Utilities in Miami — Miami, Florida

Utility services in Miami are delivered through a layered structure involving both the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County government. The arrangement reflects Miami's status as the county seat of a large consolidated-service region: water and sewer functions are administered at the county level by the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD), while the city maintains its own departments for stormwater management and solid waste collection. Florida Power and Light (FPL) provides electric service across the area as the regional investor-owned utility, operating independently of local government.

This division of responsibility means that a Miami resident's utility bills and service contacts differ by service type: WASD handles drinking water and wastewater, the City of Miami's Stormwater Utility manages drainage infrastructure, and the City of Miami's Department of Solid Waste handles curbside garbage and recycling collection. The geography of Miami — built largely on former wetland and porous limestone substrate at elevations of only a few feet above sea level — makes stormwater infrastructure a persistent and expensive priority, and that reality shapes capital spending across both city and county utility programs.

Water and sewer service for the City of Miami is provided by the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD), a county agency that Miami-Dade County documents as the largest water and sewer utility in the southeastern United States. WASD serves nearly 2.4 million residents across the county, operating treatment plants, pump stations, and thousands of miles of pipe that span incorporated cities and unincorporated areas alike. The City of Miami is among the municipalities that purchase water and sewer services wholesale from WASD and pass those costs through to city customers.

WASD is the primary point of contact for water and sewer accounts within Miami, regardless of which municipality a property sits in. The department handles billing, infrastructure maintenance, service connections, and enforcement of water conservation and wastewater compliance requirements under county ordinance. WASD's service territory encompasses the urban core of Miami, surrounding municipalities including Miami Beach, Coral Gables, and Hialeah, and large areas of unincorporated Miami-Dade County.

Miami operates two parallel stormwater utility programs — one at the city level and one at the county level — that together address drainage and water quality across different jurisdictional boundaries.

The City of Miami Stormwater Utility was established in September 1988 under City Ordinance No. O-10393, enacted pursuant to the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972 and Florida's Surface Water Improvement and Management Act of 1987. The utility was created specifically to fund drainage improvements and stormwater management programs within city limits. Property owners within the City of Miami pay a stormwater utility fee that supports the maintenance and capital improvement of the city's drainage network, which is built atop limestone substrate at very low elevations — conditions that complicate stormwater disposal and increase flood risk during Miami's wet season, which runs approximately June through October.

At the county level, the Miami-Dade County Stormwater Utility, administered by the county's Department of Environmental Resources Management, addresses polluted runoff and drainage in unincorporated areas of the county. The county program focuses on reducing impervious-surface runoff and protecting aquifer recharge areas — critical considerations in a region that draws its drinking water from the Biscayne Aquifer, which is highly vulnerable to surface contamination given the shallow, porous geology of South Florida.

City and county stormwater infrastructure operate under different service boundaries, but both programs are funded through utility fees assessed based on impervious surface area on a given property. Residents within the City of Miami pay the city stormwater fee; properties in unincorporated Miami-Dade County or other municipalities fall under county or municipal programs respectively.

The City of Miami Department of Solid Waste provides curbside garbage, recycling, and bulky waste collection to residential and commercial properties within city limits. The department's stated mission, per the city's official website, is delivering a comprehensive, safe, cost-effective, and environmentally sound solid waste management system. Services include regular household garbage pickup, curbside recycling, and scheduled bulky waste collection for large items such as furniture and appliances.

For properties in unincorporated Miami-Dade County — which does not include the City of Miami proper — the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) provides twice-weekly automated waste pickup and two annual bulky waste pickups per household. The county system also operates 13 Neighborhood Trash and Recycling Centers and two Home Chemical Collection Centers for residents who need to dispose of hazardous household materials such as paint, batteries, and cleaning chemicals. City of Miami residents do not use county DSWM residential pickup, as solid waste collection within city limits is handled directly by the city department.

In fiscal year 2024–2025, WASD executed $603 million in capital infrastructure construction — surpassing the $600 million threshold for the second consecutive year — as part of an $8.97 billion multi-year Capital Improvement Program. The program encompasses replacement and rehabilitation of aging pipes, pump stations, and treatment facilities across the county.

Beginning October 1, 2025, WASD increased its wholesale sewer rate by $0.7257 — a 19.05% increase — and its wholesale water rate by $0.0675, a 2.81% increase, as reflected in the City of Miami Beach's official utility rate notice. These wholesale rate changes are passed through to customers by municipalities, including Miami, that purchase water and sewer service from the county. The sewer rate increase in particular represents a substantial cost shift to municipal utility accounts.

On the environmental infrastructure front, Florida Power and Light and Miami-Dade County commissioned the FPL Miami-Dade Clean Water Recovery Center, described by FPL's newsroom as one of the largest reclaimed water projects in Florida. The facility reuses up to 15 million gallons per day of treated wastewater as cooling water for FPL's Turkey Point Clean Energy Center to the south, reducing the facility's draw on Floridan Aquifer groundwater.

Miami's utility infrastructure operates within one of the most environmentally challenging settings of any major American city. The urban core sits at elevations averaging only a few feet above sea level on the western shore of Biscayne Bay, built largely over former wetland and atop the porous Miami Limestone formation. The Biscayne Aquifer — the sole source of freshwater for much of South Florida — lies close to the surface and is directly vulnerable to both saltwater intrusion from rising sea levels and contamination from surface runoff. These conditions elevate the stakes of stormwater management and wastewater treatment well beyond their typical urban-infrastructure roles.

Miami's subtropical climate produces heavy rainfall concentrated in the June-through-October wet season, placing recurring stress on drainage systems that were not designed with current sea levels or storm intensities in mind. Both the City of Miami Stormwater Utility, operating since 1988, and Miami-Dade County's parallel stormwater program reflect decades of recognition that drainage in this geography requires sustained dedicated funding.

WASD's position as the largest water and sewer utility in the southeastern United States reflects a county-scale consolidation model that extends service across 34 municipalities and a large unincorporated area within Miami-Dade County. The City of Miami, as county seat and the largest municipality, is a major customer within that wholesale framework. Neighboring cities such as Miami Beach, Coral Gables, and Hialeah also purchase water and sewer services from WASD under wholesale agreements, making WASD rate decisions consequential for utility bills across the entire county. The multi-decade Capital Improvement Program reflects both the scale of deferred maintenance in aging infrastructure and the forward-looking investment required to adapt water and sewer systems to South Florida's sea-level and climate trajectory.