Full Description

In 1996, the City of Ocala, Florida, constructed a subsurface reuse irrigationproject in the clear zone at the local airport. This site is the first reuseproject permitted on an airport property by the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) in the southeast in over 20 years. The site is a key element in Ocala'sreuse system, which was recently named the most innovative and effective reusesystem in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPAs) Region 4. The site earnedthe nickname Stealth Reuse for it's almost invisible presence despite beinglocated next to two of Ocala's most traveled roads. In addition, the project flewthrough permitting without a hitch and with no public opposition. The systemconsists of a small operations building housing a filtration system and valvecontrollers, and a 44-acre wetted area underlain by a network of mains anddistribution pipes. The site has operated successfully at an average of 500,000gallons per day (GPD) over a three-year period. Monitoring data reveals thatgroundwater quality has not been adversely effected despite high loading rates.This paper covers the following topics: the background of Ocala's reuse/disposalsystem; a review of the permitting strategy used to get reclaimed water on anairport site; lessons learned from Ocala's two previous subsurface test sites; adescription of the system with typical sections and an operational schematic;three years of groundwater monitoring data and the story it tells; theoperational and maintenance history of the facility; the applicability of thistechnology to other users; and, a comparison of capital and maintenance costs ofunderground systems and conventional irrigation. Includes tables, figure.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 01/01/2000 Number of Pages: 9File Size: 1 file , 1.7 MB