Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Flushing away our ocean?
South Florida dumps partially treated human waste offshore, but it’s cleaning up its act
Over the decades, billions of gallons of partially treated sewage have flushed their way from South Florida toilets to the Atlantic Ocean.
Six plants jettisoned wastewater from outfall pipes in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, releasing massive clouds that cause the surface to look like it is boiling.
Environmental concerns spurred lawmakers into action and in 2008 the state enacted a law to end regular use of the pipes by 2025.
Nearly a decade later, all of the treatment plants are on track to meet the deadline, according to Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, the agency charged with monitoring their progress.
Already, two pipes have almost stopped flowing in Palm Beach County, where conservationists say they’ve begun to see an improvement. Meanwhile, the four other pipes — two in Broward, two in Miami-Dade — collectively flush coastal waters with an average of 188 million gallons of wastewater every day.
To reduce flows ahead of the deadline, cities and counties are building new plants, drilling deep underground wells and upgrading treatment systems to reuse more freshwater.
Boca Raton utility customers saw an 8 percent increase in 2008 to help cover their
costs, while Broward’s rate already increases about 3 percent each year — enough to pay for any upgrades, according to interviews with wastewater management officials.
Officials in Miami-Dade and Hollywood haven’t yet said how much of an increase customers could see in their bills.
Since 2008, treatment plants have reduced flows from the outfall pipes by about 37 percent, from a daily average of more than 300 million gallons before the law went into effect, officials said.
“If they are on schedule and actually close down the outfalls, I would consider that to be a major victory for the environment,” said Burt Saunders, the former state senator responsible for the law.