General Facts and Statistics about Wastewater in Florida
Wastewater Facilities and Disposal:
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In 2006, there were approximately 3,400 DEP permitted wastewater
facilities, not including onsite systems permitted by the Department
of Health, in the state. 39% of these facilities were classified as
industrial wastewater and 61% were domestic wastewater.
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The Department encourages the beneficial use of reclaimed water
for such activities as landscape and agricultural irrigation, ground
water recharge, and industrial uses.
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In 2000, approximately 44% of Florida's domestic wastewater from
centralized treatment systems is disposed through surface water
outfalls and 22% through deep aquifer injection wells. The remainder
is managed through other groundwater disposal systems, such as
percolation ponds, sprayfields, and Rapid Infiltration Basins (RIBs).
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Six facilities use Atlantic Ocean outfalls for wastewater
effluent disposal. Approximately 260 facilities discharge to other
surface waters. Nearly 50 facilities use deep aquifer injection.
Domestic Wastewater Facts:
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At a minimum, all domestic wastewater treatment facilities
must provide secondary treatment and basic disinfection.
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In 2005, approximately 64% of Florida's population was served
by central sewer systems and treatment facilities. The remainder of
the population used on-site sewage treatment and disposal (septic
tanks) to treat their wastewater.
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In 2006, there were approximately 2,100 active domestic
wastewater treatment facilities in Florida with a total permitted
capacity of 2.4 billion gallons per day. (About one half of this
capacity represents non-surface water discharges).
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In 2006, large facilities (capacities greater than 500,000
gallons per day) treated greater than 96% of the total treated
wastewater flow in Florida.
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Only thirty-two facilities in 2006 (around 1 percent of the
total number of facilities) have permitted capacities of 15 million
gallons per day or more. However, these facilities represent more
than 50% percent of the total permitted wastewater capacity in
Florida.
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About 80% percent of Florida's facilities in 2006 have
capacities less than 100,000 gallons per day. These facilities,
however, account for only about 2% percent of the total permitted
capacity in the state.
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The number of smaller facilities (also known as package
plants) is slowly decreasing as the number and size of regional
treatment facilities continues to increase.
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Domestic Wastewater Pie Charts (pdf)
Industrial Wastewater Facts:
In 2007, there were approximately
1300 permitted industrial facilities, including both individual and
generic permits.
Aside from Concrete Batch Plant
generic permits, the largest groups of facilities with permits in 2007
consisted of manufacturing facilities at 27% and Utility Service
facilities at 23% of the total.
Electric Services composed 32% of
the total amount of facilities permitted under Transportation and
Utilities.
At 29 and 26%, Chemicals and Allied
and Food and Kindred products comprised over half of all the
manufacturing permitted facilities in 2007.
54% of all agriculture related
facilities were dairy farms.
Citrus fruit related services made
up almost a third (31%) of the permitted facilities in the
Agricultural category.
93% of all mining facilities
permitted were related to the abstraction of non-metallic
minerals—except fuel. The remaining 7% consist of metal, oil and gas
extraction.
The remaining ~3% of the total
amount of Industrial Wastewater facilities included Construction
(0.9%), Retail Trade (0.4%), Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate
(0.9%), and Public Administration (1.0%).
More Facts and Statistics:
Didn't see the statistic you were looking for? Check out our
Statistics by DEP District (pdf). For more information on wastewater
statistics not located on this website, you may wish to contact the
Wastewater Compliance Evaluation Section at 245-8567.
Links to Other Facts and Statistics Sites:
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