Sewer Plant Relocation

At its current location, models show the island enduring nine feet of storm surge flooding in a Category 5 hurricane. Moving the plant will eliminate that very real and potentially damaging risk to the Indian River Lagoon.

The new wastewater treatment plant will utilize the innovative AquaNereda® wastewater treatment process. Compared to conventional technologies, this process is 15% less expensive to construct and uses 30% less energy to operate, resulting in project capital and ongoing operational cost reductions. This process also utilizes a smaller footprint than conventional processes, allowing more wastewater to be processed in the same footprint and greatly increasing treatment capacity. Additional treatment capacity is a benefit to our regional partners such as unincorporated Saint Lucie County, and to Fort Pierce customers, because treating wastewater becomes incrementally and universally less expensive the more you treat. The AquaNereda® process is widely used around the world, but not extensively in the U.S. The new facility will be a model for future wastewater treatment plants, demonstrating the effectiveness of this cost saving technology to other communities who visit and will model its successful implementation.

The new location on Energy Lane is right next door to the Treasure Coast Energy Center, a natural gas power plant that currently draws an average of 1.5 million gallons of freshwater every day from the Florida aquifer for its cooling towers. When the new wastewater treatment plant is constructed and fully operational, we will provide reuse water for the cooling towers instead, eliminating the draw from our precious freshwater resources and instead closing the energy production loop with recycled wastewater from your hometown utility provider.

Graphic courtesy of the Central Florida Water Initiative.

The Indian River Lagoon, where the current wastewater plant sits, is recognized as the most biodiverse estuary in North America. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also recognizes the Indian River Lagoon as critical species habitat for the West Indian Manatee. Where possible, FPUA’s grant writers incorporate seagrass restoration into wastewater plant relocation grant proposals. This includes 2.23 acres through Resilient Florida funding, if approved, and an additional 3 acres through National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency funding, if approved.

To date, FPUA has restored one acre of freshwater and saltwater grasses in Moore’s Creek, adjacent to FPUA’s Manatee Observation and Education Center. Beginning October 2022, a second project will begin at the Fort Pierce Yacht Club, funded by the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program through FPUA’s Manatee Center, where we will restore another half-acre of seagrass while also researching the most effective restoration methods for our area of the Indian River Lagoon.

The new wastewater treatment plant will be equipped with infrastructure that can channel reuse water to nearby customers. Reuse water infrastructure is a unique tool that allows utilities like ours to provide customers with less expensive reuse water for irrigation, rather than standard drinking water.

The new wastewater treatment plant is designed with the future in mind. The footprint of the new treatment plant on Energy Lane will allow for a future of direct potable reuse treatment right here in Fort Pierce, Florida.