SANFORD, Fla. – Around 13 million gallons of sewage spilled into Lake Monroe after an incident at a local water-treatment plant, according to a Sanford city spokesperson on Thursday.
According to the city, the North Water Reclamation Facility experienced two events that prompted the overflow of partially treated wastewater into the lake on Saturday.
In a release, city officials said that recent cold temperatures in the area “reduced the efficiency of bacteria used to break down waste.”
Additionally, the weather also caused the growth of harmful bacteria, which “negatively affected the treatment process,” the release said.
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City officials explained that the growth caused the sand filters — used to purify water by removing impurities — to clog up.
“The treatment staff has cleaned and continues to reclean the sand filters to allow them to work again,” the release said.
A slide gate also broke, which prevented staff from reducing the flow through the plant, city officials added. As a result, the overflow spilled over into the nearby Lake Monroe.
While similar overflows are usually caused by too much rain, the city said that it is trying to implement fixes to keep these malfunctions from happening again.
“The plant has been undergoing a complete rebuild with advanced technology. Part of that new technology is a system that will replace the sand filters and allow them to be used as a backup system,” the release stated.
The new filter system is nearing completion, though it cost around $4.7 million, according to the city. It’s expected to provide more capacity and smoother operations to prevent similar overflows going forward.
According to city officials, the overflow finally stopped on Wednesday around 2 a.m.
“The City apologizes for the overflow and will continue to do our best to prevent future events,” the release said.
In the meantime, city officials told News 6 that signs have been posted near the lake asking residents to avoid swimming or fishing due to the bacterial hazard.
No additional information has been provided at this time.
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