Sarasota County Public Utilities operates three regional water reclamation facilities (WRFs) treating millions of gallons of wastewater daily. Wastewater from homes and businesses is pumped to the wastewater treatment plants through an underground network of pipes and lift stations. All county treatment plants are regulated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

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The plants produce highly treated reclaimed water used for irrigation on golf courses, right of ways and residential lawns. Reclaimed water goes through many levels of treatment to make it safe to use for irrigation purposes. The use of the reclaimed water is beneficial to county residents because it reduces the impact on the county’s drinking water sources.

To improve the quality of the county’s reclaimed water facilities’ output, the county has implemented plans to upgrade the WRFs into advanced wastewater treatment (AWT) facilities that require a more stringent treatment process. The advanced wastewater treatment process will incorporate treatment to remove nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus.

The first Sarasota County WRF to convert to an AWT will be the Bee Ridge facility. Once upgraded to AWT standards, facilities produce cleaner reclaimed water with lower concentrations of unwanted nutrients.