drinking water and waste water in SF

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Data

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I'm looking for some info and official sites about drinking and waste water in SF, mainly broward, palm beach and date.
how many gpd, where it comes from and where it goes to etc.
a friend and I had a discussion and had different opinions.
one says the drinking water comes from lake okeechobee, while the other one says it comes from underground channels from far up north from the cave systems and has nothing to do with the lake.
one says it goes through refineries, where the water is purified and used to water golf courses etc. and the waste is used as natural fertilizer, the other one says it is just dumped in the ocean.
it seems to be difficult to find info through google.
thanx for your help.
 
Good question.

If I remember correctly from my environmental journalism class awhile ago... It all depends on where you live in the state. Lake Okeechobee is the source for irrigation water. The level of the lake is controlled by the many canals which lead right into the intracoastal/ocean. But that water has way too many organophosphates to be potable. I would agree with your friend that most of the state gets their potable water from the springs up north. But for south florida I'm really not sure. Due to the varying qualities of public water (Boca's water has a greenish tint to it haha) they definitely go through refineries. You can see Lake Worth's while driving on i95 just south of 10th ave. But I'm not sure what the source is, it'd definitely be worth finding out.

One of my favorite projects is being done in a little park in west boynton. Where they are refining sewage into usable (but not potable) water. The water is used to make this artificial wetland area. Huge success. It even raised the property value of the nearby neighborhoods. Of course when first proposed there were skeptics as to the smells that would come out of the place. And let me tell you; you walk on that boardwalk and you can't tell the difference between natural and artificial wetlands.
 
There;s actually two parks ....

Wakodahatchee Wetlands is in Delray, on Jog a bit north of Lake Ida,
Green Cay Wetlands is in Boynton, On Hagen Ranch, south of Pipers Glen.
They are barely 1/2 mile east-west from each other.

Both are great for birding / photography / naturists.
 
A lot of the drinking water comes from the aquifier.

The Biscayne aquifier originally had so much water that it fed freshwater springs in Biscayne Bay. A big worry today is salt water intrusion. The fresh water is pumped out at a rate that can not be replaced, salt water flows in.
 
Data:
one says it goes through refineries, where the water is purified and used to water golf courses etc. and the waste is used as natural fertilizer, the other one says it is just dumped in the ocean.
it seems to be difficult to find info through google.
thanx for your help.

Much is in fact dumped in the ocean. Some ends up on the reefs. Here's a source for more information:

http://www.reef-rescue.org/DelrayOceanOutfall.htm
 
The water for West Palm Beach starts out in the water catchment of Grassy Waters Preserve, then drains into 2 lakes created for a fresh water supply. From there the water is pumped to the water treatment plant to be processed into drinking water.
 
Try googling South Florida Water Managment District. You should find all the facts and info you want on their site.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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