VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County leaders are voting to ban a water reuse practice known as toilet-to-tap. They will also vote on whether to add the issue the November ballot for voters.
The county said its ordinance bans toilet to tap now and then adding it to the ballot and letting voters decide makes it so the ordinance can’t ever be undone. This all started because of a petition from residents.
“I think that’s nasty and I hope they don’t do that here. I don’t think that’s safe,” said Emily Rodriguez.
Volusia County residents are calling for a total ban on turning treated sewage into drinking water or pumping it into the county’s aquifers. The idea is not currently being proposed in Volusia County or any of its cities but leaders and residents want to put measures in place now so it can’t happen in the future.
The county is voting to adopt an ordinance banning toilet-to-tap and adding it to the November ballot.
“It is so easy, the elections coming up there’s enough time to put it on the ballot and people that want to express an issue have a right to express that issue,” said John Nichols.
County Council Chair Jeff Brower said the state has pushed for this in other areas because rapid development has created a water supply shortage.
“Our young people, they’re not going to stay here and drink this, they’re telling me that,” said Brower.
Channel 9 asked Brower what will happen if the county votes against this and then runs out of water.
“Well we are going to work on conservation too. We don’t have to run out of water if we would stop developing past the clean water supply,” Brower responded.
The county ban only applies to unincorporated areas of Volusia County, cities would have to put their own in place. The issue is on both Deltona and Daytona Beach agendas this week.
The city of Daytona Beach was part of a pilot program to test toilet to tap from 2018 to 2021. A city spokesperson told Eyewitness News:
The project was a partnership with St Johns RWMD. The city purified 200,000 gallons a day through its specialized facility. (Once purified, the water was put back into the wastewater system. It was never added to the water supply or injected into a well.) the equipment used to treat the waste water was declared surplus by the city commission in 2022. It was sold in May 2023 for $150,000. The building that once housed the equipment and lab is now a maintenance storage facility.
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