STEP System Becomes an Ideal Solution for Vero Beach, FL
Advanced onsite septic systems and a community effluent sewer installed in an aging Vero Beach, Florida, neighborhood exemplify how thinking outside the gravity sewer norm can ultimately help both homeowners and the environment with wastewater management and treatment.
A town of 17,000 residents located on the Atlantic side of the state, Vero Beach straddles the Indian River Lagoon, home to manatees, brown pelicans, dolphins, and other aquatic wildlife. The lagoon is central to the community, says Mike Saunders, sales engineer at Orenco Systems in Sutherlin, Oregon.
“Manatees are regularly seen in there, and fishing is a large attraction,” he says. “Now try to imagine what that looks like when you have algae blooms and fish kills. That's not good for the city.”
Caused by excessive nutrients like agricultural runoff and untreated wastewater in the waterways, prolific green and red algae blooms can deplete oxygen, choke aquatic life, and create an eyesore for residents and visitors alike.
To manage the algae blooms, the city decided to tackle a nutrient source they could control – 1500 aging septic systems and the untreated wastewater they were leaking.
“Prior to 1983, there were different regulations on septic systems in Florida,” Saunders says. “Basically, you could build a home and install a septic system at the natural grade. The bottom of those drainfields didn’t have much, if any, separation from the existing groundwater. So right from the get-go, septic systems built before 1983 were probably discharging partially treated wastewater into the environment.”
These 1500 systems were just the tip of the state’s leaking wastewater iceberg – but they were a start.
Following a hurricane in 2004, the city used some of the relief fund to install a gravity sewer for a small area of 60 of the 1500 homes. The disturbances it caused got everyone’s attention. Dug up roads, disrupted services, and noisy construction affected the residents to the point where they rejected a plan to further expand the system.
“The grant required 60% support from affected homeowners, but [it] ultimately failed with only 14% voting in favor of the proposal,” Saunders says.
Thank goodness Robert J. Bolton, P.E., Director of Water and Sewer for Vero Beach, decided to think outside the gravity sewer box. After investigating alternative sewer systems, Bolton concluded that an effluent sewer system was the most cost-effective solution for the city.
“The leaders at Vero Beach saw what Orenco had been doing,” Saunders says. “And we started talking and showing them how our model – a centralized liquid-only sewer system – was very different.”
Instead of excavating 12- or 15-foot trenches for pipe and manholes, shutting down residential roads, and dealing with shifting sandy soil, workers could surgically install 2-inch pressure mains via directional boring – which meant no open cuts, no road closures, and very low cost compared to a gravity system.
“Residents didn't even know the pipe was installed because it was being done 400 feet down the road,” Saunders says.
They also didn’t cringe at the cost. Because directional boring is less invasive and less time-consuming than trench digging, installation costs ran less than $600 per lot, compared to the gravity sewer’s cost of $12,000 per lot.
Plus, not everyone was required to connect to the low-pressure sewer mains. If an existing septic system and drainfield was deemed watertight and structurally sound, the homeowner did not need to connect to the city’s effluent sewer system. Only when it was determined to be deficient would an existing system be required to tap the sewer line.
“The neatest thing about Vero Beach is the creativity and how they leverage some of the differences in liquid only sewer versus gravity sewer,” Saunders says.
So, out of the 1500 aging and failed septic systems that needed to be replaced, around half of them have opted in to the effluent sewer, with another batch next in line. The majority of homes have a 1000-gallon tank and STEP package, with a connection to the 2-inch collection lines and centralized wastewater treatment facility.
“It takes a lot to change people's views sometimes, but Vero Beach is a great example of what happens when people really look at an effluent sewer system and understand how different it really is,” Saunders says.
Replacing a sewer system can be an expensive project for a municipality. But thanks to a desire to help a community and its environment, along with embracing creative wastewater treatment solutions, the city of Vero Beach received an Orenco Effluent Sewer that was estimated to be half the cost of expanding the city’s gravity sewer – and one that protects the Indian River Lagoon ecosystem.
If you’re interested in learning more, listen to the entire “Make It Clear: Why Care About Water” episode on your favorite podcast host. You can also visit Orenco.com/resources/podcasts to discover a wealth of resources on wastewater treatment systems and case studies about them.