Water Treatment Facility & Water Treatment Unit

• Recognized as the most improved water treatment facility in Florida for 2000 by the American Water Works Association
• One of 10 honorees, of 7,000 eligible facilities statewide, in the 1999 Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Plant Operations Excellence Awards

BSU's potable water is drawn from the lower Tamiami aquifer, tapped through two well fields and processed at the utility's facility.

BSU began providing potable water to 800 customers in Bonita Springs in 1972. By the end of 2002, the utility served more than 20,000 customers. During 2001, the facility's water-producing capacity was increased from 7.5 million to 9 million gallons per day to meet the needs of Bonita Springs' growing population.

In spring 2002, BSU began construction of a $38 million reverse osmosis water treatment plant to help the utility meet anticipated water demand through 2005. Scheduled to open in late 2003, the facility will produce 6 million gallons of water a day, using a process that forces brackish water through membranes to remove salt and other impurities. The 20,000-square-foot plant has been designed to later be expanded to a daily capacity of 12 million gallons. The new facility and the 2002 expansion of the utility's water treatment plant will allow BSU to eventually produce more than 20 million gallons of water per day — enough to meet the needs of the utility's service area at build out.

Water Reclamation Facility

• Recognized with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's 1999 Wastewater Treatment Plant Award for the South Florida district
• Honored in 1999 for its outstanding safety program by the Florida Water and Pollution Control Operators Association

Water Treatment Unit In 1991, BSU purchased the wastewater-treatment facility. In the following years, more than 40 package plants (small, usually privately owned and often inefficient wastewater treatment facilities) were connected to the central facility, the plant was expanded, and lines were installed to connect neighborhoods throughout Bonita Springs to the central sewer system.

In 2002, the wastewater-treatment capacity was increased from 4.25 million to 7 million gallons per day. The $15.5 million improvements will help the utility meet the needs of the community for the next four to five years.

One of the utility's highest priorities is the elimination of septic tanks that, especially in older or densely populated neighborhoods, can taint groundwater supplies and threaten the environment. From 1997 through 2002, almost 5,000 septic tanks were eliminated; plans call for an additional 600 homes to be converted from septic tanks to the central system during 2003.

Work has begun on the permitting and design of BSU's second water reclamation facility. The planned facility could treat up to 12 million gallons of wastewater per day. In combination with the current plant's 7 million-gallon-per-day capacity, BSU will be equipped to meet the needs of Bonita Springs as development occurs.