Think of Florida, and you probably envision water, including the state’s iconic beaches and springs. But, a number of factors have endangered Florida’s supply of fresh water.
Florida’s water resources are under pressure, but modular water treatment can help turn the tide
Florida may be famous for its iconic beaches and springs, but the state is facing increasingly critical challenges when it comes to water. Many springs are showing stress, and the aquifers that supply most of the state’s drinking water are under strain from over-withdrawal and pollution.
Along the coast, saltwater continues to seep into the Biscayne Aquifer, a slow-moving crisis that threatens municipal wells in South Florida, and hurricanes threaten the state’s water resources with inundation. This is all taking place as the state experiences explosive growth and the increase in water demand that comes with it.
Florida’s record population growth and tourism are adding seasonal surges in demand, and this growth is putting a strain on the state’s water resources. Florida mainly sources fresh water from aquifers, with 90% of Floridians relying on groundwater for their drinking water.
Extreme weather has also exposed fragility in Florida’s water infrastructure. In October 2024, for instance, Hurricane Milton cut power to more than 3 million customers, and a water main break forced a shutdown of water service in St. Petersburg.
Containerized Treatment Is Right for Florida
Modern, decentralized water treatment plants can reduce stress on sources of fresh water. For example, desalination can produce drinking water from seawater, as well as aquifers that have been contaminated with salt water.
Building traditional treatment plants can require years of design, permitting, and construction, but containerized treatment plants can be deployed in months because they arrive pre-engineered and factory tested. Fluence NIROBOX™ systems, for example, arrive pre-engineered, preassembled, and ISO factory-tested to reduce installation time. And, scaling is straightforward with modular design. This isn’t theoretical. At a resort in the Bimini district of the Bahamas, three NIROBOX™ seawater desalination units replaced an older plant to produce roughly 800,000 GPD of fresh water — enough to sustain both the resort and nearby communities.
Pre-engineered NIROBOX™ systems can be deployed in months, giving Florida communities scalable desalination without long construction delays.
Affordability and risk transfer matter. With Water Management Services, Fluence can provide plants at no upfront cost and operate them, allowing customers to buy water as needed while offloading the financial and operational risk of building a new plant.
Smaller, containerized plants allow for water treatment close to demand, which reduces the expense and potential water loss of long pipe runs. Recent industry analysis estimates that nationally, close to 20% of treated water is lost before reaching customers, costing utilities more than $6.4 billion annually.
What Floridian Communities Can Do Now
Florida’s water challenges are here now, but waiting for large central upgrades can mean waiting years.
Modular treatment changes the timeline. With NIROBOX™, utilities can convert seawater or brackish groundwater into potable water in compact, factory-tested units that can be scaled up as demand grows. Paired with Water Management Services, NIROBOX™ plants allow customers to secure a water supply with no upfront investment and no customer risk, paying for delivered performance while Fluence builds, operates, and maintains the plant.
A combination of wastewater treatment and water reuse with Aspiral™ Flex fully plug-and-play modular units and NIROBOX™ desalination units forms a full water cycle solution for water efficiency.
For leaders across Florida, the message is simple: meeting today’s water challenges does not have to mean betting on outdated, centralized infrastructure. Fluence containerized solutions are proven, available now, and ready to secure a reliable supply. Contact the experts at Fluence to plan your Florida strategy.
