Frequently Asked Questions

Pumping oxygen-rich water into Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) wells often liberates unsafe levels of arsenic and radioactive particles from the underground limestone.  Numerous contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, birth control, antibiotics, pesticides, pcb’s, cleaning products and endocrine disruptors will not be filtered out during ultra-violet treatment and would be injected into our drinking water aquifer.  Existing and new potable water wells within one mile of the injection site will be banned.  This ASR injection well (if permitted) would prevent Rockledge from ever utilizing our valuable drinking water resource, the Floridan aquifer.

The 120 to 180 million gallons of partially treated sewage will be injected 370 to 470 feet below into the Floridan Aquifer. There is little if no confinement to prevent outward migration of the injected water. Nothing prevents the upward migration until the Hawthorne Formation at 140 feet. The Hawthorn Formation at the Rockledge site is less than 35 feet thick and would not prevent contamination of the surficial aquifer and the Indian River Lagoon. The Hawthorn Formation, being only 35 feet thick at the site, is considered semi-confining. The Hawthorn Formation would need to be 108 feet thick in order to be considered by experts a true “confining layer”. At this site 35 feet is less than 1/3 the thickness necessary for a true confining layer (108 feet).

During 2003, over 200 million gallons were deep-well injected, an average of approximately 0.6 million gallons a day (MGD). This deep well is permitted up to 4.5 MGD.

Below is a partial list of the substances found in Rockledge’s partially treated sewage effluent from the Rockledge Reclaimed ASR Bi-Monthly Water Quality Data Summary, February 2006 – June 2007

INORGANIC COMPOUNDS: Antimony, Arsenic, Asbestos, Barium, Beryllium, Cadmium, Chromium, Cyanide, Floride, Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Nitrate, Nitrite, Selenium, Sodium, Thallium

DISINFECTION BYPRODUCTS:
Trihalomethanes(TTHM), Bromodichloromethane, Bromoform, Chloroform, Dibromochloromethane, Haloacetic Acids, Dibromoacetic Acid, Dichloroacetic Acid, Monobromoacetic Acid, Monochloroacetic Acid, Trichloroacetic Acid, Bromate, Chlorite

VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS:
1,1-DICHLOROETHYLENE, 1,1,1-Trichloroethane, 1,1,2-Tricholoroethane, 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,2-Dichloropropane, 1,2,4-Tricholorobenzene, Benzene, Carbon Tetrachloride, cis-1,1-Dichloroethylene, Dichloromethane, Ethylbenzene, Monochlorobenzene, o-Dichlorobenzene, p-Dichlorobenzene, Styrene, Tetrachloroethylene, Toluene, trans-1,2-Dichloroethylene, Trichloroethylene, Vinyl chloride, Xylenes, 2-Chlorophenol, Chloroethane

SYNTHETIC ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS:
2-4-D, 2,4,5-TP (Silvex), Alachor, Atrazine, Benso(a)pyrene, Carbofuran, Chlordane, Dalapon, Di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate, Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, Dibromochloropropane (DBCP), Dinoseb, Diquat, Endothall, Endrin, Ethylene dibromide (EDB), Glyphosate, Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide, Hexachlorobenzene, Hexachlorocyclopentadiene, Lindane, Methoxychlor, Oxamyl (vydate), Pentachlorophenol, Picloram, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB’s), Simazine, Toxaphene

RADIONUCLIDES:
Gross Alpha Particle Activity, Radium-226, Radium-228, Uranium, Combined

BIOLOGICALS AND PATHOGENS:
cryptosporidium, E. Coli, Enterococci, Fecal Coliforms, Giardia, Total Coliforms

SEMIVOLATIEN ORGANIC COMPOUNDS:
2,4,6-Trichlorophenol, Aldrin, Anthracene, Butyl benzyl phthalate, Dieldrin, Dimethul phthalate, Naphthalene, NDMA (-Nitrosodimethylamine), Phenanthrene, Phenol

RESIDUAL DISINFECTANTS:
Chlorine, Chloramines, Chlorine Dioxide

The Nation Resources Defense Council web site has a FAQ that answers this and related questions.

In brief: An endocrine disruptor is a synthetic chemical that when absorbed into the body affects the function of the body’s endocrine system, such as the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, thymus, pancreas, ovaries, and testes glands. Examples of endocrine disruptors include dioxin, PCBs, DDT, and some other pesticides, and chemicals leaching from plastics. PCBs and pesticides are known to be in our reclaimed water.

This issue was clarified by Allan Biddlecomb, PG, of Jones Edmunds & Associates, who wrote:

The Floridan aquifer in the Rockledge area is confined by the low permeability sediments overlying the limestone which separate it from the surface, surficial aquifer, and surface waters such as the Indian River Lagoon. Reuse water will be stored in a zone of the aquifer that will not be used as a source of drinking water. Groundwater quality data collected previously indicate that concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS) range from 1,060 to 1,640 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and chlorides range from 278 to 809 mg/L in the proposed storage zone. Although the EPA defines aquifers with TDS less than 10,000 milligrams per liter (mg/L) as an Underground Sources of Drinking Water (USDW), not all USDWs are suitable for public consumption. While it can be argued that the area of the aquifer proposed to be used for ASR is technically a USDW, the proposed storage zone is in a portion of the aquifer generally considered to be non-potable.

Although the engineers like to call the water “brackish” because of some salt-water intrusion and thus “non-potable,” private testing on local wells shows that the aquifer is still potable and safe to drink. The aquifer below our feet has been used for decades by people, especially by the early settlers who relied on it for their drinking water.

The City believes this is the most cost-effective way. The City would then pump the water from sewage out of the ground for irrigation purposes during the dry season (60 days out of the year).

The City of Rockledge has a permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to construct the main ASR well and associate test wells. The City of Rockledge will submit their application for a two year cycle testing permit using partially treated sewage effluent to FDEP as early as spring 2010.

Encouraging conservation in the home, to reduce the amount of water sent to the Sewage Treatment Plant, reduces the amount of water Rockledge needs to dispose of down injection wells or send out as reclaimed water.  Rockledge built two above ground storage tanks and the City of Cocoa utilizes ponds to store reclaimed water.  Planting native, drought tolerant plants and reducing lawn area will reduce irrigation needs.

Attend the March 10, 2010 Special Public Hearing.  Send the Petition located on the “Take Action Page”.  Talk to you friends and neighbors.  Send an email to your elected officials by going to “Take Action Now” page and expressing your concerns regarding the proposed injection of sewage wastewater into Florida’s drinking water aquifer.