Identifying Alternative Water Supplies
The St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) regulates regional withdrawals from the Upper Floridan Aquifer (UFA). Prior to its latest consumptive use permit, Groveland was able to draw from 10 existing groundwater wells 3.24 million gallons per day (mgd) entirely from the Upper Floridan Aquifer (UFA) from which additional withdrawal is expected to be curtailed due to its current heavy use. With continued growth anticipated to require upwards of 6 mgd in the next 25 years, Woodard & Curran’s experts collaborated with the city to identify an alternative water supply.
To close the demand gap, the project team reviewed groundwater models for estimated elevations of the UFA and the Lower Floridan Aquifer (LFA), existing aquifer well completion reports in the region, and anticipated LFA flow zones and water quality conditions. This process informed the design of two LFA groundwater wells and pumps with the capacity to draw up to 4.32 mgd of raw water. Combined with recycled water, the LFA wells will allow Groveland to increase supply withdrawals to meet actual water demand overtime, positioning the city for water supply resilience.
Multi-phase construction approach
The well heads for two new LFA wells.
Co-located with the two new LFA wells will be a new water treatment plant with a sodium hypochlorite disinfection system, a 3 MG ground storage tank (GST), and a high service pump station. The project team developed a multi-phase approach for the construction of the new Villa City Water Treatment Plant (WTP) to best manage capital investment, which will be offset by developer contributions as the community continues to grow.
The preliminary design included preparation of the preliminary process, mechanical, geotechnical, structural, electrical, plumbing, instrumentation, and controls. The team also verified hydraulic modeling and analysis conducted as part of Groveland’s Drinking Water Facilities Plan through supplemental modeling and other calculations to confirm size and configuration of piping, equipment, and tanks. The final design included refining the above aspects of the project, as well as site clearing, grading, layout, stormwater management, parking, and walkways. Our Intelligent Technology Service experts also designed a Supervisory Controls and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for fully automatic control of the WTP with back-up power provided by a diesel generator.
The project includes a 2.5 mile long 16-inch ductile iron transmission main that will be installed along Highway 27 connecting to the City’s existing distribution system near the Sunshine WTP. This transmission main will allow the LFA source water to be utilized by the entire service area.
Paring projects with available funding
With significant capital investment projects underway in Groveland to increase capacity and services to residents, the city needed a sound fiscal strategy to execute the work. Our Fiscal Solutions team collaborated with the project team and our client to identify state and federal loans and grants to defray passing the costs onto ratepayers. The team was able to help secure several loans, including approximately $3 million for the first two phases of planning and design, $11.1 million for the first phase of construction, and $25.7 million for the second phase of construction, as well as a $2.5 million grant for the LFA wells. Groveland established new development impact fees, which will be collected to support the repayment of the low interest loans.
The project is currently under construction and is anticipated to be complete in May 2028.
