5,500 residents to 134,721
The 1960 count put the population around 5,500; the 2020 census found 134,721 living here instead. Few cities in the region have changed scale quite that dramatically.
Broward County · answered live right now
Emergency plumbing in Miramar, old ground east, new ground west
Dispatch logs the address and roughly how far west it sits, because across twenty-nine square miles that single detail is the best early clue to what’s under the slab.
Why does a Miramar home’s age depend on how far west it sits?
Because the city expanded in a single direction. Miramar incorporated in 1955, and the head count sat around 5,500 when the 1960 census was taken; by 2020 that number had climbed past 134,000, among the largest proportional expansions anywhere in the coverage area, spreading east to west along its 28.85 square miles instead of filling in evenly.
That leaves the original settlement clustered at the eastern edge near the Hollywood line, old enough to carry cast iron drains, while the western half belongs to an entirely later generation of construction built with PVC drains, where trouble is more likely to begin at a fitting or an appliance connection than inside the pipe run itself.
For a homeowner the useful question isn’t what Miramar is like in general. It’s which end of the city a given address sits in, and that answer shapes the likely diagnosis before anyone shows up.
Beneath a city built in one direction
One municipality, two building generations, thirty miles apart
Miramar is long and narrow, and it was built in sequence rather than all at once.
Growth ran west, not outward
At 28.85 square miles, Miramar stretches east to west, with the original 1950s settlement anchored at the eastern end and later growth pushing steadily toward the Everglades.
The city operates its own utility
Miramar Utilities handles drinking water and wastewater treatment and disposal directly, publishing its own sewer connection process rather than routing residents to the county.
Seven feet above sea level
Low and flat terrain, which is exactly why water escaping under a slab spreads sideways through the fill instead of pooling right at the break.
The county line sits at the back fence
Cross Miramar’s southern edge and you are in Miami-Dade territory, served by a different water utility and a different permit desk entirely.
What actually fails
Three calls this city keeps generating
Two trace to the east, one belongs to the west.
East side: a clog that always returns
In the original 1950s and 1960s settlement the drain runs cast iron, roughened from the inside until it snags whatever should pass. Clearing the blockage does nothing about the pipe causing it.
Ask for a camera before paying for a third clearing.
Cast iron replacementWest side: everything attached wearing out together
A subdivision that goes up in one continuous push installs every water heater, angle stop and supply line within months of each other, so decades later those parts approach failure on the same calendar, even though the drain pipe beneath them typically still has plenty of life left.
Replace the supply lines before the tank fails.
Water heater replacementAnywhere: dampness with no leak visible above it
At seven feet on flat ground there’s no slope to work with. Water escaping a pressurized line under the slab travels through the fill until a seam lets it surface, rarely right above the break.
Have it located before opening anything up.
Leak detectionAcross the city
Miramar, from the old end to the new
In a city shaped like this, direction is the coordinate that actually matters.
East Miramar
Where the city began, with housing from the 1950s and 1960s clustered close to the Hollywood border, old enough that cast iron is the drain material to expect, and where a clog that keeps coming back is telling you about the pipe, not your habits.
West Miramar
The newer expansion, responsible for most of the jump from 5,500 residents to well over 134,000, uses PVC drains, so when something fails it is usually a fitting, a valve or an appliance connection giving out, rather than the pipe run itself.
The Miami-Dade boundary
Where Miramar ends and Miami-Dade begins, right behind a row of backyards, crossing it means the water bill and the permit office both belong to somebody else.
Who to call
Permits, water and sewer in Miramar
One city government covers both sides of the age divide.
- Water
- City of Miramar Utilities DepartmentThe city supplies its own drinking water rather than purchasing it through the county.
- Sewer
- City of Miramar Utilities DepartmentWastewater treatment and disposal run through the same department, which publishes its own sewer connection process.
- Permits
- Building, Planning and ZoningInspections can be scheduled online through the permits self-service portal or arranged over the phone.
- The county line
- Along the southern boundaryCross it and Miami-Dade becomes both the water supplier and the permitting office, worth checking first if a lot backs up against that line.
Reviews
What Miramar customers say on Google
Pulled directly from the company’s Google Business Profile, each one credited to the reviewer’s public name.
5.041 Google reviews
41of the 41 reviews captured from the profile are five stars, and none is below five.
Read straight from the Google Business Profile on August 26, 2026. Counted, not estimated.
Open the Google profileWhen we attempted to turn off the toilet supply valve, it began leaking. Even as he was checking the toilet connection, the plumber was replacing the valve. Never gets wet, and it works like a charm with the new shutdown.
There was a backup in the bathroom downstairs right before weekend guests came. The professional got there earlier than planned and got rid of the blockage without making a mess. …
We had hammering noises in the pipes every time someone used hot water. The plumber secured loose sections and installed proper supports to stop the vibration. House is finally quiet again.
Questions
What Miramar residents ask
How can I tell which era my house belongs to?
Roughly, by how far west it sits. The original settlement near Hollywood dates to the 1950s and 1960s, while the western half is the later expansion. It’s a solid rule of thumb, and a camera turns it into a definite answer for your specific line.
My house is from the 2000s. Why would it need any work?
In housing that new, the pipe itself is almost never at fault. It is the hardware bolted onto it (angle stops, supply lines, the water heater) that wears out first, and because a single-phase subdivision installs all of that hardware within the same short window, it tends to give out across the neighborhood at roughly the same age.
Does the city or the county supply water here?
The city runs it. Miramar Utilities is responsible for both drinking water and wastewater here, keeping the permit desk and the pipe supplier under one roof, at least until you cross the southern line, where Miami-Dade takes over both jobs.
Is the whole city covered, even out west?
Yes. Miramar runs almost twenty-nine miles east to west and every bit of it falls inside the service area. What changes across that stretch is the age of the housing, not whether a plumber comes out.
Close by
The cities around Miramar
Southern Broward on most sides, Miami-Dade on one.
Live dispatch · 24 / 7 / 365
Something wrong at your Miramar address tonight?
A live person answers at any hour, walks you through the shut-off, and starts a plumber toward you.
No obligation. Work performed under Florida plumbing contractor license CFC1433655.