Winter Haven officials recently asked the Polk Legislative Delegation for state funds to fix lake pollution problems around the city, the Winter Haven Sun reports.
The focus is on Lake Conine in the city’s northeast area.
A project is already under way to create a wetlands treatment area off Lucerne Park Road.
The article cites problems with stormwater runoff and septic tank discharges, but did not mention the legacy pollution from a city sewer plant that discharged pollutants into the lake for many years, making it one of the more polluted lakes in the city. Sewer discharges also affected water quality in Lake Lulu at the headwaters of the canal system that discharges into a series of canals that flow into the Peace Creek Drainage Canal and ultimately the Peace River.
Septic-to-sewer conversions are expensive because of the high cost to homeowners to make the change. In addition to the cost of connecting to the city sewer system, state regulations also require homeowners to deactivate their septic tanks, an effort that can cost as much as $10,000. There have been proposals to come up with a loan program that will allow residents to take out loans to cover the costs and repay the costs over a period of time through assessments on their utility bills.
One of the issues being discussed is to make sure there is full disclosure to residents regarding the full cost to prevent financial hardships.