Domestic Wastewater Program

The vast majority of domestic wastewater treatment facilities in Florida use chlorination for disinfection. However, there are some rather significant concerns associated with chlorination including the production of potentially hazardous byproducts (chlorinated organic compounds), toxicity concerns from chlorine residual for the biota in receiving surface waters, and the potential hazards associated with handling the chlorine at the treatment plant.

St. Petersburg Dual Distribution System

Highly treated reclaimed water is made available in a separate piping system for landscape irrigation, including the irrigation of more than 10,250 residential lawns, 57 schools, 133 parks and seven golf courses. This is one of the most widely known reuse systems in the world. The system has been in operation since 1977. An average of about 15.4 mgd of reclaimed water was reused in 2015 which includes irrigating the spring training grounds of a major league baseball team and use in cooling towers at the Tropicana Dome.

Why Reuse Water?

Wastewater Facilities and Disposal

• There are over 4,100 active wastewater facilities regulated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Approximately 2,100 of these facilities are classified as industrial and approximately 2,000 as domestic wastewater.