Charlotte County Utilities
Press Releases & Notices
Rotonda Water Reclamation Facility Open House
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (Oct. 1, 2009) – For the first time, the public was invited into the normally fenced and locked facility to see the process at work first hand. It is a government success story that shows how leadership in local government can be creative and bold. The Open House was attended by Rotonda residents, engineers, contractors, and dignitaries. Speeches at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were given by Commissioner Richard Loftus, Commissioner Bob Starr, and special guest Dr. Abdul Ahmadi from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, who during his speech indicated that he was pleased with the way Charlotte County expedited the needed improvements and accomplished it all in a timelier manner than a private utility, would have done.
According to Charlotte County Utilities Interim Director Terri Kesner, the plant is running incredibly well and came in on budget. The decision was made to build the plant to a capacity of 2 million gallons per day (MGD), switching from an advanced secondary treatment process to using new membrane bioreactor technology (MBR), with the capabilities of quickly expanding, when needed, for a full capacity of 3 MGD. MBR technology was highly desired as it consists of a membrane filtration system similar to the reverse osmosis water treatment process used in water plants, with the ability to provide a high quality reclaimed water product and using a smaller footprint than traditional wastewater treatment facilities.
This upgraded facility will meet the needs of the current Rotonda area residents and new residents coming on line for years to come, and the Utility looks forward to providing reclaimed water to the numerous golf courses within the Rotonda area for irrigation purposes, thus reducing the need to take water from wells, lakes, canals, and rivers, which impacts the environment.
At the conclusion of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, all visitors were taken on an extensive tour of the newly upgraded facility where all could see first hand the new MBR system in operation.
