The City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has opened the Prospect Lake Clean Water Center, a new drinking water treatment facility that will replace the aging Fiveash Water Treatment Plant. The project, which costs approximately $666 million including related infrastructure improvements, will increase the reliability of water supply for Fort Lauderdale and surrounding communities.
The facility can treat up to 50 million gallons of water per day using nanofiltration and ion exchange technologies. These systems will improve water clarity and taste while strengthening the city’s ability to address emerging contaminants and changing water quality standards. The plant can also withstand Category 5 hurricane-force winds, improving the resilience of the regional water supply system.
The city developed the facility at the Prospect Wellfield, approximately three miles from the Fiveash plant. This is a public-private partnership between the City of Fort Lauderdale, IDE Technologies, Ridgewood Infrastructure, and Kiewit Water Facilities Florida Co. The city retains ownership of the facility and oversees its integration with the municipal water distribution system.
Fort Lauderdale began introducing treated water from the new plant into its distribution network in September 2026. The city is gradually increasing operations as it completes commissioning and transitions Fiveash into a storage and distribution center. The former treatment plant, which began operations in 1953, will store water from the new facility and distribute it to customers.