Middle St. Johns - Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Water Quality Assessment Report: Middle St. Johns
95
Permitted Discharges and Land Uses
Point Sources. In the Econlockhatchee River planning unit, there
are 35 total known permitted point source dischargers. Of these, 21 are
domestic wastewater facilities, 9 are industrial wastewater facilities, 3 are
concrete batch plants, and 1 is a petroleum cleanup site. Nine are NPDESpermitted
facilities, which may also supply part of their discharge for
reuse. Nineteen facilities are permitted to discharge 0.100 mgd or less.
The 2 largest dischargers are domestic wastewater treatment facilities. The
Orlando/Iron Bridge Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility is permitted
to discharge 40 mgd: approximately 20 mgd to constructed wetlands
and the remainder to the St. Johns River. The Orange County Utilities
Division (OCUD)/Easterly Subregional Wastewater Treatment Plant is
permitted to discharge 6.2 mgd of highly treated effluent into a combined
natural and human-made wetlands system that provides further treatment
before it flows into an unnamed tributary of the Econlockhatchee
River. The remaining 12.8 mgd of effluent from the OCUD/Easterly plant
goes to reuse systems, including cooling water for the Curtis H. Stanton
Energy Plant.
Other significant domestic wastewater dischargers include Alafaya
Utility (1.1 mgd), which discharges to percolation ponds, and OCUD/
University Shores (1.275 mgd), which discharges to the Little Econlockhatchee
River. Industrial facilities with permitted discharges include car
and truck wash facilities, concrete batch plants, and 2 ground water contamination
remediation systems. These are all small discharges, with the
largest, the Rexam Groundwater Treatment Facility, permitted to discharge
72,000 gallons per day. Appendix G lists, by planning unit, the permitted
dischargers in the basin.
Wastewater reuse is significant in the planning unit, with at least
31.15 mgd directed to reuse. The Orlando/Iron Bridge facility is the largest
contributor, at 18.86 mgd.
Other contributors of point source discharges are two hazardous waste
sites, which consist of one active Superfund site and one active state-funded
site. There is also one closed Class I and one closed Class III solid waste
landfill, as well as two closed construction and debris landfills. Under
Chapter 62-524, F.A.C., Potable Water Well Permitting in Delineated
Areas, four areas are delineated for ground water contamination, for a
mixture of metals, volatile organic compounds, and pesticides.
Nonpoint Sources. Extensive urbanization has occurred on the banks
and channels of the Econlockhatchee River system, often in the floodplain.
Urban runoff and the continuing effects of sediment load from previous
wastewater effluent discharges affect the Little Econlockhatchee River
(SJRWMD, 2002a). Approximately 25 percent of the land area in the
planning unit is classified as urban and built-up, with an additional 2.7 percent
occupied by transportation, communications, and utilities. Wetlands
account for 26 percent of the land area. Agricultural land uses are also
significant, with almost a quarter of the land area devoted to agriculture
(12.7 percent) and rangeland (10.4 percent). Past agricultural use included
citrus groves, many of which were destroyed by freezes during the 1990s.
These developed land uses can be associated with nonpoint discharges of