By Colleen Wixon of TCPalm
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Treat stormwater before it flows into the Indian River Lagoon or expand the county sewer system to reduce the number of septic tanks?
Those are the options the county is pondering as it studies how to reduce the amount of nitrogen and other pollutants flowing into local canals and the lagoon, as mandated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said Utilities Director Vincent Burke.
County commissioners this week directed staff to continue working on possible solutions, including ranking communities needing septic-tank conversion. Studies have shown sewage runoff from septic systems can send high levels of nitrogen into the lagoon, increasing algae blooms that kill sea grass and animal life.
In 2013, Indian River County had about 37,000 septic tanks, with about half installed before 1983. Consultants have considered Sebastian communities and the Summerplace neighborhood on the barrier island as possible high-priority areas to expand the county sewer system.
County staff wants to devise a plan outlining the most cost-effective way to reduce nitrogen pollutants in the lagoon — either by developing additional stormwater-treatment drainage systems such as Osprey Marsh or expanding the county septic-to-sewer project, Burke said. The latter requires the county to expand its infrastructure allowing property owners to connect to the county sewer system, a move often unpopular with homeowners unwilling to pay for it.
Neither option is a quick fix, Burke said.
“We have our work cut out for us,” Burke said. “It’s going to be a long process.”