Water Treatment
Services in
Lauderhill, FL

The Biscayne Aquifer is the utility's only source. Raw water from the wells goes into clarifiers, where added lime makes much of the calcium settle out as sludge. The water is then filtered and disinfected. The plant has run on chlorine gas; the City asked the state in 2023 for $1.5 million to switch to liquid chlorine; its request said the change should improve chloramine levels across the system and cut down on flushing at dead-end mains. The 2024 report also lists 2025 work on a high-service pump, new filter media, refurbished clarifiers, a sludge dewatering building and about 3,000 feet of new 12-inch main along NW 82nd Avenue.

In 2024 the Florida Department of Environmental Protection counted four potential contamination sources near the wells, with susceptibility ratings from low to high. The ratings are about land use around the wellfield, such as fuel storage or businesses, and say nothing on their own about what the water contains. Questions about the report go to the Water Treatment Plant at 954-730-2972.

The City's process resembles the older lime plant that supplied much of Fort Lauderdale's water until September 2026, and it differs from the membrane plants Plantation uses to the south. That difference shows up in most of the numbers on this page. Lime treatment leaves more minerals and natural organic matter in the water (the 2024 report lists total organic carbon at 5.3 ppm), and it does little for PFAS.

Trihalomethanes form when chlorine reacts with natural organic matter left in the water, and they keep forming as water travels through the mains. Homes farthest from the plant, or at the end of a dead-end street, usually see the highest levels, which fits the wide 25.9 to 159.0 ppb spread in the City's 2024 samples. The federal limit is based on long-term exposure: the City's notice says people who drink water over the limit for many years may have liver, kidney or nervous-system problems and a higher cancer risk.

EPA's database lists the violation in all four quarters of 2024 and none after that. It also lists late or missing byproduct monitoring for several quarters of 2025 and early 2026, so the public record doesn't yet show how far levels have come down.

At home, two pieces of equipment cover it. A catalytic carbon tank at the point where the water line enters your house lowers trihalomethanes and chloramine for showers, laundry and every faucet. We explain tank sizing on the whole-house water filtration page. An RO system at the kitchen sink adds a second step for the water you drink and cook with. A pitcher filter isn't a substitute for either one on this water.

Utilities serving more than 3,300 people sampled for 29 PFAS under EPA's UCMR 5 program. Lauderhill's two 2023 samples at the plant outlet found eight of them, led by PFOS at 32 and 37 ppt, PFOA at 8.1 and 12 ppt, and PFHxS at 7.3 and 8.3 ppt. An earlier EPA round in December 2014 measured PFOS at 49 ppt. Lithium wasn't detected.

For comparison, Plantation's membrane plants found no PFAS at all in 2024, and the Fiveash plant in Fort Lauderdale measured PFOS at 16 ppt in May 2023. EPA's 2024 rule sets 4 ppt for PFOS and PFOA, and utilities have until 2029 to comply (EPA has proposed extending that to 2031). The City hasn't published a treatment plan for PFAS, and no one has publicly traced where these compounds enter its wells. The City isn't in violation, since the standard doesn't apply yet. Still, this is the one result on this page that a whole-house carbon tank alone won't settle.

Reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink is the usual answer. Our five-stage system is NSF/ANSI-certified and designed to reduce PFAS, along with lead, chromium-6 and trihalomethanes, in drinking and cooking water.

Somewhat. Lime softening removes part of the calcium, and the City doesn't publish a hardness number for the water leaving the plant. The U.S. Geological Survey's sampling of Biscayne Aquifer wells put untreated water at about 14 grains per gallon, so tap water here lands below that, and how far below varies. One clue that lime water keeps more minerals than membrane water: EPA's 2014 tests found about 210–228 ppb of strontium in Lauderhill water, against 35–63 ppb in Plantation's.

That is why we measure hardness in grains per gallon at your sink before suggesting a softener. If the reading and the crust on your shower glass both say it's worth doing, we size the unit to that number, usually 32,000 to 48,000 grains for a house, and put carbon ahead of it so chloramine doesn't eat the resin. Our softener installation page covers valves and sizing.

Chloramine, chlorine bonded with ammonia so it lasts longer in the pipes, is the City's normal disinfectant. Once a year the Water Division switches to free chlorine for maintenance; in 2026 that ran from April 3 to April 12. During those days the smell is sharper and the water can look different, and the City tells dialysis patients and aquarium owners to plan ahead. It says the water keeps meeting every standard throughout.

Catalytic carbon handles both disinfectants. Standard carbon in pitchers and fridge filters does little against chloramine, which is why so many people here still notice the taste after filtering.

Most homes predate the lead solder ban. Lauderhill began in the 1960s as a development by Herbert Sadkin, whose early houses used Andrew Geller designs sold through Macy's: 730 to 1,200 square feet on 75-by-100-foot lots. The big wave came a decade later. Census figures for 2024 show 16,983 of the city's 34,015 housing units were built in the 1970s, the median year built is 1976, and about 86% went up before 1990. Lead solder was banned in 1986, so most kitchens here are worth one lab test.

The City's lead numbers are rising slowly. The 90th-percentile result went from 4.1 ppb in 2019 to 6.4 ppb in 2022 and 8.0 ppb in 2025, still under the 15 ppb action level. The City advises running a tap that has sat for hours for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before drinking from it. For the free lab lead test we collect the first water out of the kitchen tap after it has sat overnight. If lead comes back high, RO or a lead-certified filter at that faucet takes care of it.

Condos and apartments. About a third of homes are in buildings of 20 units or more, Inverrary was for decades a second-home area for snowbirds, and nearly four in ten households rent. A whole-house system only fits where one pipe feeds your unit alone, and the association has to approve it. Under-sink RO stays inside your cabinet and covers PFOS, byproducts and lead in the water you drink.

Plan on about 20 minutes for the free water test. At the kitchen sink we check hardness in grains per gallon, chloramine, dissolved solids, pH and iron. Byproducts, PFAS and lead can only be measured by a certified lab, so we walk you through the City's numbers for those, and we send a lead sample to the lab free of charge.

We can usually install the same day you approve the quote. One tank takes 2–4 hours and a three-stage system 4–6. Our own crew comes back for filter and cartridge replacement, and softener owners in 33311, 33313, 33319 and 33351 can book salt delivery. Calls go to our own office staff.