FWEA FOCUS
Unique Water Reuse Path in Tallahassee Sondra W. Lee, P.E. President, FWEA
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cross Florida there are a variety of water concerns, and thus, different methods of managing water resources, including how reclaimed water is utilized. The City of Tallahassee area seems to stand out from most of Florida’s larger cities when it comes to reuse. With an abundance of annual rainfall and accessibility to the Floridian aquifer, Tallahassee has avoided the water scarcity that other parts of the state are concerned with. This has led Tallahassee down a different path when it comes to water reuse.
Pioneers in Reclaimed Water Tallahassee began experimenting with effluent irrigation in 1966 on 16 acres of land located at the current Thomas P. Smith Water Reclamation Facility (TPSWRF) site. It’s believed that only the Penn State University project has a longer history of scientific investigation regarding the effects of treated wastewater effluent on crops, soils, and groundwater. Over the years the Southwest Sprayfield, which uses treated or reclaimed water for effluent spray irrigation, was expanded, eventually reaching 121 acres. In 1971 Dr. Allen Overman, professor with the department of agricultural engineering at the University of Florida, began
work on an project with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the city’s sprayfield, which investigated nutrient uptake by forage crops, effects of effluent irrigation on groundwater quality, plant/soil/nutrient interactions, cation transport, and phosphorous removal. The EPA issued its report titled, “Wastewater Irrigation at Tallahassee, Florida,” (EPA-600/2-79-151) in August 1979. Following this study, the city implemented a full-scale irrigation operation. In 1981 the city completed work on the first phase of a sprayfield in the southeast area of Tallahassee, along with holding ponds, a pumping station, and an 8-mile-long force main at a total cost of $9,711,895. Because the sprayfield was considered “innovative technology,” a federal grant was received covering 85 percent of the cost. The city continued to expand the Southeast Farm reuse irrigation areas so that, by 1984, the city stopped all surface water discharges, sending effluent only to the two sprayfields, becoming one of the first sites to beneficially reuse 100 percent of its water. The last expansion at Southeast Farm was completed in 1999, with a total of 2,160 acres under irrigation providing capacity for 26.3 million gallons per day (mgpd). Award-Winning Reuse Facility With Tallahassee’s early work in reuse, the Southeast Farm has won a few prestigious awards: S Outstanding Infrastructure Award from American City and County magazine in 1994 S First Place for the Most Effective and Innovative Reclamation and Reuse Program from EPA, Region IV, in 1995
Crop irrigation on one of the center pivots at the Southeast Farm.
36 April 2023 • Florida Water Resources Journal
S Dr. David W. York Water Reuse Award from the Florida Water Environment Association in 1998 Public Access Reuse Facility Comes to Tallahassee In 2004 Tallahassee began to design and construct a small public access reuse facility near a new subdivision on the southeast boundary of the city. The facility delivers reclaimed water to a nearby golf course, state office complexes, and school grounds. Due to the cost of implementation, operation, and maintenance, the city was not interested in providing service to individual residences. Although sized to handle 1.2 mgpd, with plenty of room to double the capacity if needed, average annual flows have remained less than 0.7 mgpd since it was put into service in 2008.
Tallahassee Holds Course Years later, not much has changed with the city’s reuse distribution system path. It would have been cost-prohibitive to supply reclaimed water throughout areas that were already developed. Then, since the sprayfield provided plenty of affordable distribution of effluent, the city’s infrastructure was expanded without including distribution piping for reclaimed water. There were, however, a few other factors that kept Tallahassee from changing direction. Abundant Rainfall The amount of rain in the area is one factor in the city’s decision to not heavily pursue a widespread distribution of reclaimed water.
Public access reuse water in Tallahassee is supplied by the Tram Road Reuse Facility.