Broward cities test ways to recycle sewage into usable -- even drinkable -- water

Sun-Sentinel ^ | 3-5-2007 | Jennifer Gollan

[Cagey]

Broward's growing population has some utility experts looking to an unorthodox source for drinking water: recycled sewage.

In the coming months, Sunrise and Plantation will become the first Broward County cities to test new equipment designed to recycle wastewater for irrigation and other purposes. If successful, the programs may provide a steppingstone to transform wastewater into drinking water, said Jose Lopez, lead project manager for the South Florida Water Management District's Broward Service Center.

"This is a way to make sure when the population grows that you are providing the service people will require," he said.

Local officials warn the danger of neglecting Broward's water issue is clear: In Sunrise, for example, population growth may mean that in five to eight years, the city will have reached its limit on the amount of water it is permitted to withdraw each year from the Biscayne aquifer, the underground reservoir that provides most of South Florida's drinking water, city officials said.

South Florida water managers recently imposed a cap on water consumption and a requirement that water be used more than once.

Sunrise, which provides water to 215,000 customers in Weston, Southwest Ranches, western portions of Davie and some parts of unincorporated Broward, will experiment by treating wastewater using a membrane bioreactor, which consists of a special filter and disinfectants. The program could ultimately deposit the wastewater about 6 feet underground, where it would percolate 194 feet deeper to the Biscayne aquifer.

"I do understand that the idea of reusing wastewater is a bit of a shock," said Stephen Webster, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. "If we don't deal with it, we may have to introduce mandated restrictions on water.

[Cagey]

JERRY: What is that smell?

KRAMER: That's East River.

JERRY: You're swimming in the East River? The most heavily trafficked overly contaminated waterway on the eastern seaboard?

KRAMER: Technically Norfok has more gross tonnage.

JERRY: How could you swim in that water?

KRAMER: I saw a couple of other guys out there.

JERRY: Swimming?

KRAMER: Floating, they weren't moving much. But they were out there.

[bicyclerepair]

Sunrise is my home. The water's already green coming out of the tap due to the "decaying organic matter".

Under my sink resides a 3-stage water filter. And each shower head has a filter on it.

This idea will make them filter the water better. It can only improve.