Florida Water Geek

What are the rules and regulations related to water? Water regulations affect nearly everyone in Florida - utilities, farmers, developers, commercial businesses, industries, homeowners, boaters, commercial fishermen, hotels, restaurants and more.   Multiple agencies are involved at the federal, state, and local levels. I'm mostly discussing how they affect water utilities below, but we'll talk about how they affect all others in separate posts. Complying with regulations takes a huge amount of time and money for water utilities. Many require extensive permitting, reporting, and staying current with rules that change every year.  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)  The over-arching regulatory agency for water is the  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . The two major laws affecting water include  The  Clean Water Act , which covers wastewater, stormwater, and waters of the U.S. The  Safe Drinking Water Act  which covers drinking water, of cour...

  The Wastewater Collection System Have you ever wondered what happens to the water you use for drinking, cooking, flushing, showering, washing dishes, and doing laundry? Until I was in the "water business' I really didn't give it much thought. But it's a very important process! Sewer Service Lines: The plumbing in your house or business connects to a sewer service line that goes through your property and connects to the utility's wastewater collection system (also called the sanitary sewer collection system ).  The sanitary sewer system  is designed to transport wastewater to a treatment plant to remove contaminants. The treated water is then discharged to a receiving water and/or reused. NOTE: Some utilities combine the sanitary sewer system with the storm sewer system. These are called combined sewer systems. Florida law does NOT allow combined sewers. Stormwater and wastewater must be transported in separate piping systems. This illustration from the EPA sh...