For decades, Lake Okeechobee has hydrated the many Floridians of West Palm Beach. As the popular city's primary source of drinking water, the overtaxed water supply was augmented in the late 1980s with an emergency wellfield—rarely used due to the significant environmental impacts it would produce. An Everglades restoration program also called for a portion of the lake's supply to be diverted for its needs, potentially drawing substantial volumes from the valuable resource.
To quench the city's thirst for a dynamic water reserve alternative, the city and CDM initiated a wetlands-based indirect potable reuse project. Its goals: To reduce the city's heavy reliance on Lake Okeechobee, accommodate the Everglades ecosystem enhancement, and provide aquifer recharge for the community. In CDM's creative design, a state-of-the-art, 10 million-gallon-per-day advanced wastewater treatment facility was developed to effectively direct secondary wastewater through extensive advanced treatment, including wetland polishing, groundwater attenuation, and drinking water treatment. The resulting high-quality water now provides West Palm Beach with an abundant reservoir with multiple benefits:
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This first-of-its-kind, sustainable indirect potable reuse system protects the community's health and provides new sources of safe drinking water, lowering demand on existing potable supplies.
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Treated water is discharged at a wetland reuse site at rates that maintain and enhance the natural wetlands.
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Neighboring municipalities benefit from the added aquifer recharge and flow conveyance, and surrounding lakes affected by groundwater withdrawals receive a continual supply of treated surface water.