WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — Winter Springs leaders are working to replace wastewater facilities. Residents received an update on how the projects are coming along Thursday.

What You Need To Know

  • Winter Springs is planning to construct two new wastewater plants at a cost of around $100 million

  • City leaders say they would like to order necessary parts before end of the year 

  •  Project engineer does not feel a pipeline to Iron Bridge WWTP is a viable option

Efforts first began on the east and west side of town in 2021.

Mayor Kevin McCann acknowledges the city is behind where it should be when it comes to their wastewater plants.

Engineers of the current project say the city’s facilities have a life span of about 50 years. The city bought their current plants used in the 70s, so they are at least 10 years past their shelf life.

The city of Winter Springs is still at least a year away from breaking ground on its wastewater facility on the east side of town.

City resident Moearii Evans, who has lived in the city since 2017, has been following the progress of this project for years. She was at the Thursday meeting to take it all in.

“We’ve had issues with our water with the two treatment plants and really need to be fixed,” Evans said. “They need to be replaced.”

The total cost to replace both facilities is estimated currently to be about $100 million. Which is why the project engineer would like to start ordering parts and materials soon.

“Pre-order those key components that have a long lead time and impact the construction time, and that impacts our real path of the plan,” Scott Richards from Corollo Engineering said. “Getting those things in line, getting those pre-ordered is the goal of the city so we can keep things moving forward.”

Winter Springs was able to secure loans to come up with the design for the plants, but their next step will be to secure a construction loan. Their application for the loan is now in progress. The city’s Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit has also been filed.

“Reality is these plants should have been replaced over a decade ago,” McCann said. “We all understand that it’s time we move forward expeditiously and quickly get it done.”

Time is now of the essence to start procuring what’s needed to get things underway. The east plant is anticipating to be done in 2028; the west would then break ground immediately after and is expecting to be done by 2030.

The city has already invested more than three years and $10 million in the project so far.

Also Thursday, District Five Commissioner Mark Caruso was asking questions about an alternative to building new plants. He would like the city to consider building a pipeline and connecting to the Iron Bridge Waste Water Treatment facility in Orlando. — which would require around 15 miles of pipeline.

“Other cities are doing it and the cost is less than building plants,” Caruso said following Thursday’s meeting. “As you can see, there is pushback from my colleagues who are all for building plants without even doing a cost analysis.”

According to the project engineer, if the city chose to pursue a connection to Iron Bridge, it would not only start the entire project over, but the cost would be twice as much as building two new treatment plants in the city.