The silver filter (at left) at the Palatka, Florida, wastewater treatment plant provides high-level disinfection of reclaimed wastewater,
which is then pumped through purple reuse lines to a holding pond.
The biggest segment in the project involved installing
2,100 feet of new 16-inch water main under the Big Pass
waterway between Siesta Key and Lido Key islands. The
water main was installed using horizontal directional
drilling (HDD), greatly reducing the project’s environmental
impact. “Big Pass is a very highly traveled waterway in the
community, sands are shifting all the time, and currents are
very strong through the pass,” Haas said. “Trying to
excavate a trench would be a real challenge.”
Projects at the other three locations also had unique
needs. The Bay Road water main involved installing a
major transmission line down a county road to loop the
existing City water network between Osprey Avenue and
Tangier Terrace. The South Orange Avenue water main
used HDD to cross the Hudson Bayou, plus jack and bore
casing installation under a busy state highway to minimize
traffic disruption. The Orange Avenue project replaced a
10-inch cast iron line that was so corroded its water flow
was only equivalent to the capacity of a 4-inch pipe. The
Osprey Avenue project replaced a 12-inch asbestos cement
water main that had gasket failure problems.
Haas said the biggest challenge was getting all the
necessary state and local permits. “It took a lot of effort to
get everyone to understand what we were doing, why, and
how,” he said. “Ayres Associates was able to help us get all
the appropriate permitting.”
Communities and their engineers work together to
make sure the water coming out of the tap is clean and safe.
They also work together to manage and treat that water
after it’s been used.
The City of Palatka in northeast Florida is on the
St. Johns River, a major environmental and recreational
resource. In recent years, combined effects of stormwater
runoff and wastewater treatment plant discharges have
raised nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the river,
decreasing its water quality. Today, Palatka is on the verge
of having zero wastewater discharge into the river.
The project started in 2005 with providing reclaimed
water to irrigate the municipal golf course. Wastewater
treated by the municipal wastewater treatment plant
undergoes high-level disinfection by being run through
filters. It then is pumped to a 13-million-gallon holding
pond built specifically for this purpose at the golf course.
Phase 2 was intended to provide reclaimed
water to four ball fields within
one-third mile of the
holding pond. But
during project