Miami Water Quality Analysis
- 01 | Who Regulates Miami’s Drinking Water?
- 02 | Miami’s Annual Water Quality Report
- 03 | Environmental Working Group Water Quality Report
- 04 | Contaminants Threatening Miami’s Water Quality
- 05 | Where Does Miami Get Its Water?
- 06 | Treating Miami’s Drinking Water
- 07 | Testing and Monitoring Miami’s Water Quality
- 08 | Rising Waters Threaten Miami’s Drinking Water
- 09 | Should Miami Residents Use In-home Water Filters?
Miami is one watery city, and as you’re about to find out, that can be a blessing and a curse.
It’s one of the few major cities that gets almost all of its water from a single underground source.
Combine that with regular flooding and some of the highest levels of PFAS in the nation, and you’ve got some serious water challenges on your hands.
So, what’s the current state of Miami water quality?
Keep reading to get the 411 on water in the 305…
The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) supplies and distributes drinking water to the residents of Miami.
WASD manages Miami water quality and tests for all sorts of organic and inorganic contaminants.
It’s their job to make sure that Miami’s water meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Association’s (EPA) guidelines for regulated contaminants.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) works together with the EPA to make sure these standards are met.
It’s the DEP’s job to identify and assess potential sources of contamination in the city’s source water.
Every year Dade County conducts a water quality report to provide residents info about the current state of their drinking water.
It includes information about the sources of water, contaminants, and compliance with Miami water quality regulations.
In their most recent report, Miami tap water met all state and federal standards for safe drinking water.
With that said, it doesn’t mean that Miami’s water is entirely free of pollutants – it just means that they did not exceed legal guidelines.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit watchdog group that has higher standards for healthy levels of contaminants in drinking water.
Every year, they pool together all the latest info from water quality reports across the country.
This includes data from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as well as info from the EPA Enforcement and Compliance History database.
In their most recent report, they found that the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Authority was in compliance with all legally mandated federal standards.
But the real question is, does that mean it’s truly healthy to drink?
According to the EWG’s higher standards, which they base off of the most recent medical data, there’s a few contaminant issues you should be worried about…
Out of a total of 24 contaminants detected in Miami’s drinking water, 8 exceeded the EWG’s recommended health guidelines by the following amounts:
- Arsenic: 243x
- Chromium (hexavalent): 4.3x
- Haloacetic acids (HAA5): 286x
- Haloacetic acids (HAA9): 627x
- Perfluoheptanoic acid (PFHPA): 5.5x
- Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS): 7.2x
- Radium: 3.3x
- Total trihalomethanes: 221x
Other contaminants detected at low levels include:
- Dioxane
- Aluminum
- Antimony
- Barium
- Chlorate
- Chlorodifluoromethane
- Chromium
- Fluoride
- Manganese
- Nitrate
- Nitrite
- Selenium
- Strontium
- Uranium
- Vanadium
Next, let’s take a closer look at the contaminants threatening Miami’s water quality…
According to the Dade County Water and Sewer Authority, Miami’s source water is exposed to a many different contaminants on a regular basis, including:
- Microbial contaminants like viruses and bacteria that can leak from sewage treatment plants and septic systems
- Inorganic contaminants like salts and metals that can be naturally occuring or from stormwater runoff and industrial production
- Pesticides and herbicides from home use and agriculture
- Chemical contaminants from gas stations and petroleum production
- Radioactive contaminants from oil and gas production and mining activities
Even if the source of these pollutants aren’t within the city limits, they can still travel long distances and eventually end up in the city’s groundwater.
The biggest contamination concerns facing Miami’s water quality are PFAS, disinfection byproducts, lead, radium, uranium, arsenic, and chromium.
Arsenic had the second highest concentrations of all the contaminants in the EWG’s report.
This extremely toxic heavy metal can cause a long list of health effects.
Long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water is linked to problems like:
- High blood pressure
- Nerve effects like numbness and tingling
- Heart disease
- Thickening and discoloration of the skin
- Cancer
There is also evidence that long-term exposure to low levels of arsenic (less than 0.005 mg/L) may lower IQ scores in children.
However, even short-term exposure can cause stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, weakness and even death.
Although Miami’s arsenic levels are technically below the legal limit, based on recent medical research we strongly recommend avoiding even trace amounts of arsenic in drinking water.
Disinfection byproducts, or DBPs, are a group of contaminants that form when chlorine-based disinfectants mix with organic matter in water.
Miami tested high for two different types of DBPs regulated by the EPA: trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids.
Research shows that long-term exposure to DBPs may cause liver damage, decreased nervous system activity, and cancer.
To make matters worse, Miami treats their water with chloramine, a chemical compound made by combining chlorine and ammonia.
Technically, chloramine is also a disinfection byproduct.
Most in-home water filters do not remove chloramine.
Fortunately, high-quality reverse osmosis systems do, but more on that in a sec…
Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive element that forms when uranium and thorium decay in the environment.
In certain parts of the country, including Miami-Dade County, radium releases into groundwater.
Radium exposure is a serious health concern because it can increase the risk of kidney damage, reduced bone growth, birth defects and cancer.
Although radium levels in Miami’s water are well below the EPA’s limit, it was over 3x the EWG’s recommended health guidelines.
Chromium, specifically Chromium-6, is a highly toxic metal.
Currently, the EPA sets the maximum limit for total chromium at 0.1 mg/L, which includes all forms of chromium, including chromium-6.
The problem is that this limit is only based on the potential for negative skin reactions, like allergic dermatitis.
However, some evidence shows that chromium in drinking water may cause cancer, including findings in China where chromium increased cancer mortality.
Chromium levels in Miami tested four times higher than the EWG’s recommended health guidelines.
Although Miami’s water did not test positive for lead in the source water or treatment facilities, lead can still enter your tap water from old lead service pipes and lead-containing plumbing.
In cities throughout the east coast, lead service lines and plumbing in homes built before 1986 are a common concern, and Miami is no exception.
There are no safe levels of lead, especially for children!
In fact, lead is so toxic that the EPA set the max. contaminant level goal at ZERO.
Young children, infants, and fetuses are particularly at risk because lead can have significant effects on brain development and behavior.
In children, low levels can cause side effects like:
- Damage to the nervous system
- Learning disabilities
- Stunted growth
- Impaired hearing
- Damage to the function of blood cells
It can also cause premature birth in pregnant women and has been linked to decreased kidney function and cardiovascular effects in healthy adults.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a diverse group of substances created by the companies 3M and Dupont to make products more resistant to fire, heat, and stains.
They are commonly used in firefighting foam, Teflon, non-stick surfaces, food packaging, and stain-resistant furniture.
For years, the companies tried to hide how toxic PFAS really are, but now the gig is up.
Unfortunately, it’s too little too late, because PFAS takes decades to break down.
Once they’re in the water supply, they’re almost impossible to remove.
Worst of all, exposure to PFAS in drinking water can have nasty side effects, including:
- Developmental issues in children
- Lower fertility rates
- Increase risk of miscarriage
- Liver damage
- Thyroid disease
- High cholesterol
- Hormone imbalance
- Cancer
Even small amounts of PFAS can be very toxic and accumulate in the body over time.
Miami voluntarily tests for PFAS, and they tested positively for two types (PFHPA and PFOS) at 5-7x over the EWG’s recommended health guidelines.
Back in 2019, the EWG conducted its own PFAS testing at 44 sites in 31 states across the country, including Miami.
The Miami area ranked third highest in the nation for PFAS!
Miami’s source water comes almost exclusively from groundwater wells.
The wells pull water mainly from the Biscayne Aquifer, and a limited number from the Floridan Aquifer.
Aquifers are natural pockets of water located underground.
The Biscayne Aquifer is a shallow layer of limestone located under about 4,000 square miles of South Floridia, including Miami-Dade County.
It supplies virtually all of the residents of South Florida with their drinking water.
In 2021, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection conducted an assessment to look for any sources of contamination near the wells.
They found roughly 100 potential sources of contamination. Yikes!
Miami’s water is treated by three regional treatment plants: Alexander Orr, Jr. John E. Preston, and Hialeah.
There are also five smaller treatment plants that are part of the South Dade Water Supply System and Hialeah Reverse Osmosis Treatment Plant.
Here’s what the different stages of the treatment process look like:
- Wells: Water is pumped from the underground aquifers and remote wells to the treatment facilities.
- Softening: Lime is added to soften the water and cause large particles to settle at the bottom. The water softening process is especially important because water from the Biscayne Aquifer is especially hard. This means it is high in minerals like calcium and magnesium, which can damage pipes.
- Disinfection: Chlorine is added as a primary disinfectant to kill bacteria, then ammonia is added to form chloramine as a secondary disinfectant. Chloramine lasts longer to protect the water from bacteria as it travels through the city’s distribution pipes.
- Sand/Anthracite Filter: The water flows through sand and anthracite filters to remove any remaining particles.
- Corrosion control/Fluoridation: A phosphorus compound is added to reduce pipe corrosion and fluoride is added to prevent tooth decay in residents.
Last but not least, the treated water is stored in reservoirs and tanks before being pumped as needed to homes and businesses throughout the city.
The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) conducts more than 100,000 water sample tests each year.
Biological examination and chemical testing happens year-round.
Organic and inorganic testing, on the other hand, is performed once a year and presented to the city for review.
Samples include treated and untreated water taken at facilities and sample sites throughout all different stages of the system.
Several federal, state, and local regulatory agencies oversee the process.
It’s no secret that as sea levels rise, South Florida faces more and more flooding.
The Biscayne Aquifer, where Miami gets its drinking water, is shallow and extremely porous, meaning it absorbs flood waters very easily.
The aquifer continuously refills with rain and surface water, as well as the hundreds of drainage canals and pools located throughout the city.
This means that when there’s flooding, saltwater and polluted surface runoff can easily enter the water supply.
As a result, Miami will most likely face serious drinking water challenges in the near future as heavy rainfall and flooding gets worse.
Despite the city’s best efforts to provide safe, healthy drinking water, there’s only so much they can do with standard treatment methods.
Basic sediment filtration and chlorine/chloramine disinfection can only do so much to protect your family from dangerous contaminants.
By the time the water reaches your tap, it may still contain hard-to-remove toxins like arsenic and PFAS.
Unfortunately, simple carbon filters that attach to your faucet can’t remove these pollutants.
Reverse osmosis (RO) filtration systems, on the other hand, can remove up to 99.9% of all contaminants, including the ones that local treatment plants miss.
Cloud Water Filters use several stages of filtration to remove every last pollutant:
- Sediment filters to remove first, rust, dust, dirt and debris
- Activated carbon filters to remove chlorine and improve the taste of your water
- Ion exchange resins to remove excess hard minerals like magnesium and calcium
- RO membranes to remove all the nastiest contaminants like lead, PFAS and arsenic
- Polishing filters to catch any remaining pollutants
- Remineralization to add a healthy ratio of minerals back into the water for perfectly balanced pH
Cloud even uses built-in software to track and monitor water quality 24/7 through an app on your phone.
Are you ready to have safe, clean drinking water for you and your family?
