Water
Treatment Facility
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Recognized as the most improved water
treatment facility in Florida for 2000
by the American Water Works Association
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One of 10 honorees, of 7,000 eligible
facilities statewide, in the 1999 Florida
Department of Environmental Protection's
Plant Operations Excellence Awards
BSU's potable water is drawn from the lower
Tamiami aquifer, tapped through two well
fields and processed at the utility's facility.
BSU began providing potable water to 800
customers in Bonita Springs in 1972. By
the end of 2002, the utility served more
than 20,000 customers. During 2001, the
facility's water-producing capacity was
increased from 7.5 million to 9 million
gallons per day to meet the needs of Bonita
Springs' growing population.
In spring 2002, BSU began construction
of a $38 million reverse osmosis water
treatment plant to help the utility meet
anticipated water demand through 2005.
Scheduled to open in late 2003, the facility
will produce 6 million gallons of water
a day, using a process that forces brackish
water through membranes to remove salt
and other impurities. The 20,000-square-foot
plant has been designed to later be expanded
to a daily capacity of 12 million gallons.
The new facility and the 2002 expansion
of the utility's water treatment plant
will allow BSU to eventually produce more
than 20 million gallons of water per day
— enough to meet the needs of the utility's
service area at build out.
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Water Reclamation Facility
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Recognized with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's
1999 Wastewater Treatment Plant Award for the South Florida district
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Honored in 1999 for its outstanding safety
program by the Florida Water and Pollution
Control Operators Association
In 1991, BSU purchased the wastewater-treatment
facility. In the following years, more
than 40 package plants (small, usually
privately owned and often inefficient wastewater
treatment facilities) were connected to
the central facility, the plant was expanded,
and lines were installed to connect neighborhoods
throughout Bonita Springs to the central
sewer system.
In 2002, the wastewater-treatment capacity
was increased from 4.25 million to 7 million
gallons per day. The $15.5 million improvements
will help the utility meet the needs of
the community for the next four to five
years.
One of the utility's highest priorities
is the elimination of septic tanks that,
especially in older or densely populated
neighborhoods, can taint groundwater supplies
and threaten the environment. From 1997
through 2002, almost 5,000 septic tanks
were eliminated; plans call for an additional
600 homes to be converted from septic tanks
to the central system during 2003.
Work has begun on the permitting and design
of BSU's second water reclamation facility.
The planned facility could treat up to
12 million gallons of wastewater per day.
In combination with the current plant's
7 million-gallon-per-day capacity, BSU
will be equipped to meet the needs of Bonita
Springs as development occurs.
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