Miami-Dade County Will Implement the Fourth-Largest Reclaimed Water Project in Florida
Miami-Dade County – On June 16, 2020, County Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution Co-prime sponsored by Commissioner Esteban L. Bovo, Jr and Vice Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa authorizing the execution of an agreement between Miami-Dade County and Florida Power & Light (FPL) for the delivery of reclaimed water for use at its Turkey Point facility.
“The future of Miami-Dade County relies on our efforts to protect the lifeblood of our community, which is clean water,” Commissioner Bovo said. As the former Chairman of the Board, I was proud to spearhead the Joint Participation Agreement with FPL for the development of an Advanced Reclaimed Water Project along with other critical resilience projects. Today, FPL and Miami-Dade County share an agreement to supply treated wastewater as cooling water for the new units at Turkey Point. This initiative will be the first major reclaimed water project in Miami-Dade and the 4th largest in the state of Florida,” Commissioner Bovo said.
“I am proud to Co-prime sponsor this important initiative along with Commissioner Esteban L. Bovo, Jr. for the benefit of our community,” said Vice Chairwoman Sosa. “This agreement is the culmination of many years of hard work and negotiations. Furthermore, it builds upon previous legislation I have sponsored to address sea-level rise, the restoration of the Everglades, and the health of Biscayne Bay. I want to thank all of the organizations and everyone who voiced their support and my colleagues for unanimously approving this plan that will be the fourth largest reclaimed water project in Florida and greatly improve the environment.”
The Agreement for Reclaimed Water Processing, Treatment and Use at the Florida Power & Light Turkey Point Complex was borne from an April 10, 2018 resolution, also Co-primed Sponsored by Commissioner Bovo and Vice Chairwoman Sosa, for the development of an advanced reclaimed water project. As a result of extensive analysis and discussion between WASD and the Division of Environmental Resources Management (DERM), a more cost-effective project was developed and included in this latest agreement. Under the new plan, up to 15 million gallons of reclaimed wastewater will be piped to Turkey Point every day for use in the cooling towers, offsetting FPL’s current use of brackish water from the Floridian aquifer. The agreement calls on FPL to fund a $300 million pipeline and an advanced treatment system to further treat the reclaimed water. The plan provides an extraordinary opportunity to use reclaimed wastewater in a cost-effective way that benefits the Floridian aquifer and the environment in and around Turkey Point.
