Waldo makes wastewater connection with GRU

The Waldo to GRU wastewater pipeline is under construction along Waldo Road.

WALDO – For 25 years Waldo has depended on the same municipal wastewater treatment plant for waste collection and treatment. However to avoid fines upwards of $10,000 per day, the city will now go through Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) for wastewater treatment and disposal.

The city’s wastewater treatment plant was unable to meet updated standards that were set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FDEP, and has since received several violation notices.

“Waldo City Council held public meetings seeking a way to correct this problem in the most cost effective, environmentally sound and long-term manner,” said Kim Worley, Waldo’s city manager.

The final solution was to connect Waldo’s wastewater collection system to the GRU system for treatment using an 11-mile force main pipeline and to decommission the old wastewater plant. The project is being funded using a combination of a grant and to the City of Waldo from USDA Rural Development, totaling $5,364,300.

The city will have 40 years to pay off the loan portion. Since it is mandated by law that the loan must be repaid using revenues obtained through utility charges, residents will see an increase in monthly utility bills.

“For basic water services, the increase will be approximately $19,” said Worley. “The city has not had a rate increase since 2008, but it can’t be avoided for the new system.”

Residents attending last week’s city council meeting were not the only ones opposed to an increase in the utility rates.

“Listen, I know no one wanted to see an increase, but at the end of the day we had to raise rates for the future,” said Vice Chair Irvin Jackson.

When the new system is up and running, the city will not only be able to provide wastewater services at the current usage levels, but will have the capacity to double usage levels, which will accommodate population growth, before having to make any required additional expansion of the system with GRU.

“At the end of the day we had no choice but to make a change,” said Rick Pisano, city councilman. “A $10,000 a day fine? We’d have been broke in a week.”

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