Tamara Richardson, Polk’s utilities director, provided an informative update on Polk County’s quest for more drinking water to meet projected development demand and progress on Polk’s first-ever treatment plant for septic tank waste at Thursday’s Ancient Islands Group meeting.
Some takeaways from her presentation were:
–Although the Lower Floridan Aquifer will aid in supplying some of the water Polk officials say they will need to accommodate new development, that source, like the Upper Floridan that was the traditional source of drinking water, it is not inexhaustible.
-Pumping water from the Lower Floridan is unlikely to cause sinkholes because there is a confining layer between those two portions of the aquifer.
-The deep well system, the even deeper disposal well system and the 66 miles of pipeline will affect everyone’s water rates; expect a six percent annual increase.
–The other potential future source of water is the Peace River, but that is far in the future and will depend on how much water is available after the Southwest Florida Water Management District re-evaluates minimum flows in the Upper Peace River.
–Another potential source is what is called Direct Potable Reuse(DPR), which involves treating reclaimed water (treated sewage) to drinking water standards.
–DPS is undergoing a pilot project at a plant in northwest Polk using a series of treatment steps to remove such contaminants as organic compounds, viruses and PFAs (the so-called forever chemicals) that normal treatment doesn’t remove.
–The treatment plant for septic tank waste, which should be completed by next summer, is a long-awaited solution to the pollution problems that occurred when septage haulers were allowed to dispose of the waste on the ground, usually in pastures.
–It also comes after a business called BS Ranch & Farms, which, claimed to be able to turn the waste into usable soil, was shut down after being cited for numerous pollution violations.
–Under the new process the septage will be treated and mixed with leachate (contaminated water that flows through the piles of garbage at the landfill) and used as process water at the landfill.
Richardson said all of these projects are part of a series of anti-pollution and water management efforts required by various agencies aimed at reducing these operations’ impacts on the environment.
