Sarasota County, in cooperation with SWFWMD and the FDEP, has long been an advocate of water conservation. In 1993, the County dedicated a full time person to Outreach and Resident Education about the need to conserve precious water resources. The campaign has been very successful reducing per capita water use from approximately 150 gallons per person per day in 1992 to less than 90 gallons per person per day in 2003, by 2005 the number was 86; in 2012 it was 84 gallons per capita day (gpcd).
Sarasota County Utilities have utilized a number of methods to promote conservation including:
Inverted Rate Structure - Sarasota County Utilities and Englewood Water District use a tiered structure of increasing rates with increasing volume of water used. Initially implemented in November 1991, the County rate system has evolved over time to one of the most aggressive tiered rate systems in the state. Both EWD and the County will continue to utilize this effective conservation tool.
Use of Low-Flow Plumbing Fixtures – Ordinance No. 94-001 requires low-flow plumbing fixtures (toilets, showerheads, faucets) in all new development. Public Education and Outreach programs since 1995 have promoted the installation of low- flow toilets, showerheads and faucet aerators for homeowners in existing homes through the use of financial incentives, showerhead exchanges, and giveaways.
Use of Automatic Shut-Off Devices for Irrigation Systems - Ordinance 94-001 required automatic shutoff devices in all newly constructed irrigation systems. Ordinance No. 96-021 requires them in all systems and requires that the devices must be operational at all times.
Ordinance related to Water-Efficient Landscaping Regulations
Ordinance No. 2001-081, as amended discourages the connection of an automatic irrigation system to the potable water supply in new
development and limits areas of turf and annual flowers to 50% or less of the irrigated area within new construction. Low volume micro-irrigation is required for plant beds and no grass can be planted in strips narrower than four feet.
Golf Course Ordinance – Ordinance No. 2003-069 ensures the
development, operation and maintenance of new golf courses protects and conserves natural resources and the environment. The ordinance requires that they protect water resources, employ best management practices to control stormwater pollution, and implement an integrated pest management plan. Included in the ordinance is a golf course technical manual.
Promotion of Reclaimed Water – As discussed in the sanitary sewer section of this chapter, reclaiming treated wastewater for irrigation is the primary means of wastewater disposal for Sarasota County Utilities and Englewood Water District. This practice also offsets the amount of potable and groundwater that would be used for irrigation water.
Watering Restrictions – Sarasota County initially implemented once a week watering restrictions on May 1, 2000. Even through severe rainy seasons, the County has remained committed to the once a week watering restrictions to help residents develop drought tolerant landscapes. Watering less frequently, but more deeply, creates a deep root system that will be able to survive the severe droughts that come naturally to this area.
Outreach and Education – Sarasota County remains dedicated to outreach and education of residents of the need to conserve precious water resources. Most of the County’s hands-on water conservation takes place through the Extension Service, i.e.: Florida House Learning Center, Horticulture – Builder and Condominium, Residential
Conservation Programs.
Conservation programs, watering restrictions and building codes apply to the entire unincorporated area of the county including franchise and EWD service areas. Several education and outreach programs such as television and radio advertising, brochures, and outreach events, are cooperative efforts, between the County, the Cities and SWFWMD. Other
intergovernmental coordination is outline in Chapter 11 of the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan. All potable water supply projects must be permitted through SWFWMD so constant coordination is vital to the success of the projects. In addition, SWFWMD is a supporter of several County and regional water supply projects, such as the Peace River Plant through their Cooperative Funding Program.
Inventory
The Sarasota County Utilities System’s service area covers most of the urbanized area of unincorporated Sarasota County. The southernmost portion of the urbanized area lies within the service area of the Englewood Water District. The franchise water systems and their geographical service areas are shown on Figure 4-8. The City of Sarasota, the City of North Port, the City of Venice, and the Englewood Water District own and operate independent water systems that provide service within their jurisdictional boundaries. The Town of Longboat Key purchases its water from Manatee County.
Due to the regional nature of water supplies, such as Manatee County and the Peace River Authority, and the benefits of having a diversity of sources, a number of interconnections among the public supply systems have been constructed. The County is interconnected with the Cities of Venice, North Port and Sarasota, and Englewood Water District. The County has
Emergency Bulk Water Supply Agreements with the Cities of Venice and Sarasota in the event anything should happen to their water supplies. The County is connected to the City of North Port, Charlotte and DeSoto Counties through the Peace River pipeline. The pipeline typically conveys flows from the Peace River Plant to the Carlton Plant, but is designed to reverse flow direction if needed. The County is also connected to Manatee County through three water supply connections. This level of
interconnection to systems throughout the County and region significantly strengthens the ability of public water suppliers to respond to emergencies or other interruptions in supplies such as extreme droughts or hurricanes.
Sarasota County Utility Potable Water Sources:
Manatee County Contract
Sarasota County first contracted with Manatee County to purchase up to 10 mgd of potable water in 1973. In 1991, a second contract was negotiated for up to 5 mgd of additional water at premium rates. On October 21, 2003, the two counties entered into a new agreement with for potable water supply.
This contract consolidated the two previous contracts and slowly decreases Sarasota County’s purchase of water from Manatee as the Peace River Plant increases capacity. The allocation of water capacity is 10 mgd through spring 2008; 8 mgd through spring 2015, 6 mgd through spring 2020, and 5 mgd through spring 2025. The decrease in water purchased from Manatee County has been factored into Sarasota County’s long-range water supply strategy.
University Wellfield
The University Wellfield lies near the northern boundary of Sarasota County and supplies groundwater for blending with potable water received from Manatee County. The University Wellfield consists of seven permitted production wells that vary in depth from 580 feet to 640 feet below land service (bls). The current Water Use Permit (WUP) allows an average withdrawal of 2.0 mgd and a peak monthly quantity of 2.4 mgd. This wellfield is permitted under a county wide consolidated water use permit which lists all of the County’s production wells: SWFWMD Permit No.
20008836.013, which expires on August 28, 2027. Key permit stipulations include: the County’s obligation to comply with chloride trigger levels, implement any necessary wellfield management measures to attain compliance, maintain a per capita water use rate of less than 150 gpd and achieve a minimum of 50% beneficial reuse.
Carlton Wellfield and Treatment Plant
The Carlton Wellfield is located centrally in Sarasota County east of the Myakka River and Interstate 75. The Carlton Wellfield consists of 16 permitted production wells. The well depths vary from 400 feet to 715 feet below land surface. The current WUP allows an average daily groundwater withdrawal of 7.303 mgd and a peak monthly daily average of 9.625 mgd.
The Carlton Wellfield is permitted under a consolidated water use permit which lists all of the County’s production wells, SWFWMD Permit No.
20008836.013, which expires on August 28, 2027.
The Carlton plant utilizes a desalination process called electrodialysis
reversal, or EDR, to treat the brackish well water, and is one of the largest of its kind in the world. The process is highly efficient, recovering
approximately 85 gallons of drinking water for every 100 gallons processed.
The plant has a design capacity of 12 mgd. Key permit stipulations include the County’s obligations to: follow specific construction specifications for new wells, manage chloride concentration trigger levels, submit water audits, and implement hydrologic, hydrogeologic and wetland monitoring plans.
Jacaranda Wellfield and Treatment Plant
The County also owns the Jacaranda water treatment plant and wellfield system (AKA Venice Gardens Wellfield), which it obtained in 1994 as part of the purchase of the Southern States Utilities, Inc. franchise. The plant uses reverse osmosis membranes to treat the brackish ground water. The water use permit allows a daily withdrawal of 4.43 mgd but the plant is currently configured to produce 2.75 mgd. The water use permit for the Jacaranda Wellfield is permitted under the County’s consolidated water use permit. The locations of these facilities are shown on Figure 4-9.
Peace River Manasota Regional Water Authority
In May 1991 the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Authority (Authority) purchased the General Development Corporation water
treatment plant on the Peace River in DeSoto County. The plant capacity of 12 mgd was contracted to Charlotte County, DeSoto County and the City of North Port.
The Authority began planning for a 6 million gallon a day expansion and the plan was completed in June 1993. The Authority submitted a request for a twenty-year water use permit to SWFWMD in October 1994. Sarasota County’s allocation in that application was 13.5 mgd.
By July 1996 the water use permit had been issued, SWFWMD funding was obtained, and water supply contracts for the expanded plant capacity had been signed. The Authority awarded the engineering contracts for the plant expansion, the additional aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells and the pipeline from the plant to the County’s Carlton water treatment plant. The
Sarasota County’s allocation in the first expansion was 3.875 mgd. By a separate agreement, Sarasota County transferred 0.375 mgd of its allocation to DeSoto County. Also by separate agreement, Sarasota County purchased Charlotte County’s allocation of 2.0 mgd for a period of ten years. The first expansion was completed in 2002. The agreements with Charlotte County and the Desoto County are no longer active.
The Peace River Facility has a finished water capacity of 32.7 mgd with a rated peak capacity of 48 mgd. The facility has 21 ASR wells where treated water is stored for use in the dry season, a 625 million gallon reservoir for raw water storage from the Peace River, and a 6 billion gallon off-stream reservoir that was completed in 2009. Sarasota County’s allocation in the Peace River Facility is 10 mgd for 2010 and 13.23 mgd for 2011thru the end of the Master Water Supply Contract.
In 2009 Sarasota County and the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority (Authority) entered into a Interlocal Agreement, for the Carlton/State Road 681 Regional Interconnect project (Regional Integrated Loop System, Phase 3A Interconnect). The project includes 8.3 miles of 48- inch pipe, 10 million gallons of storage, a high service pump station, and system appurtenances. This agreement includes provisions for hydraulic capacity entitlement, requires an operating protocol agreement, sets forth the method of funding the construction, establishes water delivery
characteristics, and provides cost estimates as well as other related items required for the project. The addition of the 10 million gallons of storage from this project plus the 5 million gallons of storage owned by the County that currently resides at the Carlton water treatment plant allows for the water produced by both the Authority and the County to be blended together prior to leaving the Carlton site.
Sarasota County Infrastructure
System Interconnections
The Sarasota County system is interconnected with six other public water supply systems. The County system is interconnected at three points with the Manatee system, at five points with the City of Sarasota’s system, at two points with the City of Venice’s system, two points with the Peace
River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, one point with
Englewood Water District and at one point with the City of North Port. In addition to providing for the County’s water purchase from Manatee, these interconnects allow the utilities to provide each other with water in cases of emergency, depending on the availability of supplies. Through the Peace River Pipeline, the County system is interconnected with North Port, Charlotte County and DeSoto County.
In addition to connections to other public suppliers, the County Utility Water System is connected to one franchise water supplier within the County’s jurisdiction. The County provides bulk water sales to the South Gate Utilities Franchise, owned by Pluris-South Gate Utilities Inc.
Transmission Mains
The County has a large water transmission system, consisting of mains from 14 to 42 inches in diameter. Larger transmission mains (18-inch and greater) are usually ductile iron pipe, although a few large PVC pipes have been installed. The 10-year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan identified the major transmission mains that will need to be constructed. The supply from Manatee County will reduce in the coming years, after which the University WTF will be the sole water supply source in the northern portion of the County. It will be necessary to continue the evaluation and construction of new transmission mains to address this change in supply and to meet customer demands.
Pumping Stations
Six primary pumping stations drive the County Utilities System. Pump Station No. 1 is located on University Parkway, and utilizes a three million gallon storage tank, which can store a blend of water from the Manatee County System and the University Parkway wellfield. It can also be used for storage of either supply source without mixing. Pump Station No. 2 is located on Beneva Road near its intersection with Bahia Vista Street and has a one million gallon storage tank. Pump Station No. 3, with 4.5 million gallons of storage, is located northeast of the intersection of Clark and Swift Roads. Pump Station No. 4, which has no associated storage capacity, is located on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard south of University Parkway.
Pump Station No. 5 is located at the intersection of Cattlemen and Proctor Roads and has 2.5 million gallons of storage. Pump Station No. 6 located at U.S. 41 and Vamo Way has a three million gallon storage tank onsite.
Elevated Storage Tank No. 1 is north of Fruitville Road, east of I-75 and has 2.0 million gallons of storage. The Gulf Gate elevated storage tank provides 0.25 million gallons of storage.
Franchises
One franchised water supplier remains in Sarasota County, South Gate Utilities. The County provides all of the water used by the South Gate Utilities franchise, which is owned by Pluris-South Gate Utilities Inc. Siesta Key Utilities, became part of the County system in 2006. In 2013, Sarasota County acquired the holdings of Aqua Utilities Florida Inc., which included the Dolomite Utilities and Kensington Park Utilities water systems.
Domestic Wells
Early development within Sarasota County typically utilized domestic wells for potable water supply. Areas such as South Venice, Osprey and Nokomis have a high density of residents that utilize domestic wells. The County’s Water Line Extension Program extended water lines into the Osprey and Nokomis areas. Wells constructed prior to new construction techniques established in the mid-1980s are susceptible to drought conditions simply due to outdated construction methods. To prevent the proliferation of domestic wells within the County, the Land Development Regulations require that new development within the existing urban service boundary connect to central water service based upon size of development and distance to the central water systems.
Other Community Water Supply Systems
In addition to the water systems operated by the public authorities and franchises, there were 11 other Community Water Systems operating in Sarasota County in 2013. A "Community Water System" serves at least 25 persons on an annual basis or provides at least 15 service connections.
These Community Water Systems are listed in 10-year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan. In this listing the named Community Water System is the operator of responsibility. Most of these systems serve small residential communities, such as mobile home parks, and have limited and constrained geographic service areas. For example, the Community Water Systems, which serve mobile home parks, serve only those parks. The geographic service area for the remaining systems is the physical location of the named plant. As Sarasota County Utilities extends infrastructure within the urban service boundary, pumps and transmission mains are sized to serve these systems wherever possible. The County cannot force these systems to connect to the central water system, but designs infrastructure so that service is available should the community want to connect.
Non Community Water Supply Systems
A "Non Community Water System" is a public water system that is not a Community Water System. This type of water system can be further
classified as a transient Non-Community Water System which serves at least 25 individuals on a daily basis, for at least 60 days out of the year or a non-transient non-community water system which regularly serves at least 25 of the same persons at least 6 months of the year. There were 119
Non-Community Water Supply Systems in operation in 2013. The Non
Community Water Systems are listed in the 10-year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan. In this listing, the named Non Community Water System is the operator of responsibility. Almost all of these systems serve proprietary uses and served only the location of the named plant. For example, the
geographic service area for Seven Eleven No. 22859 is only that parcel which contains the Seven Eleven building. Other examples include restaurants, churches, bars, and small commercial buildings. As Sarasota County Utilities extends infrastructure within the urban service boundary, pumps and transmission mains are sized to serve these systems wherever possible. The County cannot force these systems to connect to the central water system, but designs infrastructure so that service is available should the customer want to connect.
Miscellaneous Water Systems
Apart from the individual wells used for water supply, the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County also regulates water supply systems which are considered limited use community or limited use commercial water supply systems. In 2013 there were 548 Health Department regulated water supply systems owned and operated for commercial or residential rental units (2 or more rental units, but less than 15 service connections). As Sarasota County Utilities extends infrastructure within the urban service boundary, pumps and transmission mains are sized to serve these systems wherever possible. The County cannot force these systems to connect to the central water system, but designs infrastructure so that service is available should the customer want to connect.
Englewood Water District Potable Water Sources
The Englewood Water District (EWD) was created by special act of the Florida Legislature and is governed by the Englewood Water District Board of Supervisors. The five member Board of Supervisors are elected through popular vote, and serve in four-year terms. Englewood Water District service area includes the southwestern portion of Sarasota County and northwestern portion of Charlotte County including Englewood, Manasota Key and significant rural lands in the Forked Creek, Gottfried Creek and Ainger Creek Drainage Basins within the Lemon Bay Watershed. The EWD provides potable water, sanitary sewer, and reclaimed water services within
The Englewood Water District (EWD) was created by special act of the Florida Legislature and is governed by the Englewood Water District Board of Supervisors. The five member Board of Supervisors are elected through popular vote, and serve in four-year terms. Englewood Water District service area includes the southwestern portion of Sarasota County and northwestern portion of Charlotte County including Englewood, Manasota Key and significant rural lands in the Forked Creek, Gottfried Creek and Ainger Creek Drainage Basins within the Lemon Bay Watershed. The EWD provides potable water, sanitary sewer, and reclaimed water services within