Orange County’s push to convert homes from septic systems to sewers in the environmentally sensitive Wekiwa Springs area got a big boost from a state program, which also doled out millions in aid to help heal the ailing Indian River Lagoon amid record numbers of manatee deaths this year.
The county will use most of its $41-million grant to help pay for the massive sewer project involving 14 neighborhoods east of Apopka.
Getting rid of septic seepage is a crucial but expensive part of a state plan for improving the health of the Wekiva River and its ecologically vital springs, said Orange County commissioner Christine Moore, who rallied support in the northwest Orange communities for the conversion project.
The price tag is estimated at $123 million.
State authorities estimate about 29% of nitrates polluting the springs flow from septic systems and another 26% comes from lawn fertilizer.
“Retrofitting existing neighborhood septic systems and connecting them to sewer is a way to aid the ailing springs by transmitting wastewater to an advanced treatment facility,” Moore said. “We hope the Wekiva River will see some improvement in the very near future because of this project.”
About 50,000 septic systems in Lake, Orange and Seminole counties affect the Wekiwa Springs and the Wekiva River.
Since her election in 2018, Moore has worked to persuade reluctant property owners in neighborhoods closest to the springs that switching from septic to sewer would be better for the environment — and perhaps their bank accounts, too — because of funding assistance like the state grant.
The buy-in on sewers for some residents — once priced at $50,000 per home site — has been shaved to $6,000 with state and county aid.
After years of debate, state legislators enacted the Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act in 2016, mandating that authorities craft a long-term plan to restore the quality in Florida’s springs, including the Wekiwa Springs in Central Florida. The plan mandated sewers or upgrading septic systems.
County officials, who learned of the grant Friday, will use another $4.3 million for a sewer project along North Pine Hills Road.
The money will help pay to connect 173 properties between West Colonial Drive and Silver Star Road to sewers. Many properties rely on septic systems installed between 25 and 40 years ago, meaning they were due to be replaced, said Sam Weekley, director of the Pine Hills Neighborhood Improvement District.
“These very old septic systems, especially from Balboa Drive north, were leaching into the Wekiwa Springs watershed,” he said.
The grant will pay about half the cost of the Pine Hills project, estimated at about $8.8 million. Other grants will pay the rest, Weekley said.
The funding for the Orange County county projects was included in $114 million in grants distributed by the state for water quality improvements, topped by $53 million set aside to help the Indian River Lagoon, where a record number of manatees have died this year, many from starvation.
Experts blame years of eroding water quality from toxic runoff for deadly algae blooms that kill seagrass that manatees graze on.
A veterinarian with the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who studies manatees said the problem is “an ecosystem in trouble.”
shudak@orlandosentinel.com
