Gravel, Biscayne Aquifers, and many others lie just beneath the surface throughout the state of Florida.  The surficial aquifers that range throughout the state are not always potable. 

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