Title

Use Of Wetland Systems For Groundwater Recharge In Two Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants In Orlando, Florida

Abstract

Polishing waste water with wetlands may help remove nutrients in the wastewater effluents on one hand, and promote groundwater recharge and ecosystem health on the other hand. There are essentially two general types of domestic wastewater wetlands, including natural and constructed wetlands. Some domestic wastewater facilities utilize a combination of both. According to Florida Department to Environmental Protection, there are 17 natural (both treatment and receiving) wastewater wetlands comprising roughly 2508.5 Km2 (6,200 acres) and a total of 21 constructed wetland sites comprising roughly 1618.4 Km2 (4,000 acres) across Florida. Of those, 5 facilities use a combination of both natural and constructed wetland systems, making that a total of 33 permitted domestic wastewater wetland sites in the state of Florida. This chapter aims to introduce two of them, including the newly developed Northwest wastewater reclamation facility (NWRF) and Lake Marden Treatment Wetlands/Augmentation Project that has been started since 2005 and the long-standing Eastern WRF and Treatment Wetlands in Orlando, Florida to illuminate the comparative advantages for minimizing the urbanization effects due to economic development. The treatment wetland at the NWRF was implemented to increase the plant’s reclaimed water management capacity from 17 million liters per day (Ml/d) [4.5 million gallons per day (MGD)] annual average daily flow (AADF) to 28.5 Ml/d [7.5 MGD] AADF, thereby matching the plant’s treatment capacity. The treatment wetland was constructed as part of a lake augmentation project. The concept of a constructed wetland treatment system was developed to provide additional nutrient removal from the reclaimed water prior to discharge to Lake Marden. Lake Marden, a relict karst (sinkhole) lake, was used as a means to increase recharge to the underlying Floridan aquifer system. On the other hand, Orange County’s Eastern Water Reclamation Facility (ERWF) provides wastewater treatment for the County’s rapidly developing East Service Area. The EWRF is designed for a capacity of 72.2 Ml/d (19.0 MGD). The EWRF employs the Bardenpho biological nutrient removal (BNR) process. In addition to BNR, the wastewater stream treatment processes at the EWRF include filtration and disinfection. Reclaimed water from the EWRF is distributed for reuse as follows: rapid infiltration/groundwater recharge: 9.5 Ml/d (2.5 MGD), cooling tower water: 14.2 Ml/d (3.7 MGD), and wetlands enhancement: 19.2 Ml/d (5.0 MGD). Though a different type of beneficial reuse than the NWRF treatment wetlands, the EWRF wetlands enhance the environment in response to the increasing needs associated with urbanization. The EWRF system has been functioning well for over 20 years and is a successful component of the integrated multiple reuse program. The successful operations of both NWRF and ERWF stand for the milestones of ecological engineering practices.

Publication Date

1-1-2010

Publication Title

Effects of Urbanization on Groundwater: An Engineering Case-Based Approach for Sustainable Development

Number of Pages

277-307

Document Type

Article; Book Chapter

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784410783.ch11

Socpus ID

85031029910 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85031029910

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