Water Filtration & Treatment in Surfside

A small town with its own water pipes

Surfside does not pump or treat water. Its Comprehensive Plan says the Town purchases its potable water directly from Miami-Dade WASD, which makes the Town a wholesale customer. What the Town does own is everything after the purchase point. According to a Public Works explainer, the Town owns and operates the water distribution system that supplies homes and businesses, and the same system serves fire protection and sprinkler irrigation. All of the water enters Surfside through a single 24-inch water main.

Where the water starts

WASD draws groundwater from the Biscayne Aquifer. WASD says its Hialeah and John E. Preston plants treat water supplied to residents north of SW 8 Street up to the Broward line, and all three of its regional plants feed one common distribution system. The Hialeah plant uses lime softening plus air stripping; Preston, whose source water has more natural organic material, uses a process WASD calls enhanced softening, then air stripping towers. WASD then adds chlorine and ammonia to form chloramine, reported at 2.5 ppm for its main system in 2025, and a phosphorus compound for corrosion control.

WASD says it draws roughly 330 million gallons a day from the Biscayne Aquifer through wells averaging about 80 feet deep. Because that aquifer sits so close to the surface, the County protects it with strict environmental rules. None of that water is pumped in Surfside; it arrives already treated through the Town's 24-inch main.

2025 changes worth knowing

• Fluoride: WASD stopped adding fluoride at its regional plants on June 6, 2025. Natural levels have run about 0.1 to 0.3 ppm since. See fluoride filters in Surfside.
• Free chlorine weeks: once a year WASD switches its plants to free chlorine for about two weeks; in 2025 it ran October 13 to 26. A stronger pool smell during that time is expected.
• PFAS monitoring: WASD's 2025 report includes a PFAS monitoring table under EPA's new standards. See PFAS in Surfside.

Sodium in WASD's main system was 33 ppm in 2025, and total trihalomethanes, a disinfection byproduct, measured 50 ppb against a limit of 80. Those numbers come from WASD's system; the Town's own annual report covers its distribution system, so ask Public Works for the current edition.

What the Town says about color and cloudiness

Surfside's Public Works Department has published a plain-language guide to two things residents notice:

• Yellow to brown water: calcium and other minerals that settle in pipes can be stirred up when a main is disturbed, for example during valve exercising or when the fire department uses a hydrant. The Town says it usually clears after flushing faucets.
• Cloudy water: trapped air, which the Town says can be caused by commercial property booster pumps, fixtures and temperature changes. It clears on its own as the air escapes.

That second point matters in a town of condo buildings: booster pumps are part of how water reaches upper floors.

Condos, apartments and single-family homes

Surfside mixes oceanfront condominium and apartment buildings with blocks of single-family homes. In a building, water passes the Town's meter, then booster pumps and sometimes storage tanks, then shared risers, before reaching your unit. Associations control that equipment and set the rules for work inside units.

• Condo unit: under-sink alkaline RO for drinking water, after checking association rules.
• House: a whole-home city water system for chloramine at every tap, often with kitchen RO.
• Hotel, restaurant or gym: an ion-exchange softening plant where scale damages equipment.

If you own in a building, it is worth asking management a few questions before you decide anything: does the building use storage tanks, when were the risers last replaced, is hot water central or in each unit, and what are the rules for plumbing work and contractors? Those answers explain a lot about what you taste and see at your own faucet.

Every Surfside topic

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

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

Costs: filtration, reverse osmosis, softeners. Testing: home water testing.

Book a free test

Call, text or WhatsApp Jorge at (305) 793-5974. He tests at your tap, in your unit or house, explains the readings in plain words 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. Jorge also serves Miami Beach, Bal Harbour and the rest of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

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