“Gaslighting” on Marco Island – Understanding Reclaimed Water

Gaslighting refers to people being subjected to psychological trickery to cause the victim to question his or her own reality. Gaslighting spreads disinformation. See the city press release:

www.cityofmarcoisland.com/community/page/press-release-22-59understanding-reclaimed-water.

City says: “The quality of the City’s reclaimed water meets all permit conditions to continue public reuse irrigation.” 

Response: There are NO FDEP permit limits to the amount of phosphorus or nitrogen that are put into the canals with the reclaimed water. Of course, the permit conditions are met – there are none.

City says: “Over the last 12 months, the nitrogen in the groundwater ranged between undetected and 1.3775 mg/L – far below the 10 mg/L limit.” 

Response: They fail to mention that these limits are associated with drinking water, not reclaimed water. The 10 mg/L limit for nitrogen in the groundwater is 33 times the limit of 0.3 mg/L set by the FDEP for the waterways. The 1.3775 mg/L samples of nitrogen are 4 times that allowed in the surface water. Has the nitrogen pollution penetrated that far underground?

City says: “Although site testing for phosphorus is not required by FDEP, City staff began testing for phosphorus in the groundwater last quarter. The first set of results ranged from 0.206 mg/L to 0.450 mg/L, showing almost nonexistent levels of phosphorous.” 

Response: The FDEP allowable limit for phosphorus in the Marco waterways is 0.046 mg/L. The measured levels in the groundwater samples are 9 times that allowable in the surface water. This is NOT “nonexistent.” It is alarming that the phosphorus levels in the groundwater are this high. Has the phosphorus pollution penetrated that far underground?

City says: “Although the Ordinance does not apply to reclaimed water, the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in the City’s reclaimed water over the past 12 months were well below the amounts allowed by Ordinance.” 

Response: What? The ordinance does not apply, yet the nutrients were well below amounts allowed in the ordinance. This statement makes no sense. There is no ordinance that limits phosphorus or nitrogen in reclaimed water. Phosphorus is banned completely in fertilizer, yet phosphorus is distributed continuously in the reclaimed water. Fertilizer is banned completely over the summer months, yet nitrogen as well as phosphorus is distributed over the entire summer. 

City says: “Over the past 12 months (11/21/22-10/22/22) the City’s Reclaimed Water Production Facility (RWPF) utilized 718.889 million gallons of reclaimed water with an average total nitrogen of 7.52 mg/L and total phosphorus of 3.60 mg/L.” 

Response: Nitrogen in the reclaimed water is 25 times the level allowed in the Marco waterways (0.3 mg/L). Phosphorus in the reclaimed water is an astounding 78 times the level allowed in the Marco waterways (0.046 mg/L). State statute limits these nutrients in reuse water to 3 mg/L for nitrogen and 1 mg/L for phosphorus. The Marco WWTP is exempted and the reclaimed water does not meet these limits.

City says: “The University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF- IFAS) recommends 0.75 – 1 inch of water is needed each week to keep most Florida turfgrasses healthy. Based on the 718.889 million gallons of reclaimed water applied to the 27 million square feet of land, approximately 0.81 inches of reclaimed water per week was applied, which is within the UF- IFAS recommendation.” 

Response: They fail to mention that Marco already gets 50 inches of rainwater each year. Reclaimed water is not needed to keep turfgrasses healthy.

City says: “While there are additional biological and chemical processes that can be added to the treatment process to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus, there is no data to support this action and no regulatory requirement given the low levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the City’s reclaimed water.” 

Response: The data that support this action was presented to the Waterways Advisory Committee on August 19, 2021, https://marcoisland.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. The levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the reclaimed water are HIGH, not low.