Water is only one factor
Miami's air conditioning, sun, long hot showers and the soaps you use all affect how your skin feels. This page covers the water side as a comfort issue. If you have a rash, eczema, persistent itching or any skin condition, a dermatologist is the right person to see, and no water system is a treatment.
Chloramine in the shower
WASD's 2024 Water Quality Report explains that the utility combines chlorine and ammonia to form chloramine, which stays in the water as it travels to your home. That residual is why many Miami showers have a faint pool smell. Some people find water with a disinfectant residual feels harsher on hair and skin, and hot water makes the smell more noticeable.
A showerhead filter is small, and chloramine generally needs more contact time with the right carbon than a showerhead can provide. A whole-home system on the main line treats the water before it reaches any shower.
Hardness and soap
Hard water combines with soap to form a film that can leave skin feeling less clean and hair feeling dull. WASD reduces hardness at its plants, through lime treatment at the Alexander Orr, Jr. plant and enhanced softening at the John E. Preston plant, so Miami's city water often is not very hard. That is exactly why it is worth measuring rather than assuming.
If your test shows real hardness, a softener may help with how soap rinses. If it does not, a softener will not change much.
What a test at your shower shows
- Disinfectant level: how much chloramine is in the water right now. During WASD's periodic switch to free chlorine, the smell can change for a couple of weeks.
- Hardness: whether soap scum and scale are likely.
- Hot vs. cold: whether the water heater is adding anything, such as an odor.
Options for a Miami home
House or townhome: a whole-home system treats every shower and tap. Living Water describes its Puronics whole-home systems as removing chlorine and chloramine.
Condo: whole-home options depend on whether your unit has an accessible main line; ask your association. Jorge can look at your unit and say what is practical.
Book a free in-home test: call, text or WhatsApp (305) 793-5974.
Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist