Learn about Miami Dade County WASD. By Geniusofdespair

Yawn, I know, I know, but give this column a chance. (skip the italic part if you must)

Here is what Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) says about itself:

“WASD” provides high-quality drinking water and wastewater disposal services, while planning for future growth, implementing water conservation measures, safeguarding public health and the environment, and providing for process improvements and cost efficiencies.

As part of the Neighborhood and Unincorporated Area Municipal Services strategic area, the department’s main functions are water transmission, treatment, and distribution, as well as wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal. WASD operates three regional and five smaller water treatment plants, with a total rated capacity of 452 million gallons per day (MGD), and
three regional wastewater treatment plants with a total treatment capacity of 368 MGD. Additionally, WASD operates and
maintains 94 water supply wells (grouped into 14 wellfields) in the Biscayne Aquifer; five aquifer storage and recovery wells in the Floridian Aquifer; 1,006 sewer pump stations (987 County-owned and 19 maintained for other entities); 7,253 miles of water distribution pipes; and 5,886 miles of sewer collection pipes.

The department implements water conservation measures, provides high quality drinking water, and plans and improves infrastructure for future growth.

Remember that last sentence -- the future growth part.

I am particularly interested in WASD’s reuse plans since that is what the State of Florida is most insistent that the county improve: reusing sewage water. Until we do, the State will most likely frown on development projects. Miami Dade is one of the worst counties in the State of Florida on reuse. Plus:

Big plus, the State will put the brakes on WASD's sewage injection soon. WASD is right now injecting millions of gallons of partially treated wastewater way underground every day and this sewer water has been found to be moving upward towards our drinking water. The State had told the county (in 2002) that this has to stop in 5 to 8 years and they signed a consent order together (County and State). That date is now around the corner. Here is an aside - you can skip - more about the Consent Order and my observations on it, written in 2003:

The Consent Order allows continued and even increased injection of effluent into the rock deep below the Floridan Aquifer, despite evidence that this effluent is reaching the Floridan. The Floridan Aquifer is the layer beneath the Biscayne Aquifer, from which most South Floridians obtain their drinking water. The Floridan is projected to be the source of South Florida’s drinking water in the future, as the Biscayne Aquifer is depleted (within 20 years).

The studies and treatment facilities mentioned in the consent order have no date certain for completion. And the pollution effects that have already been detected from injection wells in nearby ocean waters are ‘out of scope’ for these studies.

Water re-use and other more sustainable approaches to this effluent are advocated in the Consent Order, but there is no ‘teeth’ in the way of enforcement provisions. Miami-Dade County has not been interested in these approaches in the past. The DEP was wrong the first time on this, when they asserted that sewage would not reach the Floridan Aquifer. Now they are asserting that this water will not reach the Biscayne Aquifer. Note that the effluent is lighter than the salty water of the Floridan, and should continue to rise.

The DEP asserted the last time that there was an impermeable rock layer between the sewage and the Floridan. This turned out to be wrong. They now assert that there is an impermeable layer between the Floridan and the Biscayne.

Note that the principal way to research the nature of these rock layers is to drill holes through them for core samples. The more holes drilled, the more measurements there are upon which to base a judgment, and the more holes drilled, the more places there are for the sewage to seep through.

The DEP claims that the sewage that is now oozing upward from the injection wells is not coming up through the holes made in the rock by the wells themselves. However, DEP Staff cannot explain HOW the sewage is getting through.

The DEP is requiring sewage injected to be cleaned by the county to drinking water standards -- but that caveat won’t be in place for another 5 to 8 years.

Back to the present
Here is what “WASD” said in their 2006-07 budget:

South District Wastewater Treatment Plant - High Level Disinfection ($18.515 million in FY 2006-07, $505.538 million all years); and Peak Flow Management Facilities ($23.058 million in FY 2006-07, $515.329 million all years).

That’s a lot of dough, but will we be getting the bang for the buck and is it enough for the high degree of reuse we need?

They want to put this treated wastewater in the environment. As I told you in a previous post: Reuse Water, treated wastewater that is placed in the environment actually has to be treated to a much higher standard than if we were going to drink it. Think about your pee. It is is loaded with caffeine perhaps, hormones and other drugs that would wreak havoc to fish and other wildlife. Only very sophisticated, expensive treatments can get out those kinds of things. Wild fish in many parts of the country are exhibiting sign of feminization, a disruption of endocrine and reproductive systems. One only has to read the now infamous fathead minnow study of Nov. 25, 2003 (a bit of the abstract from the executive summary is below) to know that there is serious risk. The St. Lucie Estuary in Florida also has evidence of male fish feminization.

Here are some of my concerns. Developers, of course, NEED reuse to keep developing. The State of Florida stands in their way. I believe reuse is a good thing. Who is the point person in the County who will oversee the project? The Vile Natacha Seijas. Need I say more. She will not do the right thing, she will try to do it on the cheap and quickly.

Will WASD:
Treat the water with the objective in mind to RESTORE an Outstanding Florida Water body: Biscayne Bay. Or will they do it to the objective to get more water for development. (The water currently going to the Bay would be diverted to human use if they can get reuse on line for rehydrating wetlands).

Will they address nutrient levels? The Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection would allow levels that are tens to even thousands of times higher than what is in Biscayne Bay tidal wetlands. We recently had an algae bloom in southern Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay that was related to nutrient discharges from canals. It is important that this "new" source of water does not create a "new" nutrient load to the Bay.

The county is starting a pilot project on reuse. I believe this project should have comprehensive monitoring to see whether the treatment technology can reliably achieve the treatment goals, and assess acute and chronic effects on surface and groundwater quality and hydrology as well as ecological effects.

I believe we need a thoughtful approach to reuse that is not RUSHED by Natacha and her development cronies.

From the ABSTRACT on those Fathead Minnows:
Over the last decade, research has examined the endocrine disrupting action of various environmental pollutants including hormones, pharmaceuticals, and surfactants in sewage treatment plant effluent. Responding to the growth of concentrated animal feeding operations and the pollutants present in their wastewater (e.g., nutrients, pharmaceuticals, and hormones), the United States Environmental Protection Agency developed a new rule that tightens the regulation of these operations.

In this study, we collected wild fathead minnows (Pimephales
promelas) exposed to feedlot effluent (FLE) and observed significant alterations in their reproductive biology. Male fish were demasculinized (having lower testicular testosterone synthesis, altered head morphometrics, and smaller testis size).

Defeminization of females, as evidenced by a decreased estrogen/androgen ratio of in vitro steroid hormone synthesis, was also documented. We did not observe characteristics in either male or female fish indicative of exposure to environmental estrogens. Utilizing cells transfected with the human androgen receptor, we detected potent androgenic responses from the FLE. Taken together, our morphological, endocrinological, and in vitro gene activation assay data suggest two hypotheses:

(1) there are potent androgenic substance(s) in the FLE, and/or

(2) there is a complex mixture of androgenic and estrogenic substances that alter the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, inhibiting the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone or gonadotropins. This is the first study demonstrating that the endocrine and reproductive systems of wild fish can be adversely affected by FLE. Future studies are needed to further investigate the effects of agricultural runoff and to identify the biologically-active agents, whether natural or pharmaceutical in origin.