Westchester has no city utility
Miami-Dade County's Office of Historic Preservation describes Westchester as a Census Designated Place bounded by SW 8 Street/Tamiami Trail on the north, SW 40 Street/Bird Road on the south, the Palmetto Expressway on the east and SW 117 Avenue on the west. Many neighbors use SW 87 Avenue as the western edge instead. Either way, there is no City of Westchester and no municipal water department. The county governs the area directly, and the county's utility, WASD, delivers the water.
That has a practical upside: the facts on this page come from one annual Water Quality Report, published by WASD. If your bill says Miami-Dade Water and Sewer, it applies to you. If you have no water bill, you are probably on a private well; start with well water in Westchester.
The plant behind your tap: Alexander Orr, Jr.
WASD runs three regional plants that feed one common distribution system. Its 2025 Water Quality Report says the Orr plant serves customers who live south of SW 8 Street to approximately SW 264 Street. Every block of the Westchester CDP is south of SW 8 Street, so Orr is the plant WASD assigns to this area.
| Step at Orr | What it means at your tap |
|---|---|
| Biscayne Aquifer wells | Groundwater source, naturally rich in calcium |
| Lime treatment to reduce hardness | Less scale than raw groundwater would leave, though not zero |
| Disinfection and filtration | Chlorine, then ammonia to form chloramine |
For water quality questions about the Orr service area, WASD lists 786-552-4181.
What WASD's latest report says
- Disinfectant: chloramine, reported for the main system at an average of 2.5 ppm (range not detected to 4.0) against a limit of 4. WASD periodically switches to free chlorine for a couple of weeks of maintenance, so the smell can change. See chloramine filters.
- Fluoride: Orr, Preston and Hialeah stopped adding fluoride on June 6, 2025. Natural levels since then range about 0.1 to 0.3 ppm. See fluoride filters.
- PFAS: the report includes a PFAS table for the main system and says initial compliance monitoring is underway. See PFAS filters.
- Sodium: 33 ppm for the main system.
- Lead service lines: WASD has filed its inventory and publishes it at miamidade.gov/knowyourpipes.
Mid-century homes, older plumbing questions
The county's history of the area says Westchester boomed after a 1955 subdivision called Westchester, followed through the 1960s by Miracle Manor, Mirador, Westchester Park, Town Park and Coral Park. Many houses here are now sixty-plus years old. That matters for water in a few ways:
- Original or partly replaced plumbing can add rust or sediment that has nothing to do with WASD's water. See orange and rust stains.
- An aging tank water heater is the usual source of a rotten-egg smell on hot taps.
- Older single-family lots often have sprinklers, and some are fed by a private irrigation well rather than the county line.
The county also publishes an open-data list of properties potentially served by septic systems or private wells, which is a quick way to check a specific address.
Matching a system to a Westchester house
| Your situation | Usually worth considering |
|---|---|
| Chloramine smell in showers and every tap | A whole-home city water system |
| Better drinking and cooking water only | Under-sink alkaline reverse osmosis |
| Scale on fixtures and shower glass | A hardness test first, then maybe a softener; see softener vs. filter |
| Small business with equipment (cafe, laundry, gym) | An ion-exchange softening plant sized after testing |
| Private well for drinking water | A well system configured from the well's test |
Still deciding? The drinking water system guide compares pitchers, fridge filters, RO and whole-home systems.
Costs and financing, honestly
No one can price a system before testing your water and seeing your plumbing. Jorge gives you an itemized quote after the free test. These pages explain what moves the number: water filtration cost, reverse osmosis cost and water softener cost. Living Water offers financing through its financing partners; you apply with a credit application, and a co-applicant can apply with you.
Every Westchester water guide
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.
Jorge also serves nearby Kendall, Tamiami, Coral Gables and Miami. Call, text or WhatsApp (305) 793-5974.
https://www.miamidade.gov/resources/water/documents/2025-water-quality-report.pdf
https://www.miamidade.gov/global/water/water-supply-and-treatment.page
https://www.miamidade.gov/planning/library/reports/nb3-history-of-westchester.pdf
https://www.cityofdoral.com/News-articles/Miami-Dade-Water-and-Sewer-Department-WASD-Chlorine-Conversion
https://opendata.miamidade.gov/datasets/potential-properties-served-by-septic-or-well
Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist