Help for pollution in Indian River lagoon

Well injection to clean up Indian River Lagoon


By Ed Bierschenk (Contact)
Saturday, October 6, 2007

VERO BEACH — City officials are digging deep both physically and fiscally as they attempt to reduce pollutants going into the Indian River Lagoon while preparing to revamp the city's water system with the construction of a multi-million dollar well.
A deep injection well: Deep injection wells have to be dug deep enough so that the material is injected into the earth below underground sources of drinking water. Vero Beach is proposing to construct its well about 3,000 feet deep, well below the 100-foot depth of the surficial aquifer and the 400-foot depth of the Floridian aquifer.

Cleaning up the lagoon: The well will be used to dispose of treated wastewater as well as briny liquid left over from the treatment of water coming from the Floridian aquifer. The city now puts perhaps 130 million gallons of the briny liquid into the Indian River Lagoon annually.
While a lot of the treated wastewater is used by golf courses, during particularly wet periods the city has sent some excess treated wastewater to the lagoon. About 45 million gallons of this treated wastewater is deposited in the lagoon annually. The excess nutrients from this water is believed to negatively impact seagrass in the lagoon.
New restrictions also are coming out soon on the amount of such material that can be deposited in the river and city officials say the deep injection well is needed as they move more toward reverse osmosis. The reverse osmosis system is used to treat water coming from more plentiful Floridian aquifer and is expected provide higher quality drinking water for residents.
Cost: Estimated to cost $8 million for injection well plus $2.5 million for lines between the wastewater treatment plant and water treatment plant and other infrastructure. The city recently raised its water and sewer rates 2.5 percent and some of that increase will go toward the cost of the project. City officials may also look to see if they can get some money from St. Johns River Water Management District and have talked to county officials about possibly sharing in the system.
Timeline: Construction could start by fall 2008. Estimated completion around fall 2009.