Boaters in Fort Lauderdale will soon be able to skip the mess — and help keep the city’s waterways cleaner — thanks to a new sewage pumpout vessel launching next spring.
The new boat will meet boaters in the water to empty their waste holding tanks for free, the city announced earlier this month. Instead of docking at one of Fort Lauderdale’s four pumpout stations to empty the waste tanks themselves, boaters will be able to request service from the pumpout vessel using the city’s FixIt FTL app.
“Pumping out sewage can be a dirty and difficult task, and calling a service to do it for you can be expensive,” said City Manager Rickelle Williams in a statement. “We’re hoping that by making it easier and more convenient for boaters to empty their waste holding tanks, it will reduce the number of people discharging directly into the waterways leading to unsanitary conditions.”
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City commissioners approved the purchase of the vessel at a commission meeting earlier this month using a grant the city received from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to purchase the boat through the Clean Vessel Act. Marco Aguilera, the Fort Lauderdale chief waterways officer, applied for the grant, which will cover 75 percent of eligible expenses for five years. The boat will cost about $150,000, Aguilera said.
“There’s many cities and counties throughout the state, and actually throughout the country, using different programs that have purchased and operate pumpout boats,” Aguilera said. “In my opinion, it’s overdue for Fort Lauderdale to get one with the number of boats and visitors that we have.”
The pumpout vessel will be a convenient way for local and transient boaters sailing in the “yachting capital of the world” to safely discard their sewage, he said. Once the boat is ready, Aguilera said the plan is for boaters to use the FixIt FTL app on their phones to request or schedule for the pumpout vessel to meet them.
Aguilera said its unclear how often boaters illegally dump sewage into the water in Fort Lauderale, though pumpout vessels have been well-used in other parts of Florida. Martin County’s three pumpout vessels collect hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage, he said. Some of that may have ended up in the water had it not been for the program, he said.
“It’s responsible. [Boaters] have a level of affection towards the environment, and this is probably the easiest way that they can show their commitment to the environment,” Aguilera said. “It’s never been as easy as it’s going to be once we get this boat.”