Much of Okaloosa County’s water and sewer infrastructure is decades old but in better shape compared to many other parts of the United States, says county Water and Sewer Department Director Jeff Littrell.
“A lot more of the system is from the ’70s,” said Littrell, who has worked for the county for 21 years.
Littrell said the county has been relining manholes, sometimes more than once, during the entire 21 years that he has worked for the county.
Pump it The county has 150 sewer pump stations, which work like a relay system to send wastewater to treatment plants.
The state’s wastewater infrastructure received a C, its drinking water infrastructure received a C+ and its stormwater infrastructure received a D. The report states that while there are more than 3,700 wastewater treatment facilities in Florida, one-third of the population is still served by septic tanks that rely on individuals to maintain and operate.
According to the state Department of Health, there are about 2.6 million septic tanks in Florida.
Why don’t we build stormwater systems to address all of our needs?
“Stormwater runoff from the woods can contain high fecal coliform just from animals.
“If you don’t have rain, you don’t have runoff and you’re not going to have water quality issues.” Water woes in Walton Besides diminishing the quality of water, stormwater runoff causes a number of other types of problems.
Over time, we get that erosion by the walkover and the dune system.” The county is waiting to receive a permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection “to allow our stormwater system to treat stormwater off of 30A,” he said.