Lake Placid Reuse Tour

Discovering the District

Members of the District’s Peace River Basin Board and District staff recently toured the Lake Placid wastewater treatment facility and saw firsthand where the town’s first reclaimed water lines will be installed. The District approved funding for this cooperative project between the District and the town of Lake Placid, which will ensure beneficial use of the town’s wastewater. The project is intended to supply highly treated wastewater for irrigation to the town’s parks, a retirement village and citrus groves.

Patsy Symons and Ron Johnson, members of the District’s Governing Board and co-chair ex officios of the Peace River Basin Board, also attended the tour. Former Governing Board member Pam Fentress and former Peace River Basin Board member Greg Reynolds attended as well. All of the current Peace River Basin Board members — Tracy Baxter, Ann Dunlap, Kathy Edgemon, Jim Hageman, Ken Harrison, and Rufus Lazzell — participated in the tour.

Debra Worley, Lake Placid town council member, hosted the tour that helped board members gain a better understanding of the area’s stormwater issues.

Lake Placid’s reclaimed water project is one of 29 reclaimed water projects being funded throughout the District in fiscal year 2005 for a total of $14,979,424. These funds come from the District’s Governing Board and eight basin boards. Of those 29 projects, the Peace River Basin Board funded 3 reclaimed water projects for a total of $889,030.

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 expansion, and eliminates the need to discharge wastewater effluent to surface waters.