TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

North River Area To Get Reclaimed Water

ADVERTISEMENT

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 8, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Residents of the North River neighborhood like their lawns.

There are 483 households in the affluent riverfront quarter and, according to city figures, residents there use more than 109,000 gallons of water a day to keep the grass green.

So it comes as no surprise that the neighborhood will be next in line to tap into the city's reclaimed water system, part of a long-term, multimillion-dollar conservation effort.

The cost of the $2.3 million project will be split between the city and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which last week approved a matching grant.

The city will pay its half through its stormwater reserve fund.

"We're just waiting for the formal agreement," said interim City Manager Tom O'Neill. "It's a tremendous opportunity for us and a lot of people in the neighborhood want it."

O'Neill said the city is expected to receive the bulk of the grant, or $700,000, this year and the rest of it next year. Work on the project could begin this summer.

City planners say they chose North River because residents expressed strong interest in participating in a reclaimed water project. It would provide more than 217,000 gallons a day to that area.

O'Neill said a requirement of the state grant is that the city get a commitment from at least 50 percent of the utility customers in the neighborhood to use the new system.

"If we don't get that, the system is not going to pay for itself," he said.

Eventually, city officials hope to hook up the entire city.

For several years, city officials quietly have been tying new customers into the reclaimed system, targeting areas where the demand is strong.

Hundreds of residents in the Jasmine Hills and Woodridge Estates subdivisions and east Grand Boulevard now use reclaimed water from New Port Richey's wastewater treatment plant.

Most of the city's public parks, downtown streetscaping, and median flowers and trees are irrigated weekly with reclaimed water. The water also is provided to several public schools within the city limits and to keep the Magnolia Valley Golf Course irrigated.

City officials laud the results of these pilot projects, saying the neighborhoods served boast some of the finest lawns in the city.

New Port Richey buys more than 85 percent of its drinking water from Tampa Bay Water, the regional provider, and city officials say they have an ample supply.

Still, as in many other municipalities, officials here are concerned about the state's growing consumption, which has strained reserves.

Last year, the city council reduced lawn watering to one day a week.

Countywide, several reclaimed water projects are in the works.

Since 1990, Pasco has used wastewater for irrigation. Officials say the county now serves 10,000 customers, pumping about 11 million gallons of reclaimed water in 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Every drop of the nearly 20 million gallons produced daily typically is used, county officials have estimated. But the cost is high: It takes about six households to make enough reclaimed water to serve one household.

In the past 20 years, Swiftmud planners have partially funded at least 275 reclaimed water projects in the district, which spans 17 counties along the west coast of Florida, from Levy to Charlotte. That translates into more than 200 million gallons a day.

Statewide, less than 1 percent of the drinking water from wellfields and reservoirs is consumed by Floridians. Most of it is used for lawns, crop irrigation and other uses.

"Our goal is to supply an alternative water source so people aren't using potable water on their lawns or for crop irrigation," Swiftmud spokeswoman Robyn Hanke said.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT