Concerns & Background
The Concerns:
(A) Pollution. The process of pumping water into ASR wells is known to often cause the leaching of unsafe levels of arsenic from the surrounding limestone. It would also introduce numerous contaminants commonly found in wastewater effluent into the aquifer. For a list of what’s in Rockledge’s wastewater effluent click on sewage effluent. Within 1 mile of the injection site:
* Homeowners with existing wells will not be able to use their wells for drinking
* Homeowners would not be permitted to drill new potable water wells. See Ordinance 1414-2006
* The Indian River Lagoon is at risk from migrating contaminants. 
Due to public health and environmental concerns, the State of Georgia has completely banned ASR wells in the very same Floridan aquifer. Indian River County has also banned ASR wells.
According to research by Dr. Sydney Bacchus, ASR wells can create ground water changes resulting in major physical, chemical, and biological impacts to marine ecosystems and species. The partially treated sewage effluent also contains endocrine disruptors such as birth control, caffeine, cleaning products and prescription drugs, etc. which can be carcinogenic and which have seriously negative impacts on the reproductive systems of fish and other wildlife.
(B) Financial risk. Suitability of the ASR well can only be determined after the cost of construction and testing. Many factors can lead to abandonment of ASR wells, such as:
* sustained unsafe levels of arsenic present in the ASR injection site and surrounding aquifer
* leakage from the underground storage area into the surrounding aquifer
* sewage effluent from the city not meeting standards for injection.
ASR wells cost millions of taxpayer dollars to construct. If the ASR well fails to meet required standards, all that money would have been spent for nothing, but our aquifer would have already been compromised.
(C) No Notice. Homeowners in the affected area were not directly notified about the ASR well and the potential impacts on their private wells. No public hearing has been held.
(D) Better Solutions. Above ground storage is possible: Rockledge built an above ground storage tank in 2006 and the City of Cocoa utilizes ponds. Partially treated sewage effluent can also be filtered using a wetlands filtration system that helps to recharge the aquifer, as Brevard County and Orlando use.
Background
Although this will be the first Partially treated sewage ASR well on the east coast injecting effluent directly into the drinking water aquifer, others are being newly proposed in Florida as a means to reduce the draw on the drinking water aquifer for non-potable uses such as watering lawns. Water is stored during rainy months and pumped up during the 60 day dry season when watering demands increase. By being able to store partially treated sewage effluent/reclaimed water until needed, officials hope to curtail the watering of lawns with potable water.
ASR wells can be used to store drinking water, surface water, storm run-off, and partially treated sewage effluent, basically using the aquifer as a huge storage tank. Reclaimed water ASR wells (using water from sewage) are a new technology and currently only two in all of Florida have testing permits from FDEP, but neither have operational permits.
The City of Rockledge currently injects 200 million gallons of excess partially treated sewage at a depth of 2720 feet. The new Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well would move away from this deep-well injection, and would pump 180 million gallons yearly of partially treated sewage only 300 to 500 feet deep into the Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW), also known as the Floridan aquifer. There the City could “store and recover” a portion of this partially treated sewage effluent for the 60 day dry season, but the remaining effluent would infiltrate our main drinking water aquifer and could contaminate all wells within a one mile radius of the injection site and beyond.
Recently the City constructed a 6 million gallon above-ground storage tank at a price of $2 million, in addition to two previously constructed tanks, for a total storage of 8.75 m. gallons. The ASR would theoretically allow storage of 120 million gallons of partially treated sewage effluent underground for a cost of $2.8 million (with consultant fees). This is projected to allow reclaimed water use to increase from 70% to 85%, instead of deep-well injecting excess partially treated sewage effluent. But it is not known how much injected effluent can be recovered, leaving doubts as to the cost-effectiveness, with some ASR well recovery rates are as low as 3%.
The ASR site (at the Rockledge Sewage Treatment Facility, 1700 Jack Oates Blvd.), is proposed to annually store 120 to 180 million gallons of partially treated sewage effluent 400 ft. deep in the Floridan Aquifer, within the Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW), per Rule 62-528.605, F.A.C. The well site is within 2000 feet of the Indian River Lagoon, a State and federally protected body of water. The lagoon composes about one-quarter of the affected 1-mile radius circle.
Proposed Rockledge ASR well (click on photo to enlarge)
(The blue circle represents the “radius of influence,” 835 ft., while the green circle is the radius of influence plus 50%, or 1252 ft. This is for injection of 120 m. gals. It is unknown how these areas will expand over time, given less than 100% recovery of injected water, and possible migration because of unknown subsurface properties. The yellow circle is the legal 1-mile radius area covered by the well ban.)
Sewage effluent is proposed to go directly into the Underground Source of Drinking Water, aka Floridan aquifer. It is proposed to go somewhere from 145 to 495 feet down (exact depth unknown). The Hawthorn Formation is the layer of sand, shell and clay that separates the Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW) from the surficial aquifer. In order for there to be confinement there needs to be a 108 foot Hawthorn layer. In Rockledge the Hawthorn layer is only 35 feet thick, less than one-third what is needed to be considered confining. SOA is concerned that not only wells into the Floridan aquifer but also wells into the surficial aquifer could be contaminated with sewage effluent and the carcinogens and suspected carcinogens present in effluent.
Contact Save Our Aquifer: info@saveouraquifer.org
Mailing address:
Save Our Aquifer, Inc.
P.O. Box 251
Cocoa, Fla. 32923