ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Utilities Commission last week approved a $155 million project to ensure the region’s growing population will have enough safe and clean drinking water for years to come.
OUC is planning to build a 40,000-square-foot water treatment plant on 15 acres in Lake Nona that will drill up to 2,000 feet into the Lower Floridan Aquifer and access an untapped source of brackish groundwater.
News 6 spoke with Brad Jewell, OUC’s director of water production, about the new approach to diversifying the water supply.
“This is the first time OUC is tapping into this lower level,” he said. “We’ve been able to maintain our water pressure and our water quality because of the growth, but we know we have to do a few extra things for the future.”
Jewell said because the water is more minerally concentrated at the lower depth, it’ll undergo reverse osmosis before being pumped out to OUC’s 400,000 customers. He also noted it will have minimal environmental impacts on the springs in the area.
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“We take the highly mineralized water, and we pump it through a filter,” Jewell said. “On the back side of the filter, we have clean water, and then we’re going to treat it just like the rest of our water. Give it a little bit of ozone, chlorine, fluoride, and send it to our customers.”
Construction on the new facility, which will be known as the Southeast Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant, is scheduled to start by the end of 2025. OUC anticipates it’ll be fully operational by 2033.
“This will provide us with enough safe drinking water until the year 2045,” Jewell said. “OUC always wants to stay a little bit ahead and with them giving us this extra time, we can make sure that we meet this deadline.”
Meanwhile, with about half of OUC’s water being used for irrigation, Jewell encourages customers to conserve as much water as possible and participate in the City of Orlando’s reclaimed water program.
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