ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. \u2014\u00a0St. Pete Beach wastewater has chloride levels three times higher than the maximum allowed by law, which must be treated and pumped deep underground, instead of being discharged as reclaimed water, according to St. Petersburg Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
St. Pete Beach wastewater has chloride levels three times higher than the maximum allowed
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The treated wastewater must be pumped deep underground, instead of being discharged as reclaimed water\u00a0
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St. Pete Beach has a contract with St. Petersburg to treat all of its wastewater\u00a0\u00a0
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The cities have been working together find a solution\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have noticed that the chlorides in that wastewater have been rising, indicating that they\u2019ve got some saltwater intrusion,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working with them to find where that saltwater intrusion is coming in, so that we can bring it back down to the levels that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Pete Beach has a contract with St. Petersburg to treat all of its wastewater.<\/p>\n
The maximum chloride limit is 1,350 milligrams per liter of wastewater. According to test results, the chloride levels in St. Pete Beach passed the benchmark in 2021 and have been rising ever since to\u00a0three\u00a0times the level this year.<\/p>\n
St. Pete Beach Public Services Director Camden Mills said the highly elevated levels of chloride could be attributed to fewer residents living on the island after last year\u2019s hurricanes,\u00a0which has\u00a0caused\u00a0a\u00a0lower\u00a0flow\u00a0and less dilution of\u00a0the saltwater. Mills said the saltwater has\u00a0likely\u00a0been getting into the system through leaky pipes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suspect the main contribution of the saltwater intrusion is just the condition of the aging system,\u201d he said. \u201cThe pipes and the manholes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 38.7 miles of gravity sewer lines in St. Pete Beach were constructed about 70 years\u00a0ago, with a large majority of the original infrastructure still in place, according to Mills. The city had an inflow and intrusion report done in 2017, which showed 62 percent of the sewer system needed to be replaced or repaired.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe completed about a third from what was recommended in that previous study,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have quite a bit of work left to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mills presented the chloride problem to the St. Pete Beach City Commission last week, where $2 million was approved to clean and video scope the entire sewer system. An additional $1.9 million has been approved to fix the leaky pipes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be lining pipes, replacing pipes and rehabilitating manholes to help shore up our system to prevent any further saltwater intrusion,\u201d he said. \u201cThe issue of inflow and infiltration into our system is a sense of urgency because it\u2019s just going to grow in time as these pipes and manholes continue to age.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Petersburg Public Works identified Lift Stations 4 and 5 in Pass-a-Grille, along with some manholes in the area, as hot spots for saltwater intrusion in January 2024, according to Mills.\u00a0The public services director said he didn\u2019t know about the extent of the problem until he met with St. Petersburg officials in June.<\/p>\n
Some manholes in Pass-a-Grille along with Lift Stations 4 & 5 have been identified as hot spots for saltwater intrusion into the sewer system in St. Pete Beach. Chloride levels have been elevated since 2021. @BN9<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5lE3tPWOGo<\/a><\/p>\n