Special to the Times
LAKE BUTLER — The plans for the new wastewater treatment system for the city of Lake Butler will follow and environmental engineering design that will allow cleaned water to be reintroduced to the environment to recharge the aquifer. The process of recharging allows water to flow through the soil to refill groundwater supplies as it filters through to the aquifer underneath.
This phase of returning water to the environment completes the recycling process. Water is drawn from wells that are pumping it up from the ground for use in all aspects of life. As this water is used it becomes polluted with a variety of contaminants. Modern water treatment methods allow the contaminants to be removed and the water to be purified through filtration, as well as spraying onto the recharge fields. This process allows the water to percolate through the soil, distributing nutrients on its way back to the aquifer from which it came.
Responsible stewardship of the environment is paramount to maintaining a sustainable habitat for future generations. Development of this recharge zone will create wetland habitat, improve water quality and boost regional groundwater supplies. The city of Lake Butler city commissioners have hired Mittauer as consulting engineers, experts to design a state of the art wastewater treatment system using modern technology to serve the community through the 21st century.
The plan for this new facility will cover 30 acres of land allocated to the wastewater treatment complex. The treated wastewater will then be disbursed through a 50 acre recharge zone returning the cleaned water to the environment.
Responsibility is never cheap. The cost of upgrading the entire system will be approximately $36 million. The city has adopted an asset management program that has secured funding through grants and loans covering 99% of the cost of this project. Improvement plans considered at the end of the last millennium have been made possible now with the financial assistance of federal and state grants and low interest loans available through the current Rebuild America program.
The current funded projects include wastewater collection system rehabilitation Phase 1-collection (design). This project will design the rehabilitation and replacement or repair of wastewater lines within the “core” of the wastewater collection and pumping areas of the city. The funds for this project is in the form of a grant in the amount of $970,400 and a loan of $242,600. The funding source for this project is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
Another related project, also in the planning and design phase, is the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility to serve the community that is planned to include a solar array to help power operations. A reuse system will recycle the water throughout the entire process. The treated water will then be returned to the environment through aquifer recharge wetlands.
The funds for the planning and design of this new facility is in the form of a grant, in the amount of $3 million, from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Alternative Water Supply (AWS) program.
For this project to get underway, phase one of the plan, after amending the original application, adding funding, was the purchase of a 30 acre parcel of land for the facility to be built on. This was funded by a grant from DEP-AWS in the amount of $400,000.
Also planned is the replacement of at least two of the lift stations used to help move wastewater through the system – the lift station at the waterworks (LS-1) and, if bids allow, the Jetts lift station (LS-6). This will also be funded by a grant from the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) in the amount of $200,000.
Another project will be the actual construction of the new wastewater plant to serve the city and the Department of Corrections (DOC), including the solar array, reuse water system and the construction of treatment and aquifer recharge wetlands. The funds got this project are in the form of a grant in the amount of $29,600,000, with the source of the funding being the DEP.
Grant funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) in the amount of $900,000 will be used for the replacement of the lift stations that are not already being replaced in current or pending projects.
The rehabilitation process will take several years to complete. The planning and design phase is progressing. Items currently scheduled are: the completion of all planning and design activities for all project facilities proposed for funding by Aug. 15, 2022. A loan debt service account will be established and monthly loan deposits will begin no later than Aug. 15, 2022. The first semi-annual loan payment, in the amount of $11,339 will be due on Feb. 15, 2023.
