(excerpt from http://www.florida-water.com)
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That's a High-Tech Glass of Water You've Got There

Imagine the ability to take undrinkable water and make it pure, refreshing and drinkable.  Florida Water does that every day.

We use the most innovative technologies to provide our customers with high-quality water.   That's important in Florida, where the natural characteristics of underground water often make it unsuitable for drinking.  Florida's aquifer contains a lot of minerals and other things you wouldn't want to drink.

It takes a lot of work to make Florida's water pure and drinkable.  But it's important work to our customers and to Florida.

Here are some of the ways Florida Water makes sure the nearly 30 million gallons of fresh water we send our customers every day are pure and crystal-clear.
tball9.jpg (961 bytes)Lime Process

Much of Florida's water must also be treated with lime to "soften" the water and make it easier to use.  The minerals in "hard" water make it difficult to wash clothes and do other chores.  First, the water is sent through special tanks that remove dirt.  Next, mediums are added to help clump together the remaining impurities so they can be easily removed.  Then, softeners are added.  Finally, the water is forced through sand filters and carbon to remove any remaining chemicals, odors or other impurities.
tball9.jpg (961 bytes)Reverse Osmosis

We've built a reverse osmosis plant on Marco Island that purifies the area's brackish and unusable water supply--providing drinking water year-round for thousands of people.

Reverse osmosis works like this:  Water is taken from the ground and treated with basic chemicals and filters.  Then it is pressurized and squeezed through special membranes to remove salt and other impurities.  Finally, after still more treatment, it is ready to drink.  Florida Water's reverse osmosis plant can treat millions of gallons of water a day.
But even reverse osmosis and lime treatment are not enough.  By law, all the water Florida Water supplies it's customers must be treated with chlorine.  It is also constantly tested according to our own high standards as well as those of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make sure it is safe and pure.

Providing people with fresh water is only half our job.  Florida Water also takes care of wastewater to protect our aquifer system:  a huge underground string of caverns which store Florida's fresh water.
tball9.jpg (961 bytes)Wastewater Treatment and Reuse

Floridians generate a lot of waste water -- and Florida Water uses a lot of technology to make sure the water is as pure as possible before returning it to the environment.  This also allows us to "reclaim" wastewater and use it again for special purposes, such as irrigation.

Wastewater treatment begins by turning the wastewater on itself.  There are micro-organisms present in wastewater that consume its biodegradable material.  After debris and other material are removed from the wastewater, the water is sent to an aeration tank that mixes it with air.  Micro-organisms multiply in this environment.  When they do, the biodegradable material is eliminated.

The wastewater is then sent to a settling tank, called a clarifier, where sludge is removed, processed, and used to make fertilizer.

Meanwhile, the remaining water is filtered and disinfected with chlorine.  Then it can be reused for irrigating golf courses and other landscaped areas.

That reuse is important, because it allows Florida to reclaim water that would otherwise be lost.   Reusing water helps the environment by cutting down on the use of fresh water and by eliminating wastewater discharge into rivers, lakes, streams and aquifers.  More than 99 percent of the wastewater treated by Florida Water is recycled and reused for irrigating golf courses, highway medians and other large areas, or returned to the aquifer in other ways.

Florida Water constantly monitors the reused water to make sure it is safe for irrigation in areas where people live, work and play.  In fact, our analytical lab is among Florida's most advanced water and wastewater testing facilities.  The lab operates 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

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