Jacksonville water runs 120 to 341 mg/L hard with dissolved solids to 864 mg/L, and east winds carry Atlantic salt aerosol well inland onto the glass.
JEA publishes Jacksonville's hardness zip code by zip code, from moderately hard out at Baldwin to extremely hard on the Southside, so check yours; at the hard end, tap water left to dry marks glass fast. East winds carry Atlantic salt well inland, and the cooler months from October to February, plus April and May, are best for washing. Jacksonville is vast, and route planning shapes quotes as much as the rate does; a single-story exterior runs $300 to $510.
There is no useful single figure for this city and JEA says so by publishing one for every postcode. The range inside Jacksonville runs from 120 mg/L out at Baldwin to 341 on the Southside — nearly threefold, crossing from merely hard into firmly very hard. On the high side that is enough mineral to mark glass within a single drying cycle in summer sun, and enough to justify a deionised or filtered final rinse on a frameless installation. On the western edge the same method would be overkill. Before pricing a route across this city, read the postcode rather than the city name.
Figures by zone, as reported.
| Hardness | 120–341 mg/L as CaCO₃ Averaging 250 mg/L; published per zip code; most of the city is VERY HARD on the operator’s own ladder, with the western edge falling to merely hard. |
|---|---|
| Sodium | 8.18–126.43 mg/L |
| Chloride | 9.14–319 mg/L |
| Total dissolved solids | 153–864 mg/L |
| Disinfectant | free chlorine |
| Source and treatment | Groundwater wells feeding the plants that serve each zip code, per JEA's own hardness table and the EPA SDWIS federal record · Slat-tray and packed-tower aeration, post-ozonation for taste and odour, post-chlorination, with lime and soda ash and pH adjustment for corrosion control · No softening step. |
Not in the report: pH, alkalinity, corrosion index, iron and manganese.
SOURCE · JEA 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (Major Grid columns), with JEA's hardness-by-zip table (jea.com/hardness) and the EPA SDWIS federal treatment record, PWS FL2161328 (JEA Major Grid) · How we source these numbers
Two separate clocks, neither seasonal in the ordinary sense. Within a few miles of the Atlantic, salt aerosol reloads on east winds regardless of weather, so coastal-facing glass is measurably dirty within a week. Inland, irrigation carries the real mineral load — St Augustine lawns need watering through a long season and spray heads put aquifer water onto warm glass daily.
FLORIDA SEASON BY SEASON →JEA draws Floridan Aquifer groundwater and publishes hardness zip code by zip code, from 120 to 341 mg/L, so a single citywide figure cannot be right everywhere. The direction is hard; the magnitude is open. Operationally the city splits by geography: coastal salt aerosol sets a short interval near the Atlantic, irrigation carries the mineral load inland, and Jacksonville's vast footprint makes route construction rather than rate the thing that decides a profitable day.
JEA publishes hardness zip code by zip code across its whole territory, which is the finest geographic disclosure on this site. Inside Jacksonville the span runs from 120 mg/L in Baldwin at the western edge to 341 in the Southside, and the utility names the extremes itself — highest around St Johns Forest, lowest in the Cecil Commerce area. Five of the postcodes on this page alone cover 194 to 336, so the neighbourhood matters more here than the city does.
Figures quoted online for Jacksonville disagree with each other and with JEA, sometimes even about where the water comes from. Because JEA publishes a different figure for nearly every postcode, any single citywide number is wrong somewhere in the city by construction.
Coastal salt aerosol from the Atlantic carries inland to the urban core on east winds, and it is hygroscopic — it pulls moisture back out of humid air rather than drying to a removable crust. Glass within a few miles of the coast needs a rinse-and-clear routine rather than a wipe, and the working window is the middle of the day.
Hurricane debris film is a compound residue rather than a single one. Sand, salt and organic particulate arrive together and bond as they dry, so the first pass after a named storm has to be a flood — dragging that mixture across glass is how a cleaning visit becomes a replacement claim.
The city's footprint is enormous, covering well over 800 square miles, and the Beaches, Mandarin and the downtown core function as separate markets with separate travel. Route construction decides profitability here more than the rate card does.
Long irrigation seasons on St Augustine turf put aquifer water onto west and south elevations daily through most of the year. Redirecting or shielding spray heads is frequently worth more to a customer than an additional clean, and it is the advice they remember.
Jacksonville covers more land than almost any US city, and route construction rather than rate is what determines whether a day is profitable — the Beaches, Mandarin and the urban core are effectively separate markets. Proximity to the Atlantic is the clearest frequency multiplier, and storm season converts the whole book to restoration work on no notice.
The city is large and low-rise, so access is rarely the problem. Two things are. Salt film is hygroscopic and reactivates in overnight humidity, so dry-wiping it grinds it in rather than lifting it, and after a named storm the residue is sand, salt and organic matter compounded together, which has to be floated off before anything touches the glass. Both are discipline rather than difficulty, and both are what homeowners skip.
OPEN COST ESTIMATOR →2025 annual mean at the Kooker Park monitor, 2900 Bennett Street, Jacksonville, FL 32206, 3.3 km north-east of the city (EPA site 12-031-0032).
Largest air release: Northside Generating Station, 4377 Heckscher DR (electric utilities), inside the city limits, 586,750 lb in 2024.
Jacksonville's Chapter 366 limits lawn watering to set days by address, two a week during daylight saving time and one otherwise, never between 10 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, with hand-held watering exempt. In March 2026 the St. Johns River district cut Duval County to one watering day a week under a water shortage order.
Jacksonville Ordinance Code, Sec. 366.504, landscape irrigation schedule · JEA, once-a-week irrigation under the 2026 water shortage order · checked September 2026
Jacksonville's stormwater code bars illicit discharges, meaning anything entering the city's storm sewer system that is not entirely stormwater, unless a federal NPDES permit allows it. It also bans commercial wastes and commercial car wash wastes from the system, directly or indirectly, so soapy wash water from a cleaning job should not reach the street drains.
Jacksonville Ordinance Code §754.204: general prohibition · Jacksonville Ordinance Code §754.102: definitions (illicit discharge) · checked September 2026
Any alteration to a Jacksonville landmark or to property in a historic district needs a certificate of appropriateness on top of any building permit. The Historic Preservation Commission keeps a list of routine alterations and minor repairs that city staff may approve without a hearing, and a staff decision can be appealed to the Commission within 21 days.
Jacksonville Ordinance Code, Sec. 307.106, approval of changes to landmarks and historic district property · Jacksonville Ordinance Code, Sec. 307.107, administrative review and exceptions · checked September 2026
Atomized salt deposited on glass within ~3 miles of either coast. Within a half mile of the water, the deposit rate is high enough to produce visible haze in 7–14 days. Salt is hygroscopic — pulls humidity from the air and rebuilds overnight.
Post-storm windows carry a film of salt, organic debris (palm fronds, leaves), and sometimes diesel residue from displaced fuel. Multi-pass cleaning standard; first pass is mostly mechanical removal.
Oak pollen produces a yellow-green dust through the late winter and early spring. Pine pollen is denser and stickier, peaks in March. Both want a surfactant pass.
High humidity plus shaded trim produces visible mildew at the glazing edge of north-facing windows. Cleaning the glass without addressing the mildew recurs in weeks.
There is no useful single figure for this city and JEA says so by publishing one for every postcode. The range inside Jacksonville runs from 120 mg/L out at Baldwin to 341 on the Southside — nearly threefold, crossing from merely hard into firmly very hard.
Residential window cleaning in Jacksonville typically runs $10–15 per pane or $300–510 for a standard single-story exterior. Jacksonville covers more land than almost any US city, and route construction rather than rate is what determines whether a day is profitable — the Beaches, Mandarin and the urban core are effectively separate markets.
Jacksonville's drier, frost-free months are April and May and October to February, by NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for the Jacksonville NAS station, where June brings the most rain. The calendar on this page marks April (after the February 13 bloom). Frost nights usually run from January 5 to February 1. Normal highs reach 90°F in June to August.
Not as the final rinse: JEA publishes dissolved solids of 153–864 mg/L, enough to spot as it dries, so finish with pure water. Its sodium, up to 126.43 mg/L, leaves a salt film that pulls moisture back, so rinse it off rather than let it dry. Treatment starts with slat-tray, packed-tower aeration, post-ozonation for taste and odour.
In Jacksonville the dominant residue patterns include atlantic salt aerosol carrying inland on east winds and compound hurricane debris film of sand, salt and organic matter. Two separate clocks, neither seasonal in the ordinary sense.
The city is large and low-rise, so access is rarely the problem. Two things are. Salt film is hygroscopic and reactivates in overnight humidity, so dry-wiping it grinds it in rather than lifting it, and after a named storm the residue is sand, salt and organic matter compounded together, which has to be floated off before anything touches the glass.
Mid-rise commercial concentration; institutional and government contract work. Riverside / Avondale and San Marco have their own housing stock and glazing as well.
Just over the Florida line