Water Filtration & Treatment in Riviera Beach

Who runs Riviera Beach's water

The Utility Special District is the city's own water and sewer utility, with an elected board and an executive director. It operates the water treatment plant, the distribution system and wastewater collection. Its service area, as the district describes it, runs from Silver Beach Road south to 45th Street, and from the Florida Turnpike east to the Atlantic Ocean.

• Administration and water quality questions: 561-845-4185
• Billing, new service and account questions: 561-845-4050
• After-hours water or sewer breaks: 561-845-4187

If your address is outside that area, check your bill; a neighboring utility may serve you.

Source and treatment, step by step

According to the 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (PWS ID 4501229):

1. Water is pumped from 27 groundwater wells drawing from the East Coast Surficial Aquifer.
2. Raw water is air-stripped to eliminate volatile organic compounds.
3. It is treated with lime and polymer, the lime softening step.
4. It is disinfected with chlorine and ammonia.
5. It is filtered to remove turbidity and pumped to customers.

The district describes its plant as a Class A lime softening plant with a capacity of 17.5 million gallons a day. In 2025 a state source water assessment found 24 potential sources of contamination near the wells, with low to moderate susceptibility; results are on the FDEP Source Water Assessment and Protection Program site.

A plant from 1958, and its replacement

The city's history page traces the water plant to 1958, when a plant at Blue Heron Boulevard and the railroad opened with a capacity of 3.5 million gallons a day. The district's 2024 rate study says the existing plant has reached the end of its useful service life and will be fully replaced. The 2025 Water Quality Report describes a Water Treatment Modernization Program with projected construction from spring 2026 to fall 2029, along with distribution main, lift station and Intracoastal water main projects.

For homeowners, that means the water's character may change once the new plant comes online. A system bought today should be chosen for the water you have now, from equipment that can be reconfigured if your test results change later.

Until then, the water you get is the water described in the 2025 report. Jorge will note the date of your test so you have a baseline to compare against once the new plant is running.

Disinfection and the yearly flush

The 2025 report lists the disinfectant residual at a highest running annual average of 2.87 ppm, with individual samples from 0.50 to 5.30 against a maximum residual level of 4 measured as an annual average. The USD calls chloramine its standard disinfectant and periodically switches to free chlorine to clean the pipes; the 2025 Free Chlorine Flush ran July 1 to July 22. During a flush you may notice a stronger chlorine smell or brief discoloration. See chloramine filters in Riviera Beach.

Other numbers from the 2025 report

• Disinfection byproducts: TTHM 16.45 ppb and HAA5 16.76 ppb, under limits of 80 and 60.
• Lead and copper: 90th percentile lead of 2.4 ppb and copper of 0.101 ppm (August 2023), with no sites over the action level.
• Fluoride: 0.15 ppm (May 2023). See fluoride.
• Sodium: 25.6 ppm (May 2023).
• Nitrate: 0.41 ppm (December 2025), limit 10.

The district also links a Water Quality Dashboard from its Utility Special District page.

What usually fits a Riviera Beach home

• Single-family home: a whole-home system for chloramine at every tap, often with under-sink alkaline RO.
• Condo or apartment, including oceanfront towers: under-sink RO for drinking and cooking.
• Restaurants, marinas and businesses near the port: softening only where testing shows equipment needs it. See water softeners.
• Private or irrigation well: configured from that well's test; see well water.

Every Riviera Beach page, and how to book

Systems: whole-home filtration, water softeners, under-sink RO, best drinking water system, softener vs. filter.

Problems: chlorine and chloramine, rotten-egg smell, orange stains, hard water spots, dry skin after showering, PFAS, fluoride, well water.

Costs: filtration, reverse osmosis, softener. Testing: home water testing. Nearby: West Palm Beach and Jupiter.

Call, text or WhatsApp (305) 793-5974. Jorge tests at your tap, explains the results in plain words next to the USD's report, and recommends a system only if it fits. Living Water offers financing through its financing partners; you apply with a credit application, and a co-applicant can apply with you.

Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist