Municipal water supplies in Lee County, Florida, 1974

Abstract

In response to population growth, demands for water in Lee County have increased markedly in the past 5 years. In 1974, the 10 largest municipal water-supply systems in the county supplied the water needs of about 170,000 people. Ongoing water-resources investigations are aimed at providing responsible and interested parties with the necessary information to effectively manage and utilize the water resources of Lee County. Raw freshwater is supplied to the municipal water plants from the Caloosahatchee River and from three ground-water sources: the watertable aquifer, the uppermost part of the Tamiami Formation and the upper part of the Hawthorn Formation. Saline water, which is used after desalting, is supplied from two permeable zones, one in the lower part of the Hawthorn Formation and the other in the Suwannee Limestone. The total quantity of raw water pumped during 1974 was 5,700 million gallons, an increase of 54 percent from 1970 pumpage. The largest source of supply in use is the water-table aquifer and the smallest are the lower part of the Hawthorn Formation and the Suwannee Limestone. Increased pumping from the upper part of the Hawthorn for public supply and irrigation has resulted in progressively declining water levels, an indication that the supply of water from this source is limited. After expansion of the Sanibel Island and Cape Coral water-supply systems, increasing demands will be placed on the water-bearing stratum in the lower part of the Hawthorn Formation and the Suwannee Limestone. At the present time (1976), there is limited information on the quantity and quality of water available in these saline-water-bearing strata beneath Lee County. The quality of fresh ground water in areas unaffected by intrusion of saline water, generally meets all the recommended limits of the Environmental Protection Agency. The chemical treatment processes utilized by water water plants in the county are generally effective in producing finished water that meets EPA preliminary drinking water standards. The rapid increase in water demands over the last 5 years, together with an anticipated accelerated demand in the future, indicates a necessity for expanding the knowledge of the water resources of the county. Specifically, additional efforts will be required to determine the yield characteristics of and quality of water in each of the groundwater sources in Lee County.