Where Miami's tap water comes from
Miami does not run its own water plant. Water service comes from the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD), and the City of Miami's comprehensive plan coordinates water supply planning with WASD. According to WASD's 2024 Water Quality Report, the department delivers drinking water to more than 2.8 million people each day.
The source is groundwater. WASD draws water from the Biscayne Aquifer, a layer of porous limestone that sits just below the ground and refills with rain, through wells that average about 80 feet deep. A limited number of county wells draw from the deeper Floridan Aquifer, but the main system serving Miami relies on the Biscayne.
SW 8 Street: the line that decides which plant treats your water
WASD runs three regional treatment plants that feed one shared distribution system, and in general your side of SW 8 Street (Calle Ocho) decides which plants supply your home:
- North of SW 8 Street (neighborhoods like Allapattah, Wynwood, Edgewater and Little Haiti): generally the Hialeah and John E. Preston plants. Preston's source water has more naturally occurring organic material, so it uses a process WASD calls enhanced softening, followed by air stripping towers that remove volatile organic compounds.
- South of SW 8 Street (Coconut Grove and the neighborhoods along Coral Way, for example): generally the Alexander Orr, Jr. plant, which uses lime treatment to reduce hardness before filtering and disinfecting the water.
Both sides get the same regulated, treated water. The plant differences are one reason two Miami homes a few miles apart can notice different taste or scale, and why Jorge tests the water at your tap instead of guessing from a zip code.
Chloramine and the weeks the smell changes
WASD adds ammonia so it combines with chlorine to form chloramine, a disinfectant that keeps protecting the water as it travels through miles of pipe. Chloramine is the reason many Miami households notice a pool-like taste or smell at the kitchen tap or in the shower.
Every so often WASD temporarily switches from chloramine to free chlorine while it flushes lines across the county. The City of Doral published one of these notices for September 9 to 22, 2024, and warned residents they might notice a stronger chlorine taste or odor during that window.
Not every filter handles chloramine well, so it is worth asking before you buy. Living Water describes its Puronics whole-home systems as removing chlorine and chloramine. Our guide on choosing a filter for chloramine explains what to look for.
City water or a private well?
Nearly every home inside the City of Miami is connected to WASD. Private wells are more common in outlying parts of South Florida, and well water is a different job: there is no utility treatment, so iron, sulfur smell, hardness and other conditions vary from one well to the next. If you are on a well, the system is configured from that well's test results. See the well water system page or the city vs. well water comparison.
Which systems fit Miami homes
Miami's housing ranges from high-rise condos in Brickell and Downtown to older single-family houses and duplexes in neighborhoods like Little Havana and Shenandoah. What you can install depends a lot on where you live:
| Home type | What usually fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Condo or high-rise apartment | Under-sink alkaline reverse osmosis | You rarely control the building's main line; RO fits in the kitchen cabinet and serves drinking and cooking water. |
| Single-family house or townhome | Whole-home city water system, often paired with under-sink RO | Treats every tap and shower for chloramine taste and odor, with RO for drinking water. |
| Home on a private well | Well water treatment configured from the test | Well water has no utility treatment, so equipment depends on what the test finds. |
| Restaurant, gym, laundry or office | Ion-exchange softener, sometimes with filtration | Hard water scale shortens the life of water heaters, dishwashers and other equipment. |
Compare options on the products page.
How the free in-home water test works
- Book a time. Call, text or WhatsApp Jorge at (305) 793-5974.
- Jorge tests at your home. He tests the water from your own tap, because what reaches you is what matters.
- Plain-language results. He explains what the numbers mean for taste, odor and scale in your house or condo.
- A recommendation that fits, or none. If your water does not need a system, he will tell you. There is no obligation.
Read more on how it works.
Miami water guides and the area Jorge serves
Jorge works across Miami and nearby Doral, Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale, plus wider Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Detailed Miami pages:
- Whole-home water filtration in Miami
- Water softeners in Miami
- Under-sink reverse osmosis in Miami
- What drives water filtration cost in Miami
- Home water testing in Miami
https://www.miamidade.gov/water/library/reports/water-quality-2024.pdf
https://www.miamidade.gov/global/water/water-supply-and-treatment.page
https://archive.miamigov.com/planning/docs/plans/MCNP_July_2010.pdf
https://www.cityofdoral.com/News-articles/Miami-Dade-Water-and-Sewer-Department-WASD-Chlorine-Conversion
Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist