The Wastewater Division is dedicated to providing the highest quality wastewater treatment at the most reasonable cost to its ratepayers. It operates and maintains two regional water reclamation facilities with a total treatment capacity of 40.1 million gallons per day (mgd), two sub-regional wastewater treatment facilities with a total capacity of 2.5 mgd and provides wastewater services to over 70,000 service connections. 

WASTEWATER PLANT OPERATIONS
The Wastewater plants operate 24/7/365 to provide effective wastewater treatment for reliable reuse production to maintain 100% compliance in accordance with all local, state, federal, FAC and USEPA rules and regulations. The plants operate pursuant to the FDEP operating permit conditions with proactive, sustained compliance. The primary means of effluent disposal is returning highly treated reclaimed water to the community (golf courses, residential communities, environmental mitigation areas and roadway medians) for beneficial reuse as irrigation water. 

The North County Water Reclamation Facility  provides wastewater treatment in the North County Service Area (north of Golden Gate Parkway) with a capacity of 24.1 mgd. The plant includes two 1.5 million gallon flow equalization tanks, two pump stations, a blower/electrical building, a diversion structure, and an odor control system to reduce or eliminate objectionable odors emitted during the treatment process. The equalization tank system is designed to optimize treatment plant performance by capturing peak flows during high demand times to prevent over stressing the plant. Once peak demands subside, the captured flow is diverted back into the plant for treatment.    

The South County Water Reclamation Facility provides wastewater treatment in the South County Service Area (south of Golden Gate Parkway to Auto Ranch Road). The facility is currently rated to treat 16 mgd with five odor control units and other state-of-the-art operational equipment.   

The Northeast Service Area is a sub-regional facility that provides wastewater treatment to the Northeast area of Collier County (East of Twin Eagles) with a capacity of 750,000 gallons per day. It is located on Oil Well Road, just east of Immokalee Road. The treated effluent water is disposed of in three percolation ponds on the treatment site. This facility is undergoing an expansion project to meet the steadily growing community needs of its service area.

The Golden Gate Wastewater Treatment Facility is a sub-regional facility nestled in the midst of the community, treating wastewater to many within the City of Golden Gate. This facility is permitted to treat 1.5 mgd and disposes effluent through a deep injection well system. The plant was acquired from the Florida Governmental Utility Authority (FGUA) in March of 2018. Since this acquisition, Collier County has made several improvements to increase reliability.

The plants have won numerous operational excellence awards from the FDEP and FWEA for superior performance. 

WASTEWATER COLLECTIONS
Management of daily operations of the wastewater collections system, associated preventive maintenance, regulatory compliance and coordination with contractors and project managers for successful completion of ongoing capital improvement projects. It maintains more than:
• 900 pump/lift stations
• 3,700 valves
• 1,175 miles of pipeline

Wastewater Collections won the 2021 Wastewater Collections System of the Year Award for Large Utilities. 

WASTEWATER POWER SYSTEMS
Management of the wastewater plants and Collections power systems including electrical, telemetry and instrumentation operations, all associated preventive maintenance, regulatory compliance and capital improvement projects.

IRRIGATION QUALITY (IQ)/REUSE WATER
Management of reclaimed water service to golf courses, parks, schools, residential and commercial areas. This section performs the preventive maintenance to preserve assets and provide sustained delivery of reuse water in compliance with FDEP regulations. It produces and maintains more than:
• 5 billion gallons of IQ water annually
• 50,000 end users
• 130 miles of distribution piping
• 7 storage tanks and 29 storage ponds
• 2 wellfields and 6 large pumping stations

You may view the IQ Water System Ordinance #2013-48.

Nutrients Memo Second Quarter 2023

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Nutrients Memo First Quarter 2024

Nutrients Memo Second Quarter 2024

Nutrients Memo Third Quarter 2024

How are we doing? Please take our customer service survey here: Wastewater Division Customer Service Survey