Dana O'Connor
Key Points
- The city of Apopka plans to build a distribution pump station and reconstruct a storage pond at its 350-million-gallon Golden Gem Reclaimed Water Facility.
- The facility recycles 100% of Apopka's wastewater for irrigation, reducing groundwater withdrawals and serving northwest Orange County.
- The city aims to complete the West Pond reconstruction by March 2027 and continue public updates on the project's progress.
Apopka officials on Wednesday outlined the next phase of work at the Golden Gem Reclaimed Water Facility, including construction of a distribution pump station, reconstruction of a storage pond and continued evaluation of conditions that contributed to failures at the site.
The discussion took place during a City Commission workshop devoted to the approximately 350-million-gallon reclaimed water facility, which city officials described as a key component of a regional water-reuse network serving northwest Orange County.
“This project was envisioned more than a decade ago as a regional solution for the reclaimed water storage and distribution as growth shift[ed] to the northwest Orange County,” Public Works Director and City Engineer Vladimir Simonovski said. “Apopka is positioned to benefit from a system that ensures long-term water reliability.”
Simonovski said the city has expanded its reclaimed water system over the last 15 to 20 years with assistance from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. He noted the district purchased 100 acres in 2009 to help the city develop the facility and that the city recently approved a seventh amendment to its agreement with SJRWMD.
The facility is designed to store reclaimed water for reuse irrigation, helping reduce groundwater withdrawals while supporting regional water needs. Simonovski said the city recycles “100% of Apopka’s wastewater into reuse irrigation.”
The workshop also included an update on the facility’s distribution pump station, which Simonovski described as “the heart of the system.”
“The pump will take the stored reclaimed water and push it into the distribution system,” he said. “Once this is built, the facility becomes fully operational.”
The pump station bid was advertised May 31, with bids scheduled to be opened June 30. Construction is expected to begin before Sept. 1 and take approximately 18 months.
Kevin Friedman, project manager with Tetra Tech, discussed findings from the firm’s evaluation of the facility’s pond liners and subsurface conditions.
Among the observations were liner seam failures that resulted in leakage, deterioration of liner material and the presence of gravel and rock fragments beneath the liners.
“Those conditions — rocks — can cause issues with the liner,” Friedman said. “Protrusions could result in punctures and further kind of lead to bigger issues with leaking.”
Friedman said the reconstruction design will focus on improving soil conditions beneath the liner, monitoring groundwater levels and installing a more robust 60-mil high-density-polyethylene liner with a protective soil cover.
“If it’s installed properly, and with the soil cover, I mean, you’re looking at 40-plus years,” Friedman said when asked about the expected lifespan of the proposed liner system.
The city’s immediate focus is restoring the smaller West Pond to service. According to workshop materials, the design of the West Pond is expected to be completed in August, with reconstruction targeted for completion by March 2027. A schedule for reconstruction of the larger East Pond has not yet been established.
During public comment, Golden Gem Road resident Albert McKimmie urged the city to conduct additional investigation of conditions beneath the East Pond and consider drainage issues he believes contributed to the facility’s problems.
“There’s a whole lot of things that we’re not mentioning, and I think they need to be addressed,” McKimmie said.
Mayor Nick Nesta said the June 17 workshop would not be the city’s last public discussion of the project.
“This isn’t going to be our last discussion on this,” Nesta said. “We’re going to continue to make sure that everybody’s updated, questions are answered, updated presentations as we get new information.”
We are talking about a new pump The pump station is being as if it’s a new part of the plan Was not a new idea in fact The pond was being filled before they Began designing a pump station , the pump station design is in fact 5 years behind the times . Let’s look at what happened to the money Bryan Nelson Accepted from Mayor Demmings for , a 1.5 million dollar grant which was supposed to pay for an above ground storage tank on that project It was never even designed where did the money get used .
Who actually was responsible for setting the agenda at that meeting was it the mayor or was it the public works director because who ever it was should be wearing a clowns outfit , consider this would you consider building a sky scraper without first investigating if the ground can support it
Truth is we have no idea about the area under the large pond its geological strata is built on karst The city have known since 2022 prior to the collapse there were drainage issues , that is categorically 100 percent what caused the collapse ,
Before any work or planning is done on that site common sense would dictate a comprehensive drainage solution for the whole site .
There is a simple fact you were not told at that meeting the director of public works concealed the fact that the project was already subject to a mandate by the FDEP that both ponds be remediated by March 16 2027 , a physical impossibility , so now instead of logically working through A problem we are attempting to break the problem
Into parts that can be run in parallel , sounds feasible but it is not without risk until the drainage aspect of the site is resolved more damage To the main pond caused by erosion will continue to occur .
As for the rock theory under the liner I’d like to see pictures Only place That I did not have comprehensive photo graphs and video of Is the slope that was previously repaired after the collapse which again shows massive erosion if that’s where the rocks are that is highly likely as the Material brought in contained rocks , Whilst I welcome the workshop and am supportive of this new administration That meeting was nothing more than a controlled narrative , How could I possibly present 8 years of study in just 10 minutes
Should a public works Director present a meeting on a project he was involved In The creation of and has been fined by the FDEP whilst managing , The question then becomes who all might have a vested interest in controlling the narrative
I have documented public records which show cover ups and financial irregularities took place prior to this new administration
But apparently no one cares enough to talk openly about it at a public meeting