Public Education and Awareness
What Can Residents Do To Prevent Ground Water Pollution?
Return used oil to stores or garages that accept and recycle the oil. Many of the stores that provide oil change service will also accept oil, transmission, and hydraulic fluids from do-it-yourselfers.
Follow the label instructions when applying or cleaning up after using pesticides, paints, furniture strippers, or other household chemicals. The chemicals we use are usually very good at completing the task they are sold to do, but the very properties that make them useful also make them potentially harmful to the environment. By following label directions you can avoid harming the environment.
Dispose of Household Chemicals properly
Disposing of left-over household chemicals is not always an easy task. Dumping them on the ground is bad for the environment, both surface and ground water, plants, and animals. Just leaving them in the closet or garage only delays the problem. Fortunately the Leon County Solid Waste Management Division has a hazardous waste collection center that can help you get rid of these materials. Leon County's Hazardous Waste Coordinator can answer your questions about what can be safely put in the garbage and what needs to be given special handling. Call 606.1816.
Use Common Sense Around Private Wells.
Take special care if you get water from a private well. Be particularly careful when using lawn chemicals or other household chemicals around your well; it is possible for chemicals to get into the well through gaps in the sanitary seal or to move down into the aquifer by moving down along the well casing. Take a look at the well once or twice a year and make sure it is in good repair.
Public education and awareness
Water is vital to the economic and ecological health and well-being of the citizens in Leon County. North Florida holds a key position in the state with a relatively intact hydrogeological system. The Floridan Aquifer, the largest magnitude of fresh water springs in the world, and the interconnected riverine, wetland and coastal water systems. Leon County and the City of Tallahassee are blessed with a source of abundant drinking water of exceptional quality that must always be protected.
This North Florida treasure is one of the largest fresh water springs in the world.
Protecting this precious natural resource is vital for future generations.
The City of Tallahassee's Aquifer Protection Program (APP) management approach emphasizes information and compliance over enforcement, from the belief that education, training and partnership maximize both environmental and economic benefits. Awareness promoting education concerning ground water protection is a top priority of the Aquifer Protection program and its success.  Staff offer a one on one education to customers, attend events that promote water protection, give presentations to schools, attend monthly Hazardous waste collection day, and always open to anyone that request a presentation.
Responsible water use by the public is very important. This is your time as a "water user" or "Well Owner" to observe the importance of protecting and managing the valuable resource of ground water. It is time to do your part. Protect the ground water by making sure pollutants cannot enter the underground aquifer through failed wastewater treatment systems (septic tank and drain field), around well fields, or wellhead contamination. Be sure not to place pollutants, pesticides or hazardous materials near the well or water systems. Keep a "clean" zone of at least 50 feet from your well and kennels and livestock operation
Everyone can and should do something to protect groundwater.
Learn more about the Aquifer Protection Program.