I support the upgrade of the Marco Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to Advanced Wastewater Treatment (AWT) standards. This will reduce the excess nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, that are leaching into the canals from the "toilet" water that is feeding algal blooms. Upgrading the WWTP is an "upstream" project - reducing the pollution at the source.
The annual 600 million gallons of reuse water per year is the largest single known source of Nitrogen (N) and the only known source of Phosphorus (P). AWT is designed to reduce the total N by 60% and P by 75%.
Since we went to central collection of sewer water approximately 20 years ago, the city never had a good plan for disposing of the effluent. It uses an agricultural permit to dispose of the water by spreading it on the island, on the golf courses, medians, public parks and elsewhere. In the rainy season, I believe the reuse water is pumped into deep wells. It seems to me we are not a farm field, and so using an agricultural permit is a significant indicator of government twisting things to allow a bad practice.
The city should not be cleaning the sediments by dredging. Dredging the canals is a "downstream" project - attempting the mitigate the effects of the pollution after it occurs. The dredging cost has been estimated at $300,000,000. Dredging would have to be repeated. Upstream is always cheaper than downstream.
The best solution is to clean the pollution at the source. It has been estimated that natural flushing of the canals by the daily tides will clean up the sediments within 3-5 years. The Marco Island water quality data shows that the canal oxygen would recover to healthy levels within months of stopping the "toilet" water pollution at the source.
Funding AWT will come from the Water & Sewer utility not the general fund. It will come from these funding sources:
—The new revenue resulting from significant increases in gallons used measured by the newly installed water meters. These meters are adding to the available revenue substantially.
—Reserves that may be available in this utility and can be applied to AWT.
—Bonds issued by the utility for this purpose.
If we use debt, the principal and interest will be paid by the water rates.
This cost has been estimated at $5,000,000, and the city is getting quotes to firm up the cost and the best solution for achieving AWT water quality standards.
Regarding the water utility, the rates for potable water and reuse water were set many years ago. I support re-examining and possibly resetting the rates to reflect a balanced and fair pricing structure. It appears to me that the current rates my disadvantage the residential users and favor other users. We need to get this right, and I support reviewing and possibly resetting the rates.