🏠 News From Your Neighborhood
Miami, FL
How do we make water drinkable? A look at the process at a Miami-Dade treatment facility
What we do and how we do it impacts whether our drinking water is dirty or clean. Pollution can travel below the land surface and contaminate our water supply.
But over the years, processes have been developed to make sure the water pumped to your home is safe, clear, and drinkable.
NBC6 Responds visited the Alexander Orr Water Treatment Facility operated by the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department.
Water from this water treatment facility ends up in homes South of SW 8th Street to 248th Street in Miami-Dade County. But with multiple plants across the county, the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department provides drinking water for about 2.3 million people.
“In Miami-Dade County, the water quality is extremely high, and I am very comfortable with people drinking tap water. I drink the tap water,” said Roy Coley, the Director of the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department.
He showed NBC6 the ins and outs of what it takes to filter and disinfect your drinking water.
How water is cleaned for drinking
When water is pumped from the aquifer to the Miami-Dade Water and Treatment facility, lime is added as the first step in a long process.
Lime helps to soften the water, purify, and eliminate cloudiness.
Next, disinfectants like chlorine and ammonia are used. Together they create what is known as chloramine. This helps to protect the water against bacteria.
The water then travels through a series of filters to remove the remaining chemicals.
Before the water is pumped out to your house, two more chemicals are added: a small amount of fluoride and a compound to reduce corrosion as the water travels through pipes in the distribution system.
Because things like bacteria, heavy metals, and chemicals can leach through corroded pipes, microbiologists and chemists test the water multiple times before it gets to your home.
Each year, roughly 320,000 analyses of water samples are taken to make sure contaminants regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency are under the federal limits for what’s considered safe in our drinking water.
Water districts are required to publish a drinking water quality report each year. It’s a snapshot of the water quality once a year and it shows contamination levels.
This report is published online by your local water district and is also distributed through the mail.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 12-year-old girl was shot in the arm after gunfire erupted in a northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood early Tuesday morning, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said they responded just before 1 a.m. to the area of Northwest 64th Street and Northwest 21st Avenue in the county’s Gladeview area, where they found three vehicles struck by gunfire, including a silver Hyundai.
“The car was parked outside of the residence. It was occupied by three juveniles, so it was the girl and her two siblings that were in the vehicle. The mom was outside of the vehicle at the time, so this could have been a very different outcome,” MDSO Detective Samantha Choon said.
Authorities said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medics transported the girl to a nearby hospital in stable condition.
A family member of the victim told Local 10’s Jackie Pascale that the girl is now home and doing OK.
They said neither her siblings nor their mother was injured in the shooting.
According to investigators, no arrests have been made, and detectives have not released any suspect information at this time.
Neighbor Marie Grimes said she was shaken after hearing multiple gunshots.
“I heard the booms — boom, boom, boom, boom — and I said, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’” she said. “Maybe five or six, ’cause look at that right there. I’m just glad the little girl is OK.”
Investigators asked neighbors to check their surveillance or Ring camera footage from around 1 a.m. and contact authorities with any information.
Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. Anonymous tips are accepted.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Three people were hurt after a building caught fire on Lincoln Road on Sunday, according to authorities.
The Miami Beach Fire Department said it was working a fire near 230 Lincoln Road.
The flames had spread from a fire in a manhole that “ignited an FPL vault of an adjacent building,” officials said.
Three people were taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center with minor injuries.
The building was evacuated, and FPL has shut off power to the surrounding area, the fire department said.
Drivers were asked to avoid the area of Collins Avenue between 16th and 17th streets while crews worked the scene.
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