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Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at New Water Treatment Plant
The City of St. Augustine recently went on-line with a new low pressure reverse osmosis (LPRO) water treatment plant located at the corner of W. King St. and Palmer Ave. A ribbon cutting ceremony was recently held at the new facility.
The 14,300 square foot plant is capable of producing over two million gallons of drinking water per day using the newest in membrane technology to guarantee a constant product that exceeds the highest industry standards for safety and reliability.
The total cost for the plant was approximately $12.8 million with the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) contributing $4.7 million of the cost. The SJRWMD contribution is made possible in part by the Florida Water Protection and Sustainability Program (WPSP), a new state program supporting alternative water supply projects.
Created by the state legislature in 2005, the WPSP encourages cooperation between the land use plans of local governments and the water supply plans of regional water management facilities.
Using LPRO will allow the city to transition from relying on shallow freshwater wells to deeper wells that are further below the land surface. This was an important step taken by the city to protect the future water supply. Increased withdrawals from the shallow freshwater wells to meet increased future water demands could negatively affect wetlands adjacent to the well field which would not have been allowed by the SJRWMD. By moving to deeper wells, the city is positioned to serve the needs of the city’s water customers for generations to come.