One city utility, one membrane plant
Unlike neighbors that buy water from another city, Cooper City runs its own system. The city's 2025 Water Quality Report says its source is groundwater from wells in the Biscayne Aquifer, purified with membrane softening, and tested tens of thousands of times a year. The report adds that since 100% of the city's water goes through its membrane facility, the city considers its color, taste and odor among the best in the region.
Questions about the report go to Cooper City Utilities at (954) 434-5519, 11791 SW 49th Street. The report is published in English and Spanish.
That makes Cooper City one of the simpler places in Broward to plan water treatment. There is one provider, one treatment process and one annual report for the whole city, instead of several utilities splitting neighborhoods. It also means the advice on these pages applies across the whole city, with the main exception being homes or sprinkler systems that use a private well.
Recent work at the plant
- 2024: the city began replacing membrane filters in stages and replaced its chlorine disinfection system.
- 2025: it continued replacing membrane filtration equipment, ran a free chlorination of the distribution system as preventive maintenance, and replaced 11,752 water meters with smart meters.
None of that changes what reaches your tap in a way you need to fix, but it explains short periods when the water may smell more strongly of chlorine.
The 2025 report also notes that the city relined 14,068 linear feet of sewer pipe, part of ongoing work on the wastewater side, and that its 2025 Water Quality Report is available in print on request.
Key numbers from the 2025 report
| Item | Result |
|---|---|
| Chlorine residual (2025) | 1.9 ppm average, range 1.4 to 2.6 (limit 4) |
| Sodium | 16 ppm (sampled 2023) |
| Nitrate | 0.16 ppm (limit 10) |
| Total trihalomethanes | 0.44 ppb (limit 80) |
| Haloacetic acids | 0.98 ppb (limit 60) |
| Lead, 90th percentile | 0.001 ppb (sampled 2023; action level 15) |
| UCMR 5 unregulated contaminants | Not detected |
The low disinfection byproduct numbers are consistent with membrane treatment removing the natural organic matter that byproducts form from.
The report also lists arsenic at 0.00069 ppb, a trace amount against a limit of 10, and says the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's 2024 source water assessment found four potential sources of contamination near the wells, all with a low susceptibility level.
Fluoride stopped in 2025
The report says that after Florida passed a law in May 2025 banning local governments from adding fluoride, Cooper City immediately stopped adding it to be in compliance when the law took effect on July 1, 2025. The 0.70 ppm fluoride result in the 2025 report comes from a January 2025 sample taken before that change. See fluoride filters in Cooper City.
What fits a Cooper City home
- Single-family home: a whole-home city water system if the disinfectant taste and smell bother you at every tap.
- Kitchen only: an under-sink alkaline RO system for drinking and cooking. Compare in best drinking water system.
- Hardness: membrane-softened water rarely needs a softener; test before buying one.
- Irrigation well or lake pump: see well water treatment.
Cooper City's planning neighbors make the picture more varied at the edges. The Town of Southwest Ranches, next door, describes in its comprehensive plan a continued reliance on private wells, and lists Cooper City Utilities among the utilities whose facilities serve the Town. If you are near the city line and your home is on a well, the Southwest Ranches page covers that situation in more detail.
Problems people call about
Chlorine taste and smell, a rotten-egg smell from the water heater, orange stains from sprinklers, spots on glass, dry skin after showering, and questions about PFAS. Deciding between products: softener vs. filter.
Costs: filtration, reverse osmosis, softener. Testing: home water testing.
Book a free test
Call, text or WhatsApp Jorge at (305) 793-5974. He tests at your tap, explains the results in plain words, and recommends a system only if it fits, including telling you when you do not need one. Living Water offers financing through its financing partners; you apply with a credit application, and a co-applicant can apply with you.
https://www.coopercity.gov/article/3014884
https://files-backend.assets.thrillshare.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/5674/Ccc/1b78f191-8457-4f75-8e89-ad822fdf71df/Cooper-City-2025-CCR-ENGLISH-WEB.pdf
https://www.coopercity.gov/waterqualityreport
https://flsenate.gov/Committees/billsummaries/2025/html/700
Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist