Session 5 was held at the Kanapaha Water Reclamation Facility, located at 3901 SW 63rd Blvd. The facility serves as one of the City’s main sources of reclaimed water, and now handles up to 14 million gallons of water per day.
To begin the morning, Wastewater Plant Operator 3 Steven Byce gave a general overview and history of the facility, and explained how the water comes in, what the treatment process entails, as well as where the water goes after it is treated. He explained that per federal guidelines, all water coming into the treatment facility must leave the plant as drinking-quality water (although the water is not used for drinking, a point everyone was relieved to hear!). He also explained that the process by which the plant treats the water is no more than a high-tech faster version of what Mother Nature does in the wild. Afterwards, we donned latex gloves, and proceeded to tour the actual equipment used to treat the water. The smell at times was strong to say the least, but we continued on and saw how water enters the “tanks,” and how it is sorted and treated. It was interesting to see how the beginning of the tour involved seeing the dirty, smelly water, while the end of the tour showed the water completely clear.
As an added bonus to the session, Citizen Academy participant Leslie Straub of Florida Wildlife Care and a few remaining participants helped release a wood duck in a nearby pond.
REMEMBER: The final session (#6) will focus on the City’s Neighborhood Improvement and Planning and Development Services departments, with an RTS bus tour around some of the City’s development and redevelopment projects. The session will begin this Friday at the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center (GTEC), located at 2153 SE Hawthorne Road. We will board the bus following a short presentation at GTEC. The bus will return to GTEC by 11:30 p.m. As always, do not hesitate to contact us by e-mailing parmeleeka@cityofgainesville.org or calling 334-5017 if you have any questions. See you soon!
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