Orlando water is 129 mg/L hard, daily sprinkler overspray from the aquifer supply spots west and south walls, and oak and pine pollen follow each spring.
Orlando's aquifer water is hard, and daily sprinkler overspray puts it on west and south walls, where it dries into spots. Oak and pine pollen follow each spring, so the dry season from November to April is the time to wash, with a pollen cleanup at its end. Hotels and conference centres on the tourist corridor keep commercial crews busy, and a single-story home exterior runs $300 to $510.
OUC puts its water at 129 mg/L, which is hard: Floridan Aquifer water is limestone groundwater. What matters more here than the exact figure is that irrigation puts that same water onto glass daily for most of the year, so whatever the number is, glass meets it constantly.
| Hardness | 129 mg/L as CaCO₃ System average printed as 129 ppm, or 7 grains per gallon (about 120 mg/L; the two units disagree slightly); hard on the USGS ladder, as published by Orlando Utilities Commission. |
|---|---|
| Sodium | 7.27–12.6 mg/L |
| Disinfectant | ozone + chloramine |
| Source and treatment | Groundwater, per the EPA SDWIS federal record · Slat-tray aeration and ozonation for taste and odour, granular activated carbon, chlorination with chloramines as the residual, fluoridation and pH adjustment for corrosion control · No softening step. |
Not in the report: pH, alkalinity, corrosion index, iron, manganese, chloride and total dissolved solids.
SOURCE · Orlando Utilities Commission 2025 Water Quality Report and Water Services FAQ page, with the EPA SDWIS federal treatment record · How we source these numbers
Irrigation sets the calendar and it barely has an off season. St Augustine turf needs watering through most of the year and spray heads reach west and south elevations daily, so the deposit clock is a sprinkler schedule rather than a weather pattern. Oak and pine pollen overlay a spring spike, and the afternoon convective storm season adds a summer rhythm of wet glass drying fast in heat.
FLORIDA SEASON BY SEASON →OUC draws Floridan Aquifer groundwater and gives its average hardness as 129 ppm, or 7 grains per gallon, figures that come from its water-services page rather than its annual water quality report. Irrigation rather than weather sets the deposit clock: St Augustine turf is watered most of the year and spray heads put hard aquifer water on west and south glass daily, which makes shielding the heads the most valuable advice in the market. The tourist corridor supplies a quarterly contract book at unusual scale.
The Orlando Utilities Commission draws Floridan Aquifer groundwater and puts its average hardness at 129 ppm, about 7 grains per gallon; it disinfects with sodium hypochlorite and says plainly that it does not use chloramine.
Hard aquifer water reaches glass here mostly through sprinklers rather than through rain. St Augustine turf needs irrigating through most of the year, spray heads reach west and south elevations, and the resulting deposit arrives on a daily cycle rather than a seasonal one.
That makes shielding or redirecting spray heads the highest-value advice available in this market. Customers routinely attribute the marks to the cleaning rather than to their own irrigation, and showing them the difference is worth more than an extra visit.
The tourist corridor gives a mid-sized city a commercial book at a scale usually reserved for much larger markets — hotels, conference centres and restaurant chains on quarterly contracts, with presentation standards and guest-hours access constraints attached.
Afternoon convective storms through the summer wet glass and then leave it to dry fast in heat, which concentrates whatever was on the surface rather than washing it away. A property cleaned before a July afternoon frequently looks untouched by evening.
Oak and pine pollen overlap in a spring spike that coats everything, and because the same season is peak irrigation, the pollen lands on glass that is already carrying mineral. The two together need a presoak rather than a dry first pass.
The tourist corridor is the commercial backbone: hotels, conference centres and restaurant chains on quarterly contracts at a scale few markets this size offer, with presentation standards and access scheduled around guests. That work rewards reliability and capacity over rate, and it is stable in a way the residential book is not.
The housing is accessible and the technique is ordinary, so the honest answer is that a homeowner will manage most of it. What they will not beat is the irrigation cycle — hard aquifer water drying on hot glass every morning leaves bonded deposit that accumulates faster than a domestic method clears it. Shielding the heads is the fix, and it is worth more than a better squeegee.
OPEN COST ESTIMATOR →2025 annual mean at the Winter Park monitor, 466 Harper St, Winter Park, FL 32789, 23.3 km north-west of the city (EPA site 12-095-2002).
2025 annual mean at the Presidents' Drive Near Road monitor, 8100 Presidents' Drive, 16.4 km west of the city (EPA site 12-095-0011).
Largest air release: Regal Marine Industries Inc., 2300 Jetport DR (transportation equipment), 0.1 km outside the city limits, 150,980 lb in 2024.
Orlando's code hands outdoor watering rules to the St. Johns River Water Management District: the times, days, volumes and run times for irrigation are whatever that district specifies, and variances have to come from the district. Contractors who install or service an automatic irrigation system must test its rain or moisture shut-off device.
Orlando City Code §60.232: irrigation installation and operation · checked September 2026
Orlando makes it unlawful to drain, deposit or otherwise discharge into any natural outlet or storm water system in the city any organic or inorganic matter that causes or tends to cause pollution. Whoever is responsible must stop it on request and pay the city's cleanup costs, so soapy wash water should be kept out of the drains.
Orlando City Code §31.19: discharge of polluting matter prohibited · Orlando City Code §31.22: liability for pollution abatement · checked September 2026
In an Orlando historic preservation overlay district, any alteration or restoration of the exterior of a building needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Board, as does any alteration to a historic landmark, and it must be issued before any building permit. Later changes that don't materially affect the historic character can be approved by the Historic Preservation Officer.
Orlando City Code §65.470: Certificate of Appropriateness required · Orlando City Code §65.472: changes to an approved certificate · checked September 2026
Two annual swarms across most of the state. The acidic body chemistry of lovebugs can etch glass and paint within 24 hours if not removed. Surfactant pre-soak required; do not scrape.
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.
OUC puts its water at 129 mg/L, which is hard: Floridan Aquifer water is limestone groundwater. What matters more here than the exact figure is that irrigation puts that same water onto glass daily for most of the year, so whatever the number is, glass meets it constantly.
Residential window cleaning in Orlando typically runs $10–15 per pane or $300–510 for a standard single-story exterior. The tourist corridor is the commercial backbone: hotels, conference centres and restaurant chains on quarterly contracts at a scale few markets this size offer, with presentation standards and access scheduled around guests.
Orlando's drier, frost-free months are November to April, by NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for the Orlando International Airport station. The calendar on this page marks March (after the February 2 bloom). A frost night comes in about half of winters, near January 10. Normal highs reach 90°F in June to September.
Not as the final rinse: Orlando Utilities Commission publishes hardness of 129 mg/L, enough to spot as it dries, so finish with pure water. Water left to dry leaves mineral scale; fresh spots lift with a mild acid. Treatment starts with slat-tray aeration, ozonation for taste, odour and granular activated carbon.
In Orlando the dominant residue patterns include daily aquifer-water sprinkler overspray on west and south elevations and oak and pine pollen through the spring wave. Irrigation sets the calendar and it barely has an off season.
The housing is accessible and the technique is ordinary, so the honest answer is that a homeowner will manage most of it. What they will not beat is the irrigation cycle — hard aquifer water drying on hot glass every morning leaves bonded deposit that accumulates faster than a domestic method clears it.
Mid-rise commercial and converted-loft residential; theme-park-corridor commercial work. Winter Park (adjacent) and Lake Eola Heights have their own housing stock and glazing as well.
Just over the Florida line