Water Conserv II is the largest water reuse facility of its kind and represents innovation and cooperation at its best. Today, it provides millions of gallons of clean, recycled water for irrigation and aquifer recharge.
Woodard & Curran operates Water Conserv II, providing round-the-clock staffing for the 81-million-gallon-per-day system. The facility was the first in Florida permitted to use recycled water for crops intended for human consumption. It distributes reclaimed water from two water reclamation facilities, Orange County and the City of Orlando, to 59 agricultural customers, recreational facilities, and residents receive purified water for irrigation, even during droughts.
The reclaimed water is also used to recharge to the Floridian Aquifer through rapid infiltration basins. The 71 basins are designed to allow water from the facility to quickly permeate through the ground and into the aquifer, which serves as a drinking water source for many communities. While the water meets state and federal quality standards for drinking water when it leaves the facility, the infiltration process provides additional polishing.
The entire process is monitored and carefully controlled by a state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system housed at the distribution center.
Orlando, Orange County, and Woodard & Curran partnered with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences for ongoing research and development at the 185- acre Mid-Florida Citrus Foundation site. The goal of this research program is to provide a safe, clean environment to study the long-term effects of irrigating citrus with reclaimed water, as well as identifying solutions to challenges citrus growers face, evaluating agricultural crops for economic viability, and promoting urban and rural cooperation.
It has been recognized for numerous awards since the facility began operations, including the American Consulting Engineers Council’s Grand Conceptor Award, the Outstanding Project of the Year Award from the national WateReuse Association, the David W. York Water Reuse Award, and numerous safety achievement awards, among others. We continue to work with the city and county to improve and upgrade the system to remain on the cutting edge of water reclamation and reuse technology.