A reclaimed water project funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Plant City will provide approximately 400,000 gallons per day (gpd) to Walden Lake Golf Course, South Florida Baptist Hospital and the Strawberry Festival grounds, which will offset an estimated 300,000 gpd of potable water.
This multi-year project includes the design, permitting and construction of approximately 15,000 feet of reclaimed water transmission line extending from the city’s water reclamation facility on Alexander Street, along Sydney Road, to Walden Lake Golf Course. A booster pump station and the associated controls will also be designed and built as part of the project with the golf course.
In addition to using reclaimed water for irrigation, the hospital also plans to use reclaimed water in the hospital’s cooling tower.
Construction is slated to begin in October 2010 and be complete in July 2011.
This cooperatively funded effort is expected to cost $3.6 million with the District’s Alafia River Basin Board contributing up to $1.4 million and another $603,000 coming from the state’s Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund. The city will be receiving an additional $200,000 through a legislative grant for this project. This is the third year of funding on this multi-year funded project.
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.