Deep Injection Wells Are Working Well

The health of coastal waterways throughout Florida has improved greatly in recent years because water utilities in Florida have been using deep injection wells for disposal of highly treated wastewater effluent.

Before the advent of deep injection wells, approximately 150 million gallons a day of the water was being discharged into the Indian River Lagoon. To protect the environment, water utilities installed deep injection systems along the Treasure Coast - specifically to eliminate lagoon discharges.

Tampa Bay, Biscayne Bay and Charlotte Harbor have also benefited from the use of deep well technology. For example, the city of St. Petersburg's Reuse and Deep Injection Well Program has significantly improved water quality in Tampa Bay, which was once considered one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States. Twenty years ago Tampa Bay was nearly lifeless. Today its marine environment is thriving.
The city of Key West is currently installing the first deep injection well in the Keys, which will allow Key West to stop discharges into the ocean.

Although Key West deep injection well is not yet operating, your May 1 story titled "Injecting wastewater deep underground raises questions" erroneously alleged that there are deep well "problems" in Key West. A similar reference to Palm Beach County is also inaccurate. The Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department is in compliance with all deep well regulations.

In addition, the story described the water being pumped into deep injection wells as "liquid sewage," when actually the wastewater has been through a rigorous cleansing process before what remains - highly treated wastewater effluent - is put into a deep injection well.

In Palm Beach County, recent independent laboratory test results showed that samples of the highly treated wastewater effluent pass more federal drinking water standards that the naturally occurring water found 1,00 feet underground. These water results are significant because they confirm that even if the water that is injected into deep wells were to migrate upward, it is not a public health or environmental issue. The injected water is cleaner that the naturally occurring brackish water of Upper and Lower Florida aquifers.

In addition, another dense layer of clay, approximately 300 to 500 feet thick, separates the shallow drinking water supply from brackish waters of the lower aquifers.

Through more than 25 years of operations, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has not documented any incidents in the state where a municipal deep injection well has impaired human health to the environment.
Even though special interest group have repeatedly attempted to remove DEP's jurisdiction of Florida's deep injection wells, in June 1999 the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied an appeal to remove jurisdiction, thereby supporting DEP's continued jurisdiction and the agency's mandate to protect human health and the environment.

The mission of municipal water and wastewater utilities is to protect human health and the environment. When compared to available alternatives, deep injection wells provide the best protection of the shallow drinking water aquifer. Deep injection is an essential tool in Florida, where protection of our outstanding native waterways, from the Everglades to the coastal Beaches, is paramount.

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