A project to reduce nutrient pollution in two of Central Florida’s freshwater springs is now complete. Orange County staff and partners gathered Wednesday to celebrate the culmination of the septic-to-sewer conversion project in Pine Hills.
The project brought 95 properties — 30 residential and 65 commercial — onto the county’s centralized sewer system. All previously relied on septic tanks.
The properties sit along Pine Hills Road, just north of West Colonial Drive and west of Barnett Park. They’re located within the Priority Focus Area for the state’s Basin Management Action Plan, or BMAP, to reduce pollution and improve water quality in the Wekiwa Spring and Rock Springs watershed.
Together, Wekiwa Spring and Rock Springs contribute most of the water flowing to the Wekiva River, which has its own, separate BMAP. Each BMAP outlines specific nutrient reduction requirements and milestones, assigning them to specific cities, counties and other entities located within each polluted watershed.
Statewide, septic tanks are the second-largest source of pollution to Florida’s freshwater springs, followed only by agriculture, according to an analysis of state data by Florida Springs Council, a nonprofit advocacy group.
In the Wekiwa/Rock Springs watershed, septic tanks are the biggest polluter, contributing 29% of all nitrogen loads to the springs, according to Orange County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The finished septic-to-sewer conversion project in Pine Hills marks a step toward reducing those nutrient pollution levels. It’s also the only project of its kind that didn’t cost local residents, according to Orange County Deputy Utilities Director Andres Salcedo.
“This is the only one that has been free,” Salcedo said.
The county is working on other, similar projects to move septic users within the Wekiwa/Rock Springs watershed onto sewer lines. But those other projects require property owners to pay into the expensive process.
In Pine Hills, after years of applying and being rejected for state and federal assistance, Orange County finally got approved for American Rescue Plan Act funds to support the conversion project. That meant all costs for property owners were covered, between the ARPA funds and a grant from the state covering the remaining 75% of project costs.
“This is us giving back to the community. This is something we said we are able to afford: paying 25% for these projects, for the community, for the environment,” Salcedo said. “We couldn't do it for every septic tank, because we would go bankrupt; that's not our business model.”
But in this case, Pine Hills property owners “just got lucky,” Salcedo said. He said now, with sewer infrastructure, the area is positioned well for future development: an area echoed by District 6 Commissioner Mike Scott.
“It gives us an opportunity to be able to grow at a larger level, because we can do more dense development,” Scott said. “You're limited in what you can do with the septic tank. By being on sewer, it saves costs for the overall community; it saves costs for even some of the developers coming in.”
Within the Wekiwa/Rock Springs watershed, there are about 14,000 septic tanks within Orange County’s sewer service area, according to Salcedo. To start, the county is prioritizing conversion efforts on about 2,000 septic tanks that sit closest to the springs.
Homeowners in the Wekiwa PFA may be eligible for up to $10,000 in assistance to upgrade to an enhanced nitrogen-reducing septic system. Check the county’s website for more information on eligibility and the application process.
