One year ago, Hurricane Irma formed and quickly intensified to a Category 5 storm, with Florida squarely in her sights. Irma’s aftermath was not only a mess of debris and structural damage, but there was also human misery from major utility issues, plus nearly 20 million gallons of raw sewage discharges into canals leading to the imperiled Indian River Lagoon.
Beachside residents lived under water restrictions for weeks after the storm due to inundated utilities. What has been done by local governments since Irma to prevent more flooding and system failures?
The answer, whether projects prompted by Irma or projects planned for years, is quite a lot, especially by Brevard County, which operates the wastewater system on the barrier island from its South Melbourne Beach treatment plant, and Melbourne Utilities, which provides most of the beachside drinking water.
The answer for the other utilities is different, depending on their roles in providing stormwater facilities for Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic and Melbourne beach. And finally, the section of Merritt Island south of Pineda has water supplied by Cocoa.
It is not sure if any measure could keep the system from becoming inundated and failing during back-to-back 10-inch rain events. However, with many of the lines and equipment aging and in need of repair, there is much to do, with the fate of the Indian River Lagoon at stake.
Brevard County
Brevard County this year replaced the South Patrick Drive force main wastewater line ($2.5 million) in Indian Harbour Beach, where one break in 2016 caused a discharge of 1.5 million gallons. The North Riverside Drive replacement (3.5 miles from East Eau Gallie Boulevard south to Oakland Avenue) is currently under design and will cost about $10 million. Replacement of the two lines will reduce breaks and future discharges, according to county spokesman Don Walker.
The county is in its fifth year of slip lining all the sewer mains made of clay. The cost to finish what has been started so far: $1.9 million.
The county also added a storage tank and reuse high-service pumps, and has other projects in design or construction that will replace lift stations and force mains that will reduce the chances of failures in the future, Walker said.
City of Melbourne Utilities
Melbourne Water System improvements since Hurricane Irma are topped by a new Canova Beach emergency standby generator being installed now for $330,240. The city operates the Canova Beach booster pump station to maintain flows and pressure in the beachside portion of the water distribution system, said Jennifer Wilster.
A new Hibiscus booster pump station was installed for $314,130; $231,000 was spent for sewer pipe slip lining since Irma; and $7,260 saw spent for Fabri Form installation of about 2,000 square feet for erosion control, she said.
South Barrier Island Cities
Smoke-testing neighborhoods for wastewater system leaks has been completed in Satellite Beach and Indian Harbour Beach for about $185,000 each. Once the results of smoke testing are known, repairs and maintenance to clean out caps and manholes will be required as well as the replacement of residential lateral service lines.
Indian Harbour Beach, considered Ground Zero for the Irma-related discharges, has spent $100,000 since the storm for canal cleaning and drainage improvements in advance of the 2018 hurricane season, according to City Manager Mark Ryan.
Satellite Beach is constructing the Desoto stormwater pond project and a related bioswale project at a cost of about $1.2 million, with the majority paid by grants. The city is proposing hiking the stormwater fee from $104 per household per year to $200 to pay for other major projects planned for the next 10 years, said City Manager Courtney Barker.
Indialantic has repaired broken stormwater sewer lines as a result of the more aggressive impact on the existing lines caused by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, said Town Manager Chris Chinault.
“As a result of Irma, council went to the voters with a request to impose a one [millage] commitment for up to 10 years to provide $3 million to replace failing storm sewer water lines, and they overwhelmingly approved the request There are about 45 pipes at approximately 40 feet in length that need immediate attention,’’ he said.
City of Cocoa Utilities
The Cocoa Utilities Department only provides potable (drinking) water to that specific area south of Pineda to Dragon Point in Merritt Island, and there were no water main breaks on Merritt Island south of the Pineda Causeway.
However, there was a 36-inch transmission line located under the Indian River along SR 520 that failed during Irma and was repaired for $1 million. The entire subaqueous pipe system was assessed and areas of exposed pipe were covered by concrete burlap bags, said spokesman Don Downs.
Recent Non-Storm Event
Melbourne Beach on Aug. 13 experienced yet another common cause of sewage spill: contractor error caused a hole punched in a 6-inch force main in the Mockingbird Lane area. County officials said none of the discharge wound up in the river, and only a trickle amount wound up in the retention pond. There was no cost estimate for the repairs.
