Water-Related News

Venice considering underground reclaimed water storage

There’s no shortage of drinkable (potable) water, even anticipating future growth, said city officials. But the City of Venice is facing a shortage of reclaimed water for irrigation in subdivisions and on golf courses.

On Tuesday the city authorized Utilities Director Javier Vargas to move forward with a feasibility study to store the reclaimed water underground via injection into Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) formations for later withdrawal and use.

Currently any extra reclaimed water in the summer months is put into an injection well in Sarasota County or as a last resort discharged into Curry Creek.

An ASR well, Vargas said, would eliminate the discharge and meet winter demand when there’s little rainfall.

“Right now we don’t make enough (reclaimed water) in peak season,” he said.

Don Ellison, Senior Hydrologist with Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), said the technology, while new to Venice, is 30 years old, and is being used all around the area. The City of North Port is constructing and testing an ASR that takes surface rain water and injects it into the ground, pulling it out for later use in their Reverse Osmosis water treatment facility.