Water Filtration & Treatment in Sunny Isles Beach

Three utilities, three jobs

That split explains why a water quality question goes to North Miami Beach while a drainage question goes to City Hall. NMB Water serves roughly 180,000 people across North Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Golden Beach and parts of unincorporated Miami-Dade.

From the Norwood plant to Collins Avenue

NMB Water's 2025 Water Quality Report describes a supply drawn from the shallow Biscayne Aquifer, about 10 to 200 feet down, and the brackish Floridan Aquifer, about 1,250 feet down, through production wells from 60 to 1,250 feet deep. Biscayne water is lime-softened and/or nanofiltered; Floridan water goes through reverse osmosis. The streams are blended, disinfected and sent out from the Norwood Water Treatment Plant in Miami Gardens, which the City of North Miami Beach has run for more than 70 years.

NMB is investing in the plant, with a new 5-million-gallon storage tank and a new high service pump station, and says it plans to retire lime softening.

What happens inside a tower

Most Sunny Isles Beach residents live in condominium towers. Between the meter at the street and your kitchen, the water usually passes through the building's own pumps, possibly storage, and many floors of piping that the association, not the utility, maintains. When a building is lightly occupied, as it can be in the off-season, water sits longer in those lines. None of this reflects on NMB's treatment; it is why Jorge tests at your faucet rather than assuming from the utility report. If your unit has been closed up, run the cold tap for a few minutes before tasting or testing.

Chloramine, fluoride, PFAS and lead lines

• Chloramine is the disinfectant NMB monitors in its system, within the 4 ppm limit. About once a year the plant switches temporarily to free chlorine and flushes hydrants. See chloramine filters.
• Fluoride: NMB stopped adding it on June 9, 2025. See fluoride.
• PFAS: NMB voluntarily monitored 29 PFAS in 2025 and says its RO and nanofiltration reduce PFAS. See PFAS.
• Service lines: NMB's 2025 inventory found no lead service lines in its system.

NMB Water's own troubleshooting tips

NMB Water's website has a short guide to common taste, odor and color questions that is worth knowing in a high-rise:

• Odor at every faucet, all the time points to the supply; odor at only some faucets points to plumbing in your unit or building.
• Sink drains are a common source of odor from bacterial growth. If only the hot water smells, flush the hot side until it runs cold.
• Chlorine taste can be reduced by flushing cold taps for 5 to 10 minutes, letting water sit overnight, or using a carbon filter.
• Black particles often come from rubber fixture parts, which chloramine can break down faster, or from carbon filters.
• Cloudy or milky water is typically tiny air bubbles that rise and clear.

When in doubt, NMB's customer service line is staffed around the clock at 305-948-2960. The utility's annual report is published in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

What fits where

All Sunny Isles Beach water topics

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

Problems: chloramine, rotten-egg smell, rust stains, water spots, dry skin after showering, PFAS, fluoride, well water.

Costs and testing: filtration cost, RO cost, softener cost, home water testing. Nearby: Aventura, North Miami Beach and Miami Beach.

Call, text or WhatsApp Jorge at (305) 793-5974. He tests at your tap, explains the numbers in plain words, and recommends only what fits, with an itemized quote. 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