A local community is soon to have reclaimed water in its neighborhood. Lumsden Trace, located on Lumsden Rd. between Mulrennan Rd. and St. Cloud Ave., will begin construction for its new sprinkler system and other uses for reclaimed water in October. The project is expected to take six months.
According to Shelly Spehr, senior supervisor for Hillsborough County Water Resource Services, Hillsborough County staff will work with homeowners’ associations to evaluate the possibility of reclaimed water within the community.
If it is identified as a possible reclaimed water project, the community will be placed on a waiting list and will be notified in writing when reclaimed water becomes available. Spehr said seven subdivisions are on the county’s waiting list to get reclaimed water, with 21 to 1,553 homes in each.
“Once the reclaimed water is available, we send out petitions with a preliminary cost estimate and the residents can petition to bring the service to their community. More than 50 percent of the parcel owners must sign the petitions,” she said. “A representative from the homeowners’ association can contact me to see if their community is eligible to be put on the waiting list.” To be eligible, subdivisions must be within one-fourth of a mile of an existing reclaimed water line and show a majority (50 percent) of residents support connected to it.
Approved uses for reclaimed water include: landscape irrigation via an in-ground sprinkler system. Reclaimed water may also be applied using a hose bibb (connection) assembly that is located in a below-ground locked vault or service box and clearly labeled as being of non-potable quality (bearing the words in English and Spanish: “Do Not Drink – No Beber” together with the equivalent standard international symbol).
From the reclaimed water line at Lumsden Rd. and St. Cloud Ave., county crews will run a main line on Lumsden Rd. into the subdivision. The county will pick up the $127,000 construction tab.
Crews also will bury 2,600 ft. of pipe on Lumsden Trace Cir., where it intersects with Lumsden Rd., and connect it to the sprinkler systems on both sides Lumsden Trace Circle. The $311,000 cost of that leg of the project will be divided among homeowners.
Spehr said homeowners can pay for connection to the reclaimed water line all at once or spread it out over the next 20 years on their property tax bills.
For more information, visit the Hillsborough County’s Website at http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/water/reclaimedwater/ .
