The Southwest Florida Water Management District approved today an additional $2 million to complete an existing project that will maximize the use of reclaimed water resources in Pasco County.
The Pasco County Wet Weather Reclaimed Water Reservoir project involves constructing a reservoir on 35 acres next to the Land O’ Lakes wastewater treatment facility. The reservoir will have the capacity to store up to 100 million gallons of reclaimed water.
An extensive geological survey conducted of the project area identified holes in the underlying limestone. Based on the findings, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) required that the holes be pumped with cement to stabilize the limestone, which significantly increased the cost of the project from under $4 million to approximately $25 million.
When complete, this project is expected to offset approximately 330,000 gallons of potable water per day. The reservoir will enable the county to supply reclaimed water to an additional 926 customers and reliably serve 185 of their existing customers with reclaimed water during the dry season. In the past, these customers have had to use potable water for irrigation when reclaimed water was not available.
Reclaimed water is wastewater that has received at least secondary treatment and is used for a beneficial purpose, such as irrigation. By offsetting demand for ground water and surface water, this alternative, non-traditional water source reduces stress on environmental systems, provides economic benefits by delaying costly water system expansions, and eliminates the need to discharge wastewater effluent to surface waters.
The revised cost of the project is approximately $25 million. The District originally funded $2.18 million and will provide an additional $2 million, which will be funded by the District’s Governing Board and the Hillsborough River, Pinellas-Anclote River and Coastal Rivers Basin Boards. Pasco County will pay all remaining costs.
The construction phase of this project is expected to be complete this summer.