Water Filtration & Treatment in West Miami

Two utilities, one glass of water

The city publishes both its own short report and WASD's full report on its Water Information page, along with reports going back to 2013.

This setup is common for small cities in Miami-Dade. West Miami is compact and mostly residential, so building a plant would make little sense; buying treated water wholesale and running its own distribution lets the city control meters, repairs and billing locally while WASD handles the heavy treatment work.

Which WASD plant feeds West Miami

WASD's 2025 report says its Alexander Orr, Jr. plant serves customers south of SW 8 Street, while its Hialeah and John E. Preston plants generally serve areas north of it. West Miami's City Hall sits at 901 SW 62 Avenue, just south of SW 8 Street, so most of the city falls in the Orr area. All three plants feed a common distribution system, so treat that as the usual pattern rather than a guarantee.

At Orr, Biscayne Aquifer water receives lime treatment to reduce hardness, is disinfected and filtered. Chlorine is added first, then ammonia, forming chloramine to protect the water through the pipes. A phosphorus compound is added for corrosion control.

Lime softening matters for shopping: it means many West Miami homes do not need a whole-house softener, and the main thing left to address is the chloramine residual. That is the opposite of homes on private wells or unsoftened groundwater, where hardness is often the first problem. A test at your tap confirms which picture fits your house.

West Miami's own 2025 results

• Coliform bacteria: none detected in 2025.
• Lead: 0 of 67 homes sampled exceeded the action level (2023 monitoring period).
• Copper: 0 of 67 exceeded (2023).
• Disinfectant residual: reported under "chlorine," with individual results from 1.5 to 2.2 ppm against a maximum of 4.0.
• TTHM: 37.13 ppb (range 33 to 47), limit 80.
• HAA5: 15.75 ppb (range 11 to 26), limit 60.

WASD's main-system figures add context: chloramines averaging 2.5 ppm, sodium at 33 ppm, and a separate PFAS table. Fluoride stopped being added on June 6, 2025.

A note on the labels: West Miami reports the residual it measures under "chlorine," while WASD describes the disinfectant as chloramine. Chloramine residuals are commonly measured as total chlorine, so the two are not necessarily in conflict. Ask Public Works if you want the city's own explanation; for choosing a filter, plan for chloramine.

Drainage, canals and the aquifer

West Miami's Storm Water page notes that the city has two stormwater lift stations, each able to pump 42,000 gallons per minute into the C-3 and C-4 canals, and it reminds residents that the Biscayne Aquifer beneath South Florida is shallow and porous: "We live and work over the water we drink." The same page posts Miami-Dade's septic system brochures, a reminder that some properties in the area use septic. Neither affects the treated water in your pipes, but they matter for irrigation wells and for where treatment equipment discharges.

What fits a West Miami home

• Single-family homes: whole-home chloramine filtration for every tap, often with under-sink alkaline RO.
• Drinking water only: an under-sink RO alone.
• Scale concerns: test first; Orr water is lime-softened. See hard water spots.
• Shops and restaurants on SW 8 Street and Coral Way: commercial softening or drinking-water systems after testing.

Many West Miami homes are older ranch-style houses on single lots, so a whole-home unit usually fits beside the main line near the meter, with a bypass for service. Jorge checks the space, the drain and your water pressure before recommending anything.

Every West Miami 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 stains, hard water spots, dry skin after showering, PFAS, fluoride, well water.

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

Book a free test

Call, text or WhatsApp Jorge at (305) 793-5974. He tests chloramine, hardness, pH, dissolved solids and iron at your tap and explains each number. 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