The Miami Dade Water and Sewer Department has broken ground on a $1.2 billion series of upgrades to the Central District Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The planned upgrades will improve critical processes and systems to increase reliability and reduce redundancy, as well as harden infrastructure and systems based on the adoption of resilient and climate-ready designs.
The upgrades are being developed to meet the State of Florida’s Ocean Outfall Legislation and are part of the Department’s $8.6 billion Capital Improvement Program.
“I’m proud of the innovative strategies being developed and implemented by our Water and Sewer Department that are building a Future Ready Miami-Dade, which is critical for the wellbeing of the community and the protection of our natural resources,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “We must invest in our water and sewer infrastructure to continue offering high-quality water services to our residents now and in the future.”
WASD has accelerated its execution of essential Capital Improvement Program projects including a historic investment of more than $599 million to upgrade its water and sewer infrastructure during fiscal year 2022-2023 beating the previous year’s landmark achievement of $557 million in project execution.
As a part of the plant’s upgrades, WASD will continue to implement its industrial water reuse strategy. Based on the use of Effluent Energy Recovery Systems, treated water will be used to provide cooling to buildings and energy-intensive processes at the treatment plants. Once completed, this strategy will increase the daily amount of water reused from 15 million gallons to more than 100 million gallons.
“These necessary upgrades will benefit the community by ensuring we sustain high-quality, safe, and reliable services today while planning for a thriving economy and growing population in the future,” said Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department Director Roy Coley. “We are committed to future-proofing our systems and assets to protect public health and to ensure Miami-Dade County is future-ready.”
