- December 30, 2024
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The existing facility was designed to allow for the expansion. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
The new plant will be a duplicate of the current one. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
The bell press machine. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Solid waste is sent to another plant, where it is repurposed. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
A view of the plant and its leaders. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Richards Adams, Stephen Flanagan, Danny Ashburn and Patrick Henderson. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
With more people comes more wastewater, and Palm Coast wants to make sure it has the capacity to deal with its rising population.
The city is planning a $20 million expansion at its Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2, off U.S. 1.
“The idea is growth paying for growth: You go out and borrow money for the facility, and then you have these new residents come in and pay for that facility."
— RICHARD ADAMS, Palm Coast Public Works director
The city would pay for the expansion with a low-interest Florida Department of Environmental Protection state revolving loan. The anticipated interest rate is 0.117%.
“The idea is growth paying for growth: You go out and borrow money for the facility, and then you have these new residents come in and pay for that facility,” Public Works Director Richard Adams told the City Council at a council workshop Jan. 14.
Mayor Milissa Holland suggested that the city have the plant reviewed for energy efficiency as it plans for the expansion.
Palm Coast has had rising residential construction annually for more than five years, and the expansion has been in the planning process for about three years; the plant is expected to take about three years to build.
It would double the plant’s current permitted capacity, taking it from 2 million gallons a day to 4 million. Currently, the total capacity of the city’s two existing wastewater treatment plants is 8.43 million gallons a day average annual daily flow, and the Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2 is treating a monthly average flow of between 0.7 and 1.2 million gallons a day.
The plant was designed that it could be expanded to handle as many as 6 million gallons a day, with the expansions occurring at 2-million-gallons-a-day increments.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection requires municipalities to begin planning for expansion as they near capacity levels.
A related project would take some existing wastewater flow from Wastewater Plant No. 1 and redirect it to Wastewater Plant No. 2.
The city expects to adopt a finance plan later this month, and, in March, approve the loan agreement itself.
— Paola Rodriguez contributed to this story.
