Captiva Community Panel reviews Wastewater Alternative Study report

Presented with the final report on the Captiva Island Wastewater Alternative Study, the Captiva Community Panel discussed the findings and came up with follow-up questions at its July meeting.

Conducted by TKW Consulting Engineers on behalf of Lee County and the panel, the study was intended to assess the feasibility of alternative wastewater collection and treatment systems suitable for Captiva based on current land use and taking into consideration long-term impacts and future costs.

Panel Member Jay Brown, chair of the Wastewater Committee, explained on July 10 that he had an initial meeting with county officials to review the report and had already posed some questions.

"I have two concerns with this," he said.

Brown questioned how the panel would garner support from voters for the most feasible scenario outlined in the report for a central sewer system, one of the alternatives examined as part of the study. He explained that he felt details pertinent for owners of conventional septic systems was missing.

According to the study, there are 378 developed properties outside of the areas served by the four existing wastewater treatment plants that cover South Seas, 'Tween Waters, Sunset Captiva and Captiva Shores. Of those, 11 are aerobic treatment units and 70 are performance based treatment systems.