DEBARY, Fla. — Volusia County was recently awarded $38.6 million in grants to go toward expanding two of the county's wastewater treatment plants.
The grants are part of the state’s Water Quality Improvement Grant Program and the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program. Both grants will go toward upgrading and expanding the Southwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility in DeBary, which is the county’s advanced wastewater treatment plant.
The grants will also be used to upgrade and expand the county's Southeast Regional Water Reclamation Center in Oak Hill.
Officials say the DeBary plant plays a major role in protecting the water quality of local springs, like Blue Springs and Gemini Springs. At the plant, wastewater is treated and turned into reclaimed water used for irrigation.
The plant serves a 130-square-mile springshed area which includes five cities on the county’s west side. In springsheds, all water that soaks into the ground will eventually make its way back into the spring — which is why experts say it’s imperative to remove harmful nutrients from the water.
“At the end of the line, it’s how much of that phosphorus and how much of those nitrates we pull out of the water, which means less go to Blue Springs, less goes into the water table and all around it’s a much less impact on the environment,” said treatment plant operator Jonathan Hartman.
Hartman, who has been a treatment plant operator for the past 10 years, said his career was inspired by his father, who worked as a plant operator in Flagler Beach and taught Hartman the importance of caring for the environment.
“That’s really what it is for me,” Hartman said. “It’s about knowing that I make a difference, that I can help keep the waters clean. I can help keep the woods clean. It’s a good feeling at the end of the day, and it’s very rewarding.”
By taking and measuring a sample, Hartman said he can record the amount of a nutrient reduction in the wastewater. Thanks to an earlier expansion, the plant is able to reduce total nitrogen in the springshed by 27,000 pounds every year.
“All of the testing we do throughout the plant, throughout these smaller versions of the plant, all verify that what we are putting back into the ground is up to standards,” Hartman said.
He said that as part of the final steps of the treatment process, the water is disinfected to make it clear, clean and ideal for irrigation.
“The community uses anywhere from 1.3 to 1.5 million gallons of reclaimed (water) every day, so we’re always working to keep these tanks full,” Hartman said.
The grants will help fund an expansion of the plant, which will increase reclaimed water storage by 5 million gallons. Volusia County Water Resources and Utilities director Michael Ulrich said the expansion will help to accommodate the fast-growing communities near the plant.
“We’re going to more than double our capacity here so that we continue to expand our reclaim offerings as more businesses, as more residents move to the community,” he said.
The expansion will increase treatment capacity to 4.5 million gallons per day. Overall, the county officials say the expansion will serve as a catalyst for protecting Volusia County's springs.
Construction on the projects is set to start this spring and is expected to be complete by December 2026.
Reagan Ryan is a 2023 — 2024 Report for America Corps Member, covering the environment and climate across Central Florida for Spectrum News 13. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.