Wastewater (Sewer) Service Information

Brevard County's Utility Services Department provides and maintains sewer service to customers residing in many of the unincorporated areas of the County. The Department also operates a drinking water services for the residents of Mims, Barefoot Bay and Snug Harbor. If you would like additional information on our drinking water service please click here.

In addition to water and sewer service, Brevard County Utility Services is continually expanding a separate reclaimed water system which provides water for irrigating lawns and landscaping. This water, reclaimed by wastewater treatment plants rather than drawn from the ground, is distributed to homes, parks, fields, farms and golf courses around the County. If you would like additional information on our Reclaimed Water Service please click here.

Assurance of quality drinking water and a safe environment for our water supplies is maintained by our Laboratory Service Team. Certified laboratory facilities are operated at Sykes Creek Regional Wastewater Plant and North Brevard Water Plant .

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How the Wastewater (Sewer) System Works

The sewage system consists of seven basic components

• The homeowner's building sewer
• The public gravity sewer
• Pumping stations
• Force or pressure mains
• Treatment plants
• Organic substances and sludge disposal
• Water and effluent disposal

The homeowner's building sewer: Each property is connected to the public sewer system by a "building sewer" or "lateral". These laterals are usually 4" diameter pipes that exit from under the slab adjacent to a water fixture (kitchen sink, laundry or bathroom). Please refer to the County approved criteria for more information on building sewers by clicking Here. Wastewater drains by gravity from the water fixtures to the public sewer main through the building sewer.

The public gravity sewer: The public gravity sewer is constructed in road rights of way or utility easements. Sewage from each house flows through the down sloping pipe. Public gravity sewers are large diameter pipes (8" minimum). At each change of direction or every 300 (approximate) feet, there is a manhole. Manholes provide access for the rarely needed sewer system maintenance. As of 2006, Brevard County Utility Services has 11,592 manholes. Because these pipes flow by gravity, a leak in the pipe allows ground water to enter the sewer line. Leaking gravity lines do not leak out. Modern gravity sewers are made of PVC, while the traditional material for older lines is vitrified clay pipe. In 2006, Brevard County Utility Services sewage system consisted of over 524 miles of gravity sewers.

Pumping stations: In order for gravity sewers to flow, they must be sloped downhill. But at some point, the depth of the sewer becomes too great for practical installation and maintenance. In regions without hills, such as coastal Florida, pump stations are required periodically to elevate the water into a new gravity sewer. Sewage pump stations, also called lift stations, pump the water up to a new gravity sewer, thereby allowing gravity to transport the sewage downhill again. In 2006, Brevard County Utility Services operates 251 pumping stations.

Force or pressure mains: Force mains are the pipes that carry the sewage away from their pump station to the next gravity sewer. They are sometimes as short as several hundred feet and sometimes several miles long. When force mains leak, they leak out. A force main leak, like a water main leak, becomes immediately evident by the flow of water from the ground. Force mains often carry the wastewater directly to the treatment plant. In 2006, Brevard County Utility Services operates 180 miles of force main.

Treatment plants: Water is the carrier vehicle used to transport our wastes away from our homes. That water must go somewhere. The purpose of sewage treatment is to remove the harmful substances from the water so that it may be re-introduced into the environment without causing public health or environmental problems. Sewage contains many substances that are harmful to people and animals and the environment. In general they can be classified in the following groups.

• Organic substances, including fecal matter, kitchen wastes and laundry waste.
• Bacteria and micro organisms.
• Nitrogen and phosphorous compounds that promote plant growth.
• Toxic substances contained in cleaning compounds, disinfectants and industrial wastes.
• Sand, silt, sticks, twigs, lawn clippings and many other objects that enter the sewer system through various means.

Organic substances and sludge disposal: The largest component of sewage after the water are the organic compounds. If discharged into our natural waters, these organic compounds would undergo natural decay, consuming the oxygen that’s dissolved in the water, killing fish and creating odors. Sewage treatment plants remove organic compounds by optimizing natural decay. Just as lawn clippings degrade in a compost mound, the organic substance in sewage is converted to a more stable organic form by naturally occurring bacteria in the sewage treatment plant. This secondary treatment, followed by the addition of chlorine to kill the remaining bacteria, has been the standard of sewage treatment for most of the 20th century.

The by-product of this enhanced biological decay is sewage sludge. Current regulations require additional and specific treatment before sewage sludge can be recycled on to the land. Currently, no Brevard County Utility Services facility produces a wastewater sludge permitted for public distribution or land application.

Water and effluent disposal: One of the major reasons to collect and treat sewage is to prevent harmful impacts of sewage discharge to the environment. There are three places that sewage effluent can go: into a surface water body; into the groundwater table; or evaporated into the atmosphere. Surface water discharges have always been the easiest and cheapest method of disposing of sewage. As long as sewage volumes were low and the lake, river or stream was large, impacts of the discharge may have been minimal. As our awareness of the problems caused by surface water discharges has increased, it has been increasingly more difficult to obtain permits for surface water discharges. The Indian River Lagoon Act has greatly restricted the opportunity for wastewater utilities to discharge to the Indian River Lagoon. Today, effluent is highly treated and filtered resulting in a very clean product. While some is still disposed of by Surface Water Discharge, Rapid Infiltration Basins and Deepwell Injection Systems, more and more is reclaimed for lawn irrigation and other purposes, such as air conditioner cooling towers. For ddditional information regarding our reclaimed water service Click Here.

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Technology and Wastewater

Electronic technology, computerization, instrumentation and communication play an important role in providing effective cost control and quality service. This means better and faster service to our customers through the use of newer and better tools. For instance, robot television cameras are used to inspect the sewer lines. These cameras safely and accurately locate blockages, collapsed sections, and leaks that would require additional hours to find with other methods. Instrumentation in the plants monitor and report levels, and flows, as well as concentration of chlorine, acidity, and the clarity or turbidity of water, wastewater, and reclaimed water at different stages of processing.

Beginning in the early part of this decade, Brevard County Utility Services began to explore the use of a new technology in order to reduce costs and increase reliability in our treatment plants and collection systems. Radio telemetry and control systems initially used in oil, gas and power industry were adapted to wastewater pumping and treatment systems. Today, treatment is being further enhanced by systems adapted from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

Referred to as SCADA, for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems, the Department operates systems that monitor eight treatment plants, most of our 251 pumping stations, several booster stations for water and reclaimed water, as well as an elevated water tank and several wells. Telemetry data processors store and transmit data from remote units via UHF radio to the central processing units where data is collected for review and analysis.

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Treatment Plants and Maintenance Facilities

***The Above Information Is Current As Of June 1, 2006 And Is Subject To Change At Any Time***

For Contact Information For Our Treatment Facilities - Click Here

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