Water treatment plant for forever chemicals, new wells planned in Coral Springs
.jpg "Coral Springs commissioners will vote on a potable water facilities work plan at their upcoming Jan. 7 meeting.")
An array of changes is planned for Coral Springs’ water system, including new wells and an upgraded nanofiltration treatment plant designed to filter out so-called forever chemicals.
The Coral Springs City Commission will decide Wednesday, Jan. 7, whether to approve and adopt an amended version of the 10-year work plan for potable water supply facilities.
The plan, which had its first reading in November, details infrastructure upgrades, increasing the capacity of the raw water supply and treatment plants, and how capital improvement program funds will be disbursed in the coming years.
One of the big-ticket items is an upgrade to the roughly 58-year-old water treatment plant run by the City of Coral Springs Utility Division, which services the largest area of the city out of the four water providers.
Converting the existing lime-softening plant to a nanofiltration plant — to filter out per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) nicknamed “forever chemicals” — is estimated to cost about $150 million. A quarter of that amount, or $37.5 million, is budgeted to be spent in Fiscal Year 2026, with construction slated to begin in 2027 and end in 2029, documents show.
PFAS are a collection of chemicals used in everyday products that break down slowly over time and pose health and environmental hazards by entering our food, air and water.
Coral Springs’ new treatment plant is expected to reduce PFAS levels to lower than the EPA requires.
Florida State Senator Tina Polsky requested $800,000 of funding for the plant upgrade from the Department of Environmental Protection under a local funding initiative.
Another water infrastructure change planned for Coral Springs is the addition of approximately three new raw water wells to its current assemblage of 18 that will tap the Biscayne Aquifer, which supplies nearly all of the city’s water. These wells will increase the water supply to balance out the “reject losses” anticipated under the nanofiltration upgrade.
The wellfield expansion is projected to cost $21 million, with $13 million of that to be spent this fiscal year. The city has already begun the process of evaluating well sites, according to the work plan.
The Coral Springs City Commission will meet at City Hall at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 7. The meeting will be livestreamed for those who can’t attend.