Yellow water no more? Inside Fort Lauderdale's new water plant
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It's almost time to say goodbye to Fort Lauderdale's yellow tap water.
Why it matters: The city's new $666 million water treatment plant next to the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airpot will go live next month, bringing high-quality, clear drinking water to residents in Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Tamarac, Wilton Manors, Davie and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
- It also will serve Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
State of play: Prospect Lake Clean Water Center, which was built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, will replace the aging, 70-year-old Fiveash treatment plant.
- Unlike Fiveash's lime softening process, the new water plant uses nanofiltration and ion exchange to remove tannins, the natural organic compounds that give water a yellow tint.
- Joseph Padron, who oversees the plant, gave Axios a tour last month. He says the state-of-the-art technology also removes PFAS, better known as "forever chemicals," from the water and produces little waste.
- The plant will deliver 50 million gallons a day of high-quality drinking water, whereas Fiveash only produces an average of 30 million gallons daily, a city spokesperson tells Axios.
What they're saying: "I couldn't be more excited about what this project means for the future of Fort Lauderdale," Mayor Dean Trantalis said after his recent tour of the facility.
- Padron tells Axios that Fiveash is "at its end of life."
The intrigue: While the new plant was built through a public-private partnership between the city IDE Technologies and Ridgewood Infrastructure, 40 city employees will run the facility.
What's next: Prospect Lake is expected to officially open in mid-September.