Water Sources
Reclamation
Reclamation refers to the reclaiming and reusing of treated domestic wastewater for non-potable uses such as landscape irrigation. Seminole County has an extensive and expanding reclaimed water program — one that currently achieves 100 percent beneficial reuse of the reclaimed water produced by our wastewater treatment plants. This means that 100 percent of the reclaimed water produced is used in lieu of ground or surface water. The primary reclaimed water use is irrigation and a secondary use is groundwater recharge to replenish the aquifer.
Currently, we’re in the first phase of our five-phase residential reclaimed water system retrofit program. Of the 5.5 million gallons per day of water that we are requesting to withdraw from the St. Johns River, about 20 percent will be used to supplement our reclaimed water supply. This will ensure an adequate supply of water is available during periods of peak demands by our customers.
We’re moving forward with this program because we understand that reclaiming and reusing water enables us to reduce the amount of ground and surface water we need to withdraw from the environment. Put another way, by using a little bit of River water, we can meet a portion of our water demands without developing new sources of water. In fact, once completed, the project will help offset approximately 2.62 million gallons per day of groundwater that would have been used for irrigation.
