A reclaimed water project funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Marion County will provide approximately 500,000 gallons of water per day (gpd) to the Oak Run Golf Course, which will offset an estimated 375,000 gpd of potable water currently being used for irrigation.
This project involves the design, permitting and construction of a reclaimed water storage and transmission system for the golf course. The system will include approximately 13,500 feet of reclaimed transmission line, a reclaimed water pump station and a 5-million-gallon storage pond.
Reclaimed water produced by this project will be used to irrigate two golf courses. Additional customers, including residents in the Spruce Creek Preserve as well as commercial and residential customers along SR 200, may be added to the system as additional reclaimed water becomes available.
The multi-year project is expected to cost $3.1 million. Funding will be divided between Marion County and the District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board. In FY2010, the Basin Board has budgeted $250,000 for the project.
Construction is expected to begin next July and be completed by June 2011.
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 rapid infiltration basins.